Bedhangings are extravagant and luxurious and that is exactly why I love them so much. Nowadays we use them in decorating purely for fun- but they were once utilitarian. Canopy beds with curtains were created in European medieval times and used by noblemen for privacy, as they often slept in the same room as their attendants. I first fell in love with the idea of a partial bedhanging (meaning, just behind/above the headboard or front part of the bed) when I worked for the queen of color, Amanda Nisbet. This was her master bedroom:
Ah, that electric chartreuse! The picture above doesn't pick it up well, but the inside back fabric of the bed hanging is a chartreuse Fortuny print. Jeffrey Bilhuber also used a chartreuse inside the bedhanging below for an Upper East Side apartment. The exterior floral fabric is a Muriel Brandolini print:
And this sumptuous master bedroom might be one of my favorite color palettes ever- designer Alexa Hampton's master bedroom. The walls are covered in a rich plum custom Gracie wallcovering, while the bed hanging fabric is Clarence House's Cesonia paisley (now sadly discontinued). I always love Alexa's inclusion of Neoclassical pieces, like the bedside table here:
A stunning bedroom photographed for Phoebe Howard's book, Mrs. Howard Room by Room, shows off a chic canopied bed sitting in a room of custom-made Gracie wallpaper and silk velvet curtains with glass bead trim.
Nicky Haslam took a stab at the canopy for this London attic, with a chintz linen upholstered on the dormer window and walls, and a Rococo frame above.
And I couldn't complete a post on bedhangings without admiring the more casual, beachy style- like the drapey linen hangings in this Greek isle home:
Which bedroom is your favorite?
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