The fabric changes the bed more than the design does. Here is how the four families we upholster with behave once they are on a headboard in a real room.
Velvet
Deep colour, a soft sheen that shifts with the light, and the most formal look of the four. Velvet shows pressure marks where you lean, which brush out, and it holds saturated colours better than any other cloth. Best on sculptural shapes: arched and serpentine headboards read beautifully in velvet. Vacuum with a soft brush in the pile direction.
Linen
Matt, cool and quietly textured, with the slubs of the yarn visible. Linen suits pale bedrooms, panelled and wall-width headboards, and anyone who wants the bed to sit back rather than perform. It creases where it is tensioned less, which on a headboard is nowhere, and it is the easiest of the four to spot-clean.
Bouclé
Looped and soft, the most tactile of the four; warm-looking even in ivory. It flatters curved and scalloped headboards. See how bouclé wears and cleans.
Chenille
A plush, slightly heavier cloth with a soft hand and a subtle sheen, between velvet and bouclé in character. Forgiving of marks, warm underhand, good on deep-padded designs.
Colour
Light fabrics enlarge a small room and show dust less than you expect; dark fabrics anchor a large one. Take the decision in your own room: free swatches are posted to your home so you can hold them against the wall, in daylight and lamplight.
Which to choose
Statement shape, strong colour: velvet. Calm room, pale palette: linen. Soft, rounded design: bouclé. Deep comfort, easy life: chenille. Every bed we make is available in all four; the fabric family and colour are chosen on the product page.