embossed leather headboard
In a Mystique penthouse, a full-wall, embossed leather headboard by Michael Schmidt Custom Interiors makes an artistic statement. (Photo by Tina Sargeant)
Headboards have come a long way from their intended use as a simple barrier between the wall and bed, and to keep sleepers’ heads warm at night. Now, headboards are often decorative statements. In their most impressive forms, modern iterations extend beyond the bed frame to span the entire wall. For the primary bedroom in a Naples Mystique condo, designer Chad Jensen of METHOD & CONCEPT commissioned Michael Schmidt Custom Interiors to create a headboard that would reflect light and add materiality to the room. With a slightly iridescent finish and embossed leather that looks like shagreen, the oversized headboard complements the two-tone gray bed and antique rock crystal-and-amethyst chandelier overhead. The homeowner planned to hang art over the wall, but once she saw the quilted upholstery, the headboard was all the art she needed. “It was too attractive. I couldn’t bear to lose any of the visage of the beautiful wall,” she says.