Why Buy a Headboard?

Featured Headboard: Catherine - Velvet Teal Queen Headboard

5 Awesome Benefits of Having a Headboard

It’s certainly not a million-dollar question. Unless you’re Donald Trump and deciding whether a solid gold headboard is going to be your next addition to complement your golden ‘House of Office’ (that’s 17^th century England slang for ‘loo.’ And come on, how often do you get to use such an amazingly perfect pun?).

No, deciding to buy a headboard is not going to cost you serious bucks, your pride or your sanity (we’ll leave that to the politicians). But it is worth knowing exactly what the benefits are of having a headboard, especially if you’re buying a new bed or redoing your bedroom. Or perhaps you’ve just never thought of using a headboard at all, and wondering what all the fuss is about. Here are our top 5 awesome benefits of putting a head on your bed. 

Featured Headboard: Harlem Velvet Olive Headboard

1. Upgrades the look of your bedroom 

Sometimes it just takes one great piece of furniture to take a room from ‘meh’ to ‘ohh yeah!’ If the bedroom look you’ve had for years has become a bit tired (excuse the not so amazing pun), adding a new headboard is one of the simplest ways to reinvent the look of both your bed and the rest of your space. Because your bed is the natural focal point, a headboard immediately stands out to create a strong visual anchor and set the stylistic tone of the room.

Featured Headboard: Catherine - Velvet Pink Headboard | Austin Headboard

With so many colors, materials and styles to choose from, you could go for something that blends beautifully with your current palette, or adds an interesting colour or textural contrast.

Featured Headboard: Jiba Headboard

Counter-intuitive as it might seem, a headboard is also one of the best ways to ‘add space’ – this is because a headboard adds height dynamic while taking up very little space of its own, making a smaller room look bigger with minimal design effort.

2. Keeps in the warmth

Speaking of hard, cold walls…the origins of the headboard take us back to Ancient Egypt, where archaeologists – doubtless, after many cold, sleepless nights digging through dusty old ruins – finally put the mystery to rest that, no, the original headboard was not conceived as a way to fend off sleepwalking mummies, just unpleasant cold draughts…

This very practical (if slightly disappointing) original benefit hasn’t lost its relevance, and it explains the ongoing popularity of wooden headboards with their insulating properties. So, if you find yourself brushing up against a cold wall at night or sitting against it on a freezing winter morning, self-mummified in your blankets as you try to defrost with a hot cuppa, maybe it’s time to learn from the ways of the ancient Egyptians and ‘get your headboard on’! 

3. Provides back and head support

If you’re one of those who like to sit in bed reading (yes, we’re all on our phones and tablets, but it still counts), then a headboard with some back and neck support moves from the ‘nice-to-haves’ to the ‘must-haves’ category. And here we can thank the ancient Greeks for taking the Egyptians’ headboard designs from practical to comfortable with the addition of padding and cushioning support. Trust me, your spine will thank you – and for that matter, if you’ve got little kids challenging you for possession of the bed ‘trampoline’ in the morning, so will their still-intact skulls. 

4. Keeps things in place for a better night’s sleep

There’s nothing worse than losing your pillow in the middle of the night and being too sleep-drugged to figure out whether it got a) ingested by snoring hubby, b) stolen by the dog,  or c) sucked inextricably into the hairline gap between the bed and the wall. Well, we cannot rule out possibilities a & b, but at least a headboard will keep your pillows in place, barring scenarios beyond human control. And not just your pillows – a secure headboard will also ensure your sheets stay firmly tucked in to avoid any mid-sleep sheet strangulation traumas. No one needs that kind of drama.   

5. Offers extra storage space

This last one may not be for everyone, but if you’re a little short on space in your bedroom, a headboard can become a great focal piece that doubles as a storage unit, some extra shelving space or an innovative alternative to the run-of-the-mill bedside table. Just remember to prioritize your sleeping comfort – you may want to choose another spot in the house for those cacti gardens and hamster cages.  

The Psychology of Headboards

You may or may not go in for the whole Feng Shui philosophy, but there’s definitely something to the concept that a headboard provides a certain sense of safety and security at the place and time where you’re likely to feel most vulnerable.

It goes right back to when we lived in caves: it just made sense to have a wall at your back when the only other thing between you and a saber-toothed tiger was a big stick and some burning twigs… And in today’s bedrooms, it’s still just as important to keep the flame alive – some say that a strong headboard creates a safe space for deeper intimacy and connection with your partner.

We’ll leave it to you to test out all the theories. At the very least, when it comes to things that go bump in the night, having a headboard means you can rest assured it won’t be your head against the wall… 

If you’re in the headboard head-space, check out Cielo’s wide variety of top quality products online or in store today.