Headboards: Wooden, Metal, Traditional & Modern

Check how a headboard fixes before you fall for the fabric. Strutted headboards bolt to a divan through two struts and need fixing points in the base. Without those points, you'll need a different fixing arrangement before you can use one.

A floorstanding headboard stands behind the bed on its own legs and bolts to the frame or base. It suits a base without strutted fixing points if there's a suitable bolt connection. Then match the width to your bed and the height to how you sit up.

The fixing method has to suit your base

Your base needs compatible fixing points, so pull the bed away from the wall before ordering. For a strutted headboard, check for two threaded holes in the divan. Wooden or metal struts bolt into these, and you adjust the height by sliding the struts.

Most bed frames have their own headboard and lack those strutted fixing points. A floorstanding headboard is taller and heavier, with legs resting on the floor, but it still needs bolting to the base or frame. Look for the fixing method and "fixings included" before you order.

Headboard width follows the bed size

Match the headboard to the mattress width, then check the space beside your wardrobe door. Bed Advice UK's size guide gives the standard widths below. Headboards use the same size names, so a king on a double overhangs by 15 cm overall.

UK size	Width in cm	Width in feet and inches
Small single	75 cm	2 ft 6 in
Single	90 cm	3 ft
Small double	120 cm	4 ft
Double	135 cm	4 ft 6 in
King	150 cm	5 ft
Super king	180 cm	6 ft

Imported and antique bedsteads can differ from UK sizes, as Bed Advice UK explains, so measure yours before choosing. The room-fit checker uses these same six sizes to help you plan the space around the bed.

Height and fabric affect everyday use

Choose enough height to lean against when you sit up, while leaving windows and sockets accessible. Tall floorstanding headboards are visible from the doorway but can obstruct a low sill or cover a socket. Low strutted headboards can disappear behind your pillows.

Velvet holds heat and shows marks, while linen and cotton weaves wear at the pillow line. If you want a surface you can wipe, choose faux leather or oiled wood, though painted wood can chip. Deep buttoning collects dust, and the catalogue photograph never includes the duster.

Upholstered headboards fall under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, so look for the permanent label on the back. Alongside the stated width and fabric, reviews included in the BedBoy Score are useful for what owners report about velvet after a year and whether the fixings lined up.

What to avoid

Strutted headboards for frames without fixing points.
Ordering by size name alone for imported or antique beds.
Tall floorstanding headboards across low windows or your only socket.
Deep-buttoned velvet beside a radiator under the window when your dog sleeps on the bed.