Now, something has bugged me for the longest time when watching US make over TV shows like Queer Eye. And it’s cropped up again when I was idly perusing homes in Montecito (wow, those prices are punchy). It’s beds that back onto windows - the headboards. It’s something I only ever see in US shows, and now I’m wondering… is this a thing? Or just a thing on shows/realtor sites that are trying to show off a room to its best viewpoint without ever sleeping in it because… when you’re in bed, don’t you want to be able to look out of the window? It just seems to fly in the face of feng shui.
I’ve just remembered it’s also in The Holiday when Kate Winslet is jumping on the bed in excitement.
So Dopers please help me, does your headboard back onto your window?
Not really. Our headboard is below a small, high window that does little more than let in a bit of light. Our actual bedroom window is to the side of the bed.
It bugs me like crazy, too! I always yell at the “designers” on TV shows that do this. Especially when there’s only one window in the room. Why do you want to block out half your light??? Also, wouldn’t it be colder if your windows are not well sealed?
I’ve got my bed placed so that the headboard is below the window. That just seemed to to be the place where it worked best given the layout of the room. I guess I could place it against the other wall so that it’s to the side of the window, but then I’m not sure where the dresser would go. I’m not sure there’d be room for it next to the bed in that arrangement. If I put it against the wall with the window it would partially block the window. If I put it against the wall that would be across from the foot of the bed in that arrangement I’m not sure there’s be enough space to walk between the bed and the dresser. The remaining wall is taken up by the closet door and the door to the bedroom, so no furniture can go there.
Mrs. Bookkeeper and I also despise this. Aside from the loss of light and view, how do you manage to open and shut the curtains/blinds, or even the window when the bed is in the way?
My bed doesn’t have a literal headboard, but the bed is positioned with the head below a window. I don’t really understand what the OP is saying is wrong with that. There are other windows in the room if I want to look out a window, but normally when I’m in bed for sleep, the shades are closed, and it’s dark outside anyway so there’s nothing to see.
Our bed back is in front of a window, although it is covered in sheet rock on the inside. It was the room of the daughter of the guy who built the house. Perhaps she didn’t want a window seeing/seen by the neighbors.
Yes, but it never occurred to me to lay in the bed facing the window. Frankly it would be pointless since all I’d see is the top of the other houses and the sky.
My bed is that way with one window. I find it’s common in bedrooms with two windows not to really have a choice. Especially if you follow the usual “bed faces the door” setup.
And, no, I don’t tend to look outside in my bedroom. It’s the first place that gets curtains. Keeps out the lights at night and allows it still to somewhat dark during the day, when the sun starts rising earlier.
In Anchorage we had no choice because of the way the bedroom was designed with wall-to-wall closets and an en suite bathroom. Too bad, as the windows looked out on a beautiful green space full of evergreens and birch trees. Other than that particular home, neither of our other homes were set up like that, nor is this apartment. Windows are to the side.
Our bedroom is a double-length rectangle, with a window at each (narrow) end and the door half-way down the side. When we bought the house, the previous owners kept their bed in the middle of the room, facing the door. We kept the same arrangement because the electrical outlets were laid out for it. Our BIL said it wasn’t very feng shui to have our feet towards the door, something about coffins. We didn’t care about that aspect, but it made the other pieces of furniture seem a bit lost on either side.
When we remodeled a few years later, we moved the bed to one end of the room, under the window, and made a reading nook at the other end of the room. There’s a heat/cooling vent under each window, so the bed is maybe 30 cm from the wall to keep it clear. When I wake up, I can look up to see the sky, or look towards my feet to see if it’s snowing, etc. Back when my hubby worked nights, we added some blinds so he could sleep during the day, and yes they were awkward to manipulate. But we’re adults now, we’re allowed to kneel or stand on the bed.
I feel like some of the places I’ve lived have had one window in the middle of the wall, and so inevitably that’s where the headboard went. Generally speaking the layout of the room seems to dictate where it’s going to go.
I have one large window in the middle of the wall - my bedhead is on the opposite wall with my feet pointing towards the window. Door to the right of the bed. So I get to see what colour the sky is in the morning. I stayed in a hotel where the bed backed onto the window and I hated it.
There’s no way we could put our bed in front of one window and still reach the bathroom, and putting it under the other window would mean no night stands as well as limited access to the closets, so this isn’t an issue for us.
My MIL’s room is almost too small for a queen bed and a dresser, and the bed has to sit under the smaller window. There’s no headboard and I doubt she’ll ever want that window open, so it’s not a big deal. When it was our guest room, I’d just kneel on the bed to open the window.