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Wall-to-wall bedroom windows can be a beautiful feature. It can also pose a tricky design dilemma when you’d like to hang art above your bed, and there’s nothing but curtains behind it. Not for designer Sarah Sherman Samuel, though. Despite having zero wall space, the triple threat — interior, furniture, and product designer — devised a clever solution to display a beautiful macrame wall hanging over her bed.
Her trick? She hangs the artwork in front of the curtains. “With the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall drapery, and the ivory monochrome color palette, above the bed is really the one big moment for art in the room,” explains Samuel.
By installing two screw-eye hooks into the ceiling and attaching a white chain to each hook, she is able to hang just about any kind of art she likes above her bed. Even better, the mechanics of the installation fade into the curtains, leaving the art itself as the focal point.
According to Samuel, the macrame wall hanging is all about introducing a bit of warmth and a texture to her Michigan bedroom. “We have tile floors and a mostly all-ivory space, so to keep it from feeling too cold, I like to play up soft layers,” she says. “For example, the macrame piece by Maryanne Moodie, which has textured billowy layers in itself, when hung in front of the soft rippled fabric drapery, has a tactile feel that immediately reads as cozy.”
While the stylish fiber art is the latest piece she’s chosen to display, Samuel isn’t afraid to change things up. In the past, she has opted to show off wildly different furnishings above her bed, like this arched mirror and this large-scale circular art, both of which completely change the look and feel of her bedroom. “It’s fun to be able to switch up the art,” says Samuel, “to give the space an entirely different vibe.”
If there’s anything Samuel’s savvy, art-layered-over-the-curtains trick proves, it’s that a wall of drapery behind your bed can be just as versatile a backdrop as a plain wall. And you definitely don’t have to commit to one piece of art forever. Something as simple as swapping out the art above your bed can give your space a whole new look.
