Meet Our New Upholstered Bed (and the Curtain Confession)
You haven’t seen our bedroom much lately—only small peeks on Instagram—because I owe you a curtain-related confession. But first: so many of you ask about our new bed and why we replaced the old Ikea frame, so here’s a proper introduction to the bed we bought almost a year ago (last November).
At a glance our new bed isn’t dramatically different from the previous setup: both headboards are a light wheat linen that suits the calm, low-contrast bedroom palette we’ve been working toward. The important change is that this is a fully upholstered bed with matching headboard, side rails, and footboard, rather than a metal frame paired with a separately made headboard.
We’ve lived through a handful of arrangements—headboards attached to walls, an Ikea canopy bed we chopped the posts off of (RIP “Ed the Bed”), and platform frames with bedskirts. We eventually wanted a grounded, cohesive look and a proper boxspring for our mattress, so after years of swapping and tweaks we finally ordered a fully upholstered frame.
We researched for hours before choosing, but it felt worth the effort. The new upholstered bed looks more finished than a bedskirt and metal frame, and it better matches the scale of this larger room where small color mismatches are more noticeable from a distance.
Buying this bed freed up our old headboard to reunite with Ed the Bed, which we moved to the beach house last fall. So instead of buying a second new bed for the beach house, we kept the new upholstered bed for our master and used the loyal old frame and headboard at the beach house where they fit perfectly.
Ed has been with us for nearly eight years and the headboard for over six—so they’re family at this point. But back to the new bed: I love it so much I’ve considered getting another for the beach house. It finally feels like an actual bed after years of metal frames and DIY workarounds.
The model is the Sanford Linen Upholstered Panel Bed, which we bought from Wayfair. It comes in standard sizes and a neutral “Talc” color that reads as a warm linen—slightly on the gray-beige line—so it pairs well with both gray and tan walls. The textured linen look and small vertical side panels (the little “wings”) add subtle detail and coziness.
The bed does require a boxspring, which we prefer for mattress support and height. If your mattress is thinner than ours (ours is 12″), you might see a small gap between the top of the mattress and the headboard; a mattress topper or strategic pillow arrangement solves that. Also, the small black feet are set back under the frame and aren’t noticeable in everyday use.
White Curtains: Affordable, Washable, and Worth the Effort
Now about the curtains. I swapped our old wheat-toned panels for crisp white ones because the room was getting a little sepia-toned and needed brightening. We picked Ikea’s Lenda curtains for their weight, price, and washable fabric—$25 for two 98″ panels makes them a very budget-friendly option.
They’re not a “hang-and-forget” product—getting them to look crisp takes some work—so we lived with wrinkled, unpressed panels for nearly a year while life happened. But now that they’re finished, they add softness and height to the room and are easy to wash, which is ideal with kids and pets around.
How we turn tab-top Lenda panels into polished rod-pocket-like curtains
Here’s the straightforward process we use to make the Ikea Lenda panels look more tailored without sewing or custom costs:
- Step 1: Wash on warm and dry on high to preshrink (they can shrink several inches).
- Step 2: Carefully cut the tabs off just above the sewn line at the top.
- Step 3: Fold the top edge once toward the back to hide the cut; the fold reads like a finished seam from the front.
- Step 4: Attach clip rings along the folded top—about six per panel works for us (one at each end and one every other seam).
- Step 5: Hang the panels on a rod placed high and wide—typically a few inches below the ceiling and roughly 8″ beyond the window trim on each side.
- Step 6: Steam or iron the panels; steaming in place is easier with two people, but ironing off the rod works fine for one person.
- Step 7: Adjust the length by unclipping one clip at a time and folding the hem at the back until the panels kiss the floor; reclip to hold the fold. No hem tape or sewing required.
This shortcut lets you tweak the length if they shrink again or if you want a different look later. The result isn’t custom-luxury, but for about $75 to do the whole bedroom, the panels look polished, wash well, and add the softness and lightness we wanted.
We may splurge on custom drapes in the future for a showhouse or a truly fitted look, but the Lenda panels are practical, affordable, and forgiving for everyday family life.
Paint color questions keep coming up: the walls here are Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray, our favorite warm grige. If you want paint information or a whole-house color list, we’ve shared that elsewhere on the blog.
Below are a few past posts we’ve shared about curtain projects and tips:
- Using Iron-Tape To Hem Lenda Curtains
- How To Make No-Sew Curtains From Any Fabric
- 15 Minute Blackout Curtains for $15
- 18 Tips For Picking The Right Curtains
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