The year is 2021. It feels like everyone and their mother is making headboards out of pool noodles. And that’s largely because curved headboards are back in style, but arched decor hadn’t quite hit the big boxes or mass priced stores just yet. Now, though? If you’re into shopping for home furnishings at all, you’ve probably seen your fair share of semi-circle shaped designs and sophisticated scalloped pieces everywhere, especially in bed and headboard offerings. I’m about to tell you, though, that there’s a new-old bed silhouette starting to make waves again — what I’m calling peak headboards, which resemble the profile of two mountains with a valley in between.
I’m crediting the resurgence of this shape to designers Louisa Pierce and Emily Ward of Pierce & Ward, the Los Angeles — (and now also Alabama) — based interiors firm. This design duo has put a custom peak shaped bed or headboard into several of their latest celebrity design projects, including actor Johnny Galecki’s Architectural Digest-featured guest room in Nashville shot for the magazine’s March 2024 issue.
Visually, there’s something so fresh but also familiar about the peak shape. It combines clean lines and sharp angles but still looks soothing, perhaps because it’s reminiscent of a form from nature. The slopes can be curved, too, if you want to eliminate the pointed edges entirely and go with a gentler, double arch design. Either way you choose, the double slope is the perfect shape for sitting up in bed to read; a peak frames the head nicely as you lean back with a good book.
Pierce & Ward tend to go custom with high-end textiles when it comes to their peak headboards and beds, but you can find a few ready-made styles on the market right now. Some options are fabric while others resemble the wooden bed shown above. Take a look at these picks if you want to get ahead of the curve, literally. I think we’ll be seeing more of this interesting silhouette very soon.