This year seems to be about making your home a cave—colour drenching in deep colours, nooks galore—our homes that once prided themselves on being large and light are now becoming dark enclosures.
The most interesting take on this trend has to be the use of dead space. Nooks are now reading corners, offices built under the stairs and bars are made of mere storage closets.
There are many creative ideas that use every inch of the home. The one that catches our attention is the alcove bed. Whether you enclose the area with curtains or sliding doors, it makes your bed feel like a completely different space to the rest of your room. It’s a perfect touch for someone in a studio apartment or bedroom that they have friends over in.
Here are the best takes on the trend that we have seen and how you can achieve them on a budget.
*This article contains affiliate links, so Broke in Tweed may earn a commission if you click and make a purchase*
Curtain Alcove Bed
We love this curtain alcove bed not only for the uniformity—the matching bed valance is a great way to cover cheap bed frame legs. There’s so many different fabrics you can choose from to fit your design style.
This is by far the most affordable of the designs out there—although you can jazz it up with extra storage or shelving, you just need fabric to sew a pelmet (the top fabric panel above the curtains) and to make matching curtains that reach from floor to ceiling. You can use a curtain pole and attach that to the back of the pelmet or attach a curtain track to the ceiling.
For a neutral look, this putty linen-mix fabric allows you to keep the space feeling light and airy—especially if you have a window by the bed. The modern maximalist would love this deep floral fabric—it’s also perfect for adding country charm.
Farmhouse Style Alcove Bed
When @belgravevilla posted this DIY project, we loved it not only for the quality of the final result but also the honest pricing. All of the products have been listed in their description with pricing and they’ve given instructions on how to build this yourself.
If you’re thinking of recreating this bed and looking for curtains and paints to decorate it, we love these blush pink pencil pleat curtains and Dulux’s Putting Green in Satinwood.
Alcove Bunk Bed
@Michaelisboyd’s design for this home in Notting Hill is perfect for a young kids’ bedroom or placing an office space under the bed in a studio apartment. The arch is a nice touch and easy to recreate.
Whilst the original will use some expensive materials, you’ll just need a wooden loft bed or bunk bed, some MDF, an electric jigsaw, brad nails and a nail gun. You can draw out the shape of the opening you want on the MDF boards and use the jigsaw to cut.
For arches, you can pin down some string to the centre of the board, set the string to the radius of the circle you want at the rounded part of the arch and attach the other end to a pencil to draw out a perfect rounded arch.
The boards can be attached to the bed frame using the brad nails and a nail gun in the same way that staple guns work for upholstery. The bed spindles can be covered with MDF boards too. Paint it your desired colour and consider filling the gaps with caulk and sanding the edges of the arch for a smooth and quality finish.
Leave a Reply