Bespoke upholstered headboards: what to decide before you order

Height is measured from the mattress

Vispring, a British maker of bespoke beds, quotes the height of its headboards from the top of the mattress rather than from the floor. And it notes that the overall height changes with the mattress and base chosen and, for a floor-standing headboard, with the legs.

So the order matters: mattress and base first, headboard after. A headboard drawn for one mattress and finished with a deeper one loses, at a stroke, the part that was meant to show.

Width plays into height as well. The same maker makes some models taller for wider beds, so the proportions hold.

How it is fixed

There are three ways, and each changes the piece. Bolted to the bed base: Vispring bolts through holes already cut in the base, and in that case the headboard runs down to the floor. On brackets, it sits flush with the base and stays off the floor. Or hung on the wall, independent of the bed — where the wall is what decides.

What isn’t wise is leaving it to the end. The fixing determines how the headboard’s frame is built, and changing it later usually means building it again.

The finish: plain, stitched or deep-buttoned

A plain headboard lets the cloth lead. Stitching, piping or vertical fluting add pattern without changing the depth. Deep buttoning is a different piece altogether: the buttons are tied through the filling and draw it in, and the cloth folds between them. Heritage Crafts, the UK body that champions traditional crafts, counts it among the traditional techniques of the trade, the ones used in carriages and early motor cars.

The finish is chosen on a sample, with the chosen cloth to hand. Buttoning that works in velvet may not work in a heavy linen, and the spacing of the buttons changes the whole piece.

Fabric: what a headboard asks of it

A headboard isn’t used like a seat, but it is touched every night — backs and heads rest against it. If someone will sit up against it to read, choose a cloth that cleans well or a cover that comes off. And if sun reaches it through a window, a cloth with good light-fastness.

Alongside the cloth come the buttons and piping: they can be covered in the same fabric or in another, and that too is easier to judge on a sample.

Fire: on a headboard, both faces count

In the UK, the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 list headboards among the furniture they apply to. The guidance that local authorities publish on them explains that an upholstered headboard has to meet the same requirements as domestic upholstered furniture, and that the cloth on the back counts as visible fabric.

A 2023 report commissioned by the UK Government on the fire risks of upholstered products adds that, as a result, headboard cover fabrics are usually back-coated with a flame retardant unless the cloth is inherently flame retardant. The UK is reviewing these rules. We have found no equivalent rule for domestic furniture in Spain, so if that assurance matters, ask for it when the fabric is chosen.

What to have settled when you order

With these answered, the commission starts with the important part already done:

Mattress and base

How deep are they, and are they likely to change?

Visible height

How much headboard do you want to see above the mattress?

Fixing

To the base, on brackets or on the wall? Does it reach the floor?

Finish

Plain, stitched, piped or deep-buttoned?

Fabric

Does it clean well? Does it catch the sun? Does it need a removable cover?

Fire

If you are used to the UK label, what certification does the cloth carry?