Freestanding pieces
Custom bedheads made in Adelaide
A custom bedhead in Adelaide costs $900 to $3,200, and most land between $1,400 and $2,200. Build time is 4 to 8 weeks. It is the cheapest way to change a bedroom, and it is the piece most often built to the wrong height, because it gets sized to the mattress instead of to the wall and the pillows.
Below is the height and width maths, the difference between a wall-mounted and a frame-mounted head, what upholstery actually buys you, and the 2 fabric numbers worth asking about. A bedhead is often the first custom piece someone commissions, so how to brief a maker is worth 5 minutes first, along with what custom work costs in Adelaide. If the bedroom is being done properly, built-in wardrobes are worth quoting in the same conversation.
Height and width
Size it to the wall and the pillows, not the mattress
This is the mistake that turns up again and again. A bedhead ordered at 900mm tall, measured up from the mattress, ends up almost entirely hidden behind a pillow stack once the bed is made.
| Bed size | Mattress width | Bedhead width | Top of bedhead above floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| King single | 1,060mm | 1,160 - 1,260mm | 1,150 - 1,300mm |
| Double | 1,370mm | 1,470 - 1,570mm | 1,200 - 1,350mm |
| Queen | 1,530mm | 1,630 - 1,730mm | 1,200 - 1,400mm |
| King | 1,830mm | 1,930 - 2,030mm | 1,300 - 1,450mm |
| Super king | 2,030mm | 2,130 - 2,230mm | 1,350 - 1,500mm |
Work it in this order. Measure the floor to the top of the mattress: on a standard base that is 550mm to 620mm, and on a high base with a pillow-top mattress it can be 700mm. Add 300mm for the pillow stack, and another 100mm if European pillows sit behind them. That gives you the line where the bedhead starts to be visible. Everything above that line is what people see, and you want at least 350mm to 450mm of it.
That maths is why 1,200mm to 1,400mm above the floor is the answer for most beds, and why a high base needs 1,400mm to 1,550mm. In a pre-1940 Adelaide villa or bungalow with 2,700mm to 3,300mm ceilings, going taller reads better: 1,500mm to 1,700mm holds the wall properly. The one hard stop is the picture rail. Finish the bedhead 60mm to 100mm below it, or run past it deliberately with a rebated back. Landing exactly on the rail looks like an accident.
Width is simpler and gets ignored just as often. The bedhead should overhang the mattress by 50mm to 100mm each side. Built to the exact mattress width it looks undersized the moment the bedding goes on, because a doona sits proud of the mattress edge. Built much wider than 100mm each side it starts to read as a feature wall rather than a bedhead, which is a legitimate choice but a different one, and it should be priced as such.
Mounting
Wall-mount on a French cleat, not bolted to the bed
A French cleat is 2 matching strips of 18mm to 25mm ply or 90 x 19mm hardwood, each cut at 45 degrees. One half is fixed to the wall, the other to the back of the bedhead, and the bedhead drops on and locks under its own weight. It carries a 40kg upholstered king without complaint and it lifts off in seconds.
On carpet, this is not a preference. A bedhead bolted to a bed base sits on a floor that gives. The base settles into the pile, the head tips back into the plaster, and the top edge rubs a polished shadow into the paint over about a year. A wall-mounted head never touches the bed at all, so the bed can be pulled out to make it without moving anything.
In a rental, it is also the practical choice. Fixing a cleat is 6 to 8 screws, all of them behind the bed, and the make-good is filler and a touch-up. Removing it takes 5 minutes and the bedhead fits the next place, which a frame-mounted head does not: it is tied to that base and its bolt pattern forever, so replacing the bed writes the bedhead off.
What the wall is made of changes the fixing, and Adelaide is split. In a build from the 1970s onward you are fixing into timber or steel studs at 450mm or 600mm centres with 65mm to 75mm screws, and 3 studs is plenty. In a pre-1940 villa or bungalow the internal walls are usually solid brick, sometimes with battens and lath under the plaster. There are no studs to find. That is masonry anchors into the brick, and any batten cavity behind the plaster has to be packed solid so the cleat is not bridging a void. Tell the maker which one you have before they quote the install.
Send these 5 numbers
- 1.Bed size, and the mattress width if it is not a standard one.
- 2.Floor to the top of the mattress, with the mattress on the base.
- 3.Wall width available, and anything on it: a window, a switch, a picture rail.
- 4.Ceiling height, and the picture rail height if there is one.
- 5.Wall type: stud, or solid brick under the plaster.
Build type
Timber, upholstered or hybrid
These 4 builds cover almost everything commissioned in Adelaide. The prices below are for a queen, and a king adds roughly 15%.
Timber panel or slatted
$900 - $1,700A framed panel or a run of slats in solid timber or veneer. The cheapest build and the most durable, with nothing to wear out. It is also the only version that will not go out of date with a fabric trend.
Upholstered flat panel
$1,200 - $2,20050mm of 28 to 32kg/m3 foam over 12mm to 18mm ply, wrapped in 200 to 300gsm dacron and covered. Ask for those numbers. Cheap bedheads use 25mm of 16kg/m3 foam over 9mm MDF, which flattens in a year and telegraphs the board edge through the fabric.
Channelled or buttoned upholstery
$1,800 - $3,000Vertical channels or a deep-buttoned face. It is 6 to 10 extra hours of upholstery and it uses 25% to 40% more fabric, because every channel and every button pull swallows material. Buttoning also traps dust, which matters if anyone in the house has hay fever.
Hybrid: timber frame, upholstered insert
$2,000 - $3,200A solid timber surround with a padded panel set into it. The most-requested build in Adelaide right now, and technically the trickiest, because the timber frame moves with humidity and the upholstered insert does not.
Not every furniture maker upholsters. Plenty build the timber frame and send the padded work to a trimmer, which is fine and normal, but it adds a week or 2 and it means 2 trades in the quote. Ask up front who does the upholstery. More on judging that in what to look for in an Adelaide furniture maker, and realistic timings in our lead-time guide.
Fabric
Only 2 numbers matter, and rub count is not really one of them
Every fabric sample book leads with a Martindale rub count. On a bedhead it is close to irrelevant, and the numbers that decide how it looks in 3 years are printed further down the tag.
Martindale measures abrasion. General domestic upholstery is rated 15,000 to 25,000 rubs, and heavy commercial goes past 40,000. A bedhead is leant against, not sat on, so 15,000 to 20,000 is genuinely enough. Paying a premium for a 40,000 rub fabric on a bedhead buys durability you will never use.
Pilling resistance is the first number that matters, rated 1 to 5. Pure linen is the fabric everyone wants on a bedhead, and it is the one that pills and creases fastest, because the fibres are long, soft and prone to lifting where a head or a hand rubs the same spot nightly. A tight linen-cotton weave or a good linen-look blend gives the same look and holds its face far longer. If you want true linen, take it with your eyes open and accept a shaver in the bedside drawer.
Light fastness is the second, rated 1 to 8 on the blue wool scale, and it is where Adelaide is genuinely harder than most of the country. A west-facing bedroom window here puts direct sun across the bed for close to 2 hours on a February afternoon. An undyed natural or a deep colour rated at 4 will go patchy in 2 summers, with a hard line where the curtain sat. Specify 5 or better for any bedroom with west or north glass.
The timber question specific to a bedhead
A timber bedhead is one wide vertical panel, often 1,700mm or more across, fixed flat to a wall. That is the worst possible geometry for solid timber in a dry climate, because the panel wants to shrink across its width and the wall will not let it. Adelaide sits under 30% relative humidity indoors for long stretches in summer, and a glued-up solid panel screwed rigidly to a cleat will split.
The correct construction is framed: a solid timber frame with the panel floating in a groove, free to move, or a veneered panel on ply which barely moves at all. Both are standard practice. Ask which one you are getting, because a photo cannot tell you. Species options and how each behaves here are covered in our timber guide for Adelaide.
FAQ
Custom bedheads in Adelaide: common questions
How much does a custom bedhead cost in Adelaide?
Between $900 and $3,200, with most landing between $1,400 and $2,200. A plain timber panel or slatted bedhead in a queen starts the range. A channelled or buttoned upholstered king, or a hybrid with a solid timber frame around an upholstered insert, sits at the top of it. A wall-length bedhead with integrated bedsides runs past $3,200 into joinery pricing.
How high should a bedhead be?
Measure from the floor, not from the mattress. A standard bed base puts the mattress top at 550mm to 620mm, and the bedhead should finish 1,200mm to 1,400mm above the floor. A high base or a thick mattress pushes that to 1,400mm to 1,550mm. The pillows sit 250mm to 300mm above the mattress, so anything under 1,100mm disappears behind them.
How wide should a bedhead be for a king bed?
An Australian king mattress is 1,830mm wide, so the bedhead wants to be 1,930mm to 2,030mm: overhanging 50mm to 100mm each side. That overhang is what makes it read as deliberate rather than undersized. Queen is 1,530mm, so 1,630mm to 1,730mm. Double is 1,370mm, so 1,470mm to 1,570mm.
Should a bedhead be wall-mounted or attached to the bed?
Wall-mounted on a French cleat, in almost every case. A frame-mounted bedhead is tied to that specific base and its bolt pattern, so replacing the bed makes the bedhead scrap. On carpet it is worse: the base settles into the pile, the head rocks against the plaster and polishes a shadow into the paint within a year.
What fabric should I choose for an upholstered bedhead?
A bedhead is a low-abrasion surface, so a Martindale rub count of 15,000 to 20,000 is genuinely enough and paying for 40,000 buys you nothing. The 2 numbers that matter here are pilling resistance and light fastness. Pure linen looks right and pills, so a tight linen-cotton or a linen-look blend holds its face far better in daily use.
Can I take a wall-mounted bedhead with me if I move?
Yes, and that is the main argument for a French cleat. The bedhead lifts straight off the wall in seconds and leaves 6 to 8 filled screw holes behind a bed in the next tenant's room. Reinstalling means fixing one 90 x 19mm timber cleat level at the right height. It works in a rental in a way a frame-mounted head does not.
Keep reading
You might also find this useful
- How to choose a furniture makerFurniture making is not a licensed trade in South Australia. These are the 9 checks that filter the field.Read it
- Choosing timber for an Adelaide homeWhich species suit the driest mainland capital, how each moves, and what each one adds to a quote.Read it
- Built-in and custom wardrobesThe other bedroom piece, priced per linear metre, and the one that pays back most in an older Adelaide home.Read it
Start here
Get your bedhead priced by Adelaide makers
Send us the bed size, the mattress height off the floor and whether you want timber or upholstered. We match it to makers who do this work, check them, and they quote you directly.
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