My vote is for #1, but I'd build in floating nightstand drawers on either side made out of the same material as the headboard. Cleaner and less busy than #2.

Thanks, Sabrina!

What type of wood and color would you recommend?

Any idea on how to make #1's surface not look so massive? E.g., cut off the top 2 feet of the wood and transition to some other material and color?

I love #1 and agree that it needs some kind of side tables, floating or otherwise.

I don't think it will look massive. it's a feature wall. I've seen designs just like this at the W hotel and it's beautiful. if you insist it needs a change, maybe make the nook taller. or no nook and hang a wide format painting there instead.

a note about the end of the bed: I love the style but it could murder your shins. consider putting a super dim light strip under there so nobody bangs into it. when you're laying down, the light won't be in your eyes.

#1, much more calm look for a bedroom retreat. I would need at least a shelf at bedside too.

I'd go for a walnut veneer. The trick to making the wall a bit less prominent is finding pendant lights that are larger in scale, so they don't feel dwarfed by the wall. Some inspiration:

This one is more rustic than you're going for, but look at the relative size of the lights vs. the wall:

Corner Life · More Info

Or you could break up the wall into different sections to make the wood less prominent, like this:

Kingman Place · More Info

Thanks, everyone, for your comments!

I think bigger lights will do the trick; thanks, Sabrina! Let me do another rendering of design #1 with changes and post it again.

And good point about protecting the shins, B.F. :)

Made lights bigger and lower. Added side tables/shelves.

Changed the wood species. Any other ideas? Thanks!

I'd love it without the window above the bed. I'd rather it be calming. One lovely wide painting or fabric art maybe.

P Banos, I need the niche for a few books and picture frames. Any idea on how to keep it but make it more calming?

We did this wall in our porch to master reno. Wall lamps on both sides. Floating nightstands

David, if you were going to put LED tape lights in the niche, just put them on a dimmer switch. You could also line the niche with the same walnut as the wall so it blends in.

David, My husband and I have made platform beds and nightstands. on ours we used Plyboo (bamboo plywood) that I stained and finished. but on our sons we used walnut veneer. for the headboard I actually made the framed art piece using random pieces of wood that were stained or painted w/milk paint

for ours, we just used the plyboo as the headboard and painted the wall black. You could go this route and cut the plyboo into strips and attach them to the wall

A door? Or make the bedside tables with a drawer and a shelf.

My parents had a wooden headboard where they could put books and whatnot. But it tended to collect things that should have gone into a drawer. Plus it was never restful having stuff above your head.

move the stuff to the new side shelves! :)

I don't feel strongly about the niche, but I was going to say if you wanted just a bit less massive wood, I think you could end it level with the doorways to either side, basically ending up with 18 inches less at the top and a sort of "floating wall" effect.

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Sue Brown, that looks great! I do like the shelf you have, though I'm in an earthquake zone so that's why I'm trying a niche at a lower height instead.

Beth H, I like the simple look of your headboard and night tables. Painting the wall black is also a nice idea, though I can't use it as my wall has 2 openings into the walk-in closet behind it. Let me think of how to adapt it.

P Banos, I've tried sliding doors in design #2 (the 3 panels with the paintings). Indeed, I've been trying too hard to have storage space inside the headboard (niche + shelves behind sliding doors) rather than in night tables. Perhaps that's a bad idea to start with.

Sabrina, any opinion whether I should just do away with the niche?

Thanks again, everyone!

I like the niche, personally, if it's done in the same material as everything else. Great place to keep books and it breaks up the space a bit.

acm, those are beautiful examples! Let me think more about the floating wall effect.

Everyone, here's a new rendering with floating side tables and same material throughout. I'm happy with it! Thanks for all your help.

When are you going to make it, or are you hiring someone to do that?

looks like my floating nightstands! are you making them yourself? also like the wall, and your inset shelf. and the pendants. (hang them further back though)

I originally had no handles, but then added them

I'm trying to get a quote from some local custom cabinet shop. I'd love to be able to make this myself but I don't have any workspace to make it, nor the carpentry skills. I did, however, sketch out a schematic, as cabinet shops want to know the details to give a quote. The open shelves on both sides are for night clothes and extra blankets and pillows. The space above and below the niche is wasted, though.

Beth, did you add the handles for convenience or appearance?

david, both. these drawers are pretty tight fitting. even w/the handle i have to really pull on it.

this is the back

I made sure I used the same pieces so that the graining would all match up. Something to consider depending on the type of wood you're using. make sure the carpenter knows to do this

at the time we made this, I didn't realize how hard this bamboo really is. you can see the saw blade burn marks on the edging.

the sheets of plyboo are 4x8. I used a walnut stain on it.

Beth, that looks like fun! I wish I could do that; I would enjoy it.

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Here's another rendering, at night with the ceiling lights off (but still some lights on in the walk-in closet behind).

i like it. I think it will look great once it's all in. i really like the inset niche too.

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