You haven’t seen our bedroom in a while (aside from 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 upgraded from our old Ikea frame, so here’s the proper introduction to the upholstered bed we bought nearly a year ago.
Why a new bed? At first glance our new bed doesn’t look wildly different from what was there before. Both headboards are a light, wheat-colored linen that suits the calm, low-contrast bedroom palette we’ve been working toward. The real change is that this is a fully upholstered bed—headboard plus side and footboards—rather than the previous setup that used a metal frame with a separate DIY headboard.
For years we moved pieces around, chopped an Ikea canopy bed and swapped frames between rooms, always trying to find the right grounded look. Ultimately we wanted a proper bed with a boxspring rather than a mattress sitting directly on slats. After five years of swapping and reupholstering, we finally ordered a fully upholstered bed. It took a lot of research and indecision, but it was worth it.
The upgrade also let us move our old headboard and the modified Ikea bed to the beach house, so we essentially ended up getting the bed we wanted for our main bedroom while recycling pieces for another space. The familiar bed frame we’d lived with for years—affectionately referred to as “Ed the Bed”—has been part of our home projects for almost a decade, but our new upholstered bed finally feels polished and complete.
I love this bed so much I’ve even considered buying another for the beach house. The model we chose is the Sanford Linen Upholstered Panel Bed, which we ordered last November. It comes in standard sizes and a few colors; we picked a warm “talc” linen tone that sits just on the warm side of gray-beige and adapts well to different wall colors. One of the biggest draws was the price: it looks more expensive than it is and gives the room a timeless, clean-lined feel.
In person the fabric texture reads like linen, and the headboard has vertical side panels—small wings that add a cozy, finished detail. The bed requires a boxspring, which we prefer for mattress support and the overall look. Note: if your mattress is thinner than ours, you might see a small gap between the mattress top and the headboard; that’s an easy fix with a mattress pad or strategic pillow placement.
Now, about curtains. Curtains are surprisingly tricky. Our previous panels were wheat-colored finds from HomeGoods, but after installing crisp white curtains throughout the beach house, I wanted white panels in the bedroom again to brighten and freshen the space. We bought Ikea Lenda curtains—they’re affordable, washable, and have a substantial weight similar to higher-end options. The challenge: Ikea’s product photos don’t always show how the panels look once modified and properly finished, which led to confusion for some readers when we mentioned them.
We lived with these curtains in a messy, unironed state for nearly a year. Curtains can sink to the bottom of the priority list—life is busy—but once properly prepared they transform the room. Ikea’s Lenda panels are cost-effective: their 98″ panels work well in standard-height rooms and are washable, making them a practical choice for homes with kids and pets.
Here’s our process for turning Ikea Lenda curtains into polished, floor-grazing panels without expensive tailoring:
- Pre-shrink: Wash them warm and tumble dry on high to pre-shrink. This prevents future laundering from turning them into highwaters.
- Remove tabs: Cut off the factory tabs at the top along the sewn line so you can create a cleaner header.
- Create a folded top: Fold the top edge over once toward the back so the raw edge is hidden and it reads like a finished seam.
- Attach ring clips: Clip ring clips along the fold—about six per panel for our size—to hang them neatly on a rod.
- Hang high and wide: Install the rod a few inches below the ceiling and extend it beyond the window trim for maximum height and fullness.
- Steam or iron: Steam while hanging with two people, or take them down and iron for the smoothest finish.
- Adjust the hem: After pre-shrinking, fold the bottom to achieve a slight break at the floor and reclip. This avoids sewing and lets you tweak length later if needed.
This approach gives a clean, soft look that adds height and warmth to a room without the cost or maintenance concerns of custom drapery. We completed the bedroom for just a fraction of what custom curtains would cost and now the space feels finished.
Paint color in the room is Edgecomb Gray, our go-to warm griege that pairs exceptionally well with the linen tones of the bed and the crisp white curtains. Between the upholstered bed and properly finished curtains, the bedroom finally feels calm, cohesive, and lived-in in the best way.
And for anyone wondering: no, dogs don’t have to adult—our little Burger prefers lounging on the bed and soaking up the comfort we worked so hard to create.
