He Skipped a Bulky Headboard for a Room Divider (It’s Surprisingly Cozy)

Oversized upholstered headboards have been everywhere lately. Not only do they make a strong style statement, but they also make your bed feel bigger and cozier. However, they can also be imposing, bulky, and difficult to install — not to mention a big investment, too. At a designer showhouse earlier in the summer, though, I spotted an ingenious take on the trend that might just solve these issues.

At the 2026 Pasadena Showcase House in California, one designer opted to create a headboard-like effect with an accordion room divider, and it ticked a lot of boxes for me — so much so that I wanted to share it with you. 

When interior designer Ben Nichols curated his “Modern Bohemian” room, he looked to the work of French interior designer Jean-Michel Frank for inspiration. Frank created unique, low room dividers that wrapped around sofas, creating nooks in the middle of spacious rooms. “Similarly, I wanted the headboard to embrace the tables and create a room within a room,” Nichols said about this project.

Nichols’ take on this idea features a custom-made, four-foot-tall upholstered wood headboard, which, taken as a whole, feels like a substantial piece of furniture. However, he says you don’t have to go the bespoke route and can instead recreate this concept with a vintage or new Japanese screen, such as this short room divider from The Home Depot. You can also opt for a more traditional four-panel room divider (as long as it’s not too tall in proportion to your bed height) by securing it flat against the wall as an alternative. 

Before replicating this style, Nichols suggests thinking about how you use your bed. If you prefer to sit up and read — aka, lean against a headboard — he warns “an angled, folding panel might not be ideal for you.” And if you opt for a longer 6-panel (or custom) setup, he recommends choosing diminutive bedside tables “so that the headboard can extend around them.” 

Nichols also says to skip bedside table lights and opt for sconces instead to elevate the setup (bonus: This also saves space, and you don’t need to hard-wire anything if you use a battery-operated fixture or bulb).