10 Fun Facts About Headboards

December 11, 2012 | Filed under: Home,The List | Posted by: List Guy

Headboards are beautiful pieces of furniture and having your bed complemented with one will be sure to take your bedroom décor to the next level. Besides its unquestionable decorative purpose, a headboard also serves many other functions that our ancestors were well aware of but that we probably don’t think of now when choosing a headboard for our bed. Let’s refresh our memory with this outstanding list of interesting facts that will remind us of 10 reasons why we add a headboard to our bed frames.

1. They keep the bed linen in place

Headboards were made popular due to their useful functions. They originally were used in order to keep pillows in place and to prevent both the cushions and the linen from falling off the bed. While this is still true today we prefer choosing a headboard for their decorative value rather than their ability to keep everything in order.

2. They provide support to the back

Headboards are sturdy and firm surfaces that provide great support for the back when sitting up in bed reading or watching TV for example. Softer surfaces such as upholstered headboards do a better job by allowing us to sit back comfortably.

3. They protect our heads from the cold

This is one of the main functions they served back in the time when houses were not as well insulated as nowadays. Headboards for beds were great pieces of furniture that were ideal for keeping our heads away from those cold walls and drafts in winter.

4. They were made from wood

When beds were complemented with headboards for the only purpose of protecting our bodies from the cold they were mainly made from wood since this material is less conductive than stone or brick and therefore the wood acted as a shield against drafts and cold.

5. They were placed away from the wall

This is indeed a smart way of allowing falling colder air to sink to the floor rather than onto the bed. Pushing our beds closer to the walls shows that we have lost the initial need for creating a gap in between the piece of furniture and the walls!

6. They represent stability in the study of Feng Shui

The study of Feng Shui highly recommends that you complement your bed with a solid wooden headboard since this material promotes strength and unity. Headboards for beds symbolise stability in the couple if you have a stable relationship and if not they promote the prospect of a forthcoming one.

7. Freddie Mercury learnt piano with a headboard

The secret of excellence of British musician Freddie Mercury was that he used a piano as a headboard of his bed. When he woke up with inspiration for a song, he could reach behind his head and play on his headboard what he had heard in his dreams.

8. They were the sign of wealth

Romans considered beds as a sign of great wealth and high social status. The more ornamented your headboard was, the better off you were considered. Fabric played a very important role as well as both headboards and footboards that were used to add grandness and ostentation to the bed.

9. They represent protection

In ancient Egypt an icon of the God of Dreams, Serapis, was carved into headboards to provide the sleeper with his protection. Serapis would watch over them and protect sleepers throughout the night.

10. Ancient Greeks first made them aesthetic

Back in Ancient Greece, beds were not used just for sleeping but they were also a dedicated place to eat and entertain guests. Headboards were thus added to beds to allow the guest to lean back against them when eating in bed. The ancient Greeks were also one of the first civilisations to add headboards to beds for the only reason that they looked great.

This list is provided by Wedo Headboards UK, a British headboard online shop.

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Posted by List Guy on December 11, 2012. Filed under Home, The List. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry