These are the best statement headboards we’ve seen in homes…

Not only do they add comfort to a bedroom, with somewhere stylish to rest your head, statement headboards are also a gateway to playing with form, print and materials – without having to commit to a wallpaper or bold paint colour. Leading interior designers are elevating the humble headboard further by creating custom and bespoke pieces using upholstery, eye-catching prints, lustrous textures and graphic shapes. Here are eight of the best headboard designs from the ELLE Decoration archive.

Touriste co-founders’ Parisian duplex

Hip hotelier couple Adrien Gloaguen and Julie Revuz are behind the Touriste group’s growing portfolio of Paris hotels. When it came to their own Parisian apartment, they worked with designer Chloé Nègre to create a home that marries comfort with unexpected design flourishes. Headboards are a big deal in the couple’s hotels, so Chloé created a particularly striking bouclé-clad design for their bedroom – Julie’s favourite space. ‘I’m always working on my bed, and the children are coming in and out,’ she says.

Fabien Freytag’s Berlin apartment

Designer and architect Fabien Freytag took inspiration from the Ligurian coast in Italy when designing his apartment in Berlin’s Mitte district. ‘I was inspired by the beach huts of Santa Margherita to imagine a slightly offbeat bedroom,’ he says. The result is a subtle play of stripes, from the custom headboard covered in ‘Vils Trib’ fabric from Kjellerup Vaeveri to the chevrons on the ‘Chic’ table from the designer’s own studio.

Chelsea Barracks by Studio Squire

When designing this apartment in the luxurious Chelsea Barracks development, designer Angelica Squire looked to the neighbourhood’s leafy surrounds and, in particular, London’s famed plan trees. The apartment enjoys spectacular views across the city, taking in the canopy of trees that turns from vivid green to gold and cinnamon brown across the year. ‘These shades can be seen repeated in upholstery pieces, artwork and accessories throughout the apartment,’ she says. This bedroom leans into the autumnal end of the leafy spectrum, with a tactile velvet headboard in claret contrasting brilliantly against the mustard wall colour.

Notting Hill pied-à-terre by Rachel Chudley

Designer Rachel Chudley gave her client’s existing bed a radical makeover to create this dreamy room. She wrapped it in Dedar’s ‘Schwarzwald’ fabric in ‘Verdure’, with Watts 1874’s ‘Hampstead Verdure’ fabric draped from the wall behind to extend above the verdant scheme. Curtains in Pierre Frey’s heavy ‘Craft’ linen ground the interior and pull the magical interior together.

Centrepoint apartment by Angel O’Donnell

Richard Angel and Ed O’Donnell of Angel O’Donnell studio drew on the architecture of London’s Centrepoint development when designing this three-bedroom apartment located within the iconic building. In this bedroom, the zigzag edge of the bespoke headboard (upholstered in Métaphores’ ‘Eclat Mousse’ fabric) and CMO Paris’ ‘Abaca Zèbre Pierre’ wallcovering are direct references to the windows’ shape, while the teal-and-red palette speaks to the British Museum and surrounding brick buildings.

Brockley home by Holly Canham

This children’s bedroom designed by Holly Canham for a family home in south London is brimming with warm tones, from the Heal’s bed with its geometric headboard to the ‘Scrolling Fern Sillhouette’ wallpaper by Soane Britain.

Melbourne home by Leeton Pointon Architects + Interiors

There are jolts of vibrant colour throughout this family home in Melbourne designed by Leeton Pointon Architects + Interiors. In the main bedroom, Eileen Gray’s ‘Roattino’ floor lamp makes an elegantly sculptural statement against the shapely custom headboard. More colour comes from Daniel Rybakken + Andreas Engesvik’s ‘Colour’ floor light by E15 which sits atop stands Grazia & Co’s ‘Orla’ bedside table.

Marion Stora’s Paris apartment

This custom bed was designed by Marion Stora for her family home in Paris. The ‘Night Welcome’ design is crafted from ash with a handmade cane headboard and incorporates panels of Madrid ‘Moss’ tanned leather from Moore & Giles and two olive-ash bedside tables. The pleasing combination of colour and texture is accentuated by the bold oxblood wall colour, with ombré curtains from Rosemary Hallgarten’s ‘Alpaca’ fabric in ‘Raspberry’.