Can I put up a canopy with a case study bed?

January 11, 2012 3:15 PM

Bedroom Design Help. Case Study bed with Canopy and LED?

I'm building a case study bed. I really like postmodern design but mostly as a piece by piece basis. The entire room as minimalist with clean lines doesn't mesh well with my tastes. I like cozy as well.

But I'm wondering if I could put up some LED lights and sheer fabric or something more masculine (I'm a guy) above the bed as something like this but without the big lights and draped more billowy? I don't want a four poster canopy but just draping the fabric over the bed with some LED?

I know this isn't great design, but I'm wondering if it will look really bad or weird to others?

posted by penguinkeys to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Best answer: I used to live in an 1920s apartment building originally made for newlywed couples. The ceilings in that sucker were enormous, 10-13 ft. high. So to make my bed cozier, I took a big piece of transparent, billowy fabric, and simply tacked to the plaster wall with thumbtacks wherever I wanted it attached. The position of the anchor points helped determine fall and drape and I let the excess trail down the wall behind my headboard. Then I took some string lights-- you know, the kind that are basically Christmas lights in a flexible plastic tube-- and tacked them to the corner of the wall under the canopy. Everyone who saw it, male or female, loved it, and it made a great reading/sleeping nook!
posted by WidgetAlley at 3:38 PM on January 11, 2012

Best answer: I'm worried the harshness of the LEDs(admittedly adjustable), without the mitigation of the paper lanterns' material, will fail to evenly spread the light across whatever fabric you place. It'll look chintzy as a result... like a horrible christmas decoration. Unless that 'star field' effect is mandatory for this project, what about using some directional lighting to cast a softer glow throughout whatever fabric you end up choosing?

Using something sheerer than the example, it'll be hard to have the room come across as a masculine space, as you've mentioned; additionally, something more billowy than that example may risk being completely at odds with the shape of your room, making it look cluttered. What if instead of a four poster canopy you hang thick, 1.5' strips of a more solid fabric straight from the ceiling to about 1" off the floor, cut into a wave outline? These can break up the minimalist, angled feel and add some pattern interruption without breaking the room's rectangular nature too badly.
posted by MangyCarface at 3:48 PM on January 11, 2012

Best answer: Sounds like it would be gorgeous!

For more inspiration on how to make the fabric look a bit less like you hung a sheet from the ceiling: hanging fabric ceiling image search
posted by homodachi at 3:49 PM on January 11, 2012

Best answer: There's a round up of a few similar ideas on apartment therapy here. This one in particular, I think is similar to what you are suggesting.

I think it looks lovely, and more importantly, a lot of other people must think so too for it to have made it to a feature photo on AT.
posted by lollusc at 5:04 PM on January 11, 2012

Best answer: My best friend had a large, lofty studio that needed to be divided. She bought this snow white camouflage netting from an Army Navy store and put it up. Very cozy, yet modern. And it's slightly more interesting, architecturally, than just a white sheer fabric. I think it could work!
posted by functionequalsform at 5:07 PM on January 11, 2012

Response by poster: Thank you all for the suggestions. It's given me a lot more to think about and new directions to consider.
posted by penguinkeys at 4:40 PM on January 12, 2012