By Cheryll Gillespie

How did you sleep last night? If you tossed, turned and fretted – unable to get a good night’s rest – it could be because you don’t have a sturdy headboard behind your bed. The head of the bed is your bedroom’s focal point and is the most important treatment in this private space designed for relaxation and comfort.

The headboard you choose for your bed sets the tone for the mood and style of this dreamy space. Feng shui masters strongly advise us to have a sturdy headboard. Feng shui, the art of placing objects in relation to energy flows in order to heighten positive energies and minimize the negative ones, demands placing the headboard against a solid wall.

When considering feng shui principles we must also consider the material and shape of the headboard. Brass or iron headboards, due to their open-bar design, can create headaches and a sense of a lack of support. This style of headboard is not recommended for anyone. Wood or upholstered wood-framed headboards are best for all, according to feng shui.

The shape of the headboard should be suited to your element (the year we are born dictates the element: wood, earth, water, fire or metal). It is said that we draw strength from the elements in the headboard we choose.

A round-shaped headboard corresponds to the metal element. If you normally work in an office environment or are involved in a job that sees a lot of paperwork, it’s a good shape to choose. Square and rectangular headboards are for all of us who represent the wood or earth element. This shape of headboard encourages stability and offers support, perfect for all career-minded souls. Oval, round or wavy-shaped headboards are ideal for people who belong to the water element and will help support and inspire creative professions, such as artists, musicians and designers.

With respect to the headboard, the size of your room does not matter. All bedrooms should have a creative, attractive and substantial headboard solidly secured behind the head of the bed. Even the smallest of rooms can accommodate a grand headboard; in fact, a taller headboard can help to make a small room feel more spacious. Today, fashionable beds are supported with sexy upholstered leather and micro fiber, exotic rattan, canopy frames draped with sensual fabrics and handsomely wood-carved headboards. The one thing all these stylish headboards have in common is that they make a personal style statement and they give height and substance to the room.

Thinking “outside the bed” is strongly encouraged in the bedroom. You may want to use a beautiful piece of original art or a hand-loomed rug for a headboard. Other creative ideas I have employed in the bedroom as headboards include antique or old storefront signs, folding and Japanese screens, bamboo curtains, exotic fabrics draped from bamboo or iron rods, and even an oversized, framed mirror.

Do more than dream…give your bed a stylish new headboard and not only will you give your bedroom a chic sense of style, but you may even find yourself getting a better night’s sleep.

THIS AND THAT

To make a bed look extra cozy and inviting this fall, buy a new duvet that is one size larger than your bed and duvet cover. Fit the duvet inside the cover to create a sense of instant luxury for your bed. To create the tight, crisp look of hotel linens, use pillow protectors on your pillows. Not only are they more hygienic but they’ll help if the cover or sham is loose and baggy.

WEEKEND PROJECT

Refresh your green house plants, both silk and real, for fall by adding some sprigs of fall foliage among the leaves of your indoor plants. Use cut branches, cat tails or tall shafts of wheat to stand tall between the leaves and to bring a true sense of fall into your home. Plant bases can be covered with lush green moss. Additionally, place miniature pumpkins next to the kitchen and powder room sinks for an elegant splash of colour and fall.