Josef Frank Headboard

Austrian architect and furniture and fabric designer Josef Frank was a leading voice for a gentle, humane modernism. His advocacy of warm, comfortable, eclectically styled environments was highly influential in his adopted country of Sweden, and it’s now widely regarded as a harbinger of the backlash against doctrinaire modernism and the embrace of the homespun that occurred in the late 1960s.

The son of a successful Viennese textile manufacturer, Frank studied architecture at Vienna University of Technology, graduating in 1910. From the first years of his practice, he marched counter to the orderly, symmetrical architectural layouts and decors prescribed by contemporaries such as Adolf Loos.

Frank drafted rooms of varying shapes and called for flexible interior-design arrangements. His furniture pieces are light and easy to move — and his chairs are always made of wood, most often with lushly curved steam-bent arms and slatted backs. Frank openly loathed the tubular steel furnishings and “machine for living” aesthetic promoted by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other Bauhaus principals. “The home must not be a mere efficient machine,” Frank once said. “It must offer comfort, rest and coziness…. There are no puritan principles in good interior decoration.”

Frank — who was Jewish — sensed the dire implications of the rise of Nazism in Germany and Austria, and in 1933 he moved to Stockholm with his Swedish wife, Anna. He became the design chief for the furnishings maker Svenskt Tenn and found a perfect match culturally for his brand of simple, relaxed and bright creations. Like many modernists — notably Charles and Ray Eames and Alexander Girard — Frank had a deep love of folk art, which influenced his designs for a wide array of colorful, richly patterned upholstery fabrics, many based on the classic “Tree of Life” motif.

In all his designs, Frank took inspiration from a broad variety of sources. In his furniture, one can discern traces of Asian patterns, Rococo, Italian Renaissance, Scandinavian handicrafts and even Chippendale pieces. As such, the work of Frank — the friendly modernist — is at home in any type of décor.

Find vintage Josef Frank pillows, armchairs, floor lamps and other furniture on 1stDibs.

No matter what kind of bedroom furniture you prefer — be it lavish, low-key or minimalist — your bedroom will always be your own personal sanctuary. But it didn’t start that way. It wasn’t until around the 19th century that the bedroom became a realm of privacy. For many Europeans in the medieval era, eating, congregating and sleeping all took place in a single room, and later, royalty such as Louis XIV of France worked on legal orders while sitting in his bed, surrounded by members of his court.

Now, we return to our bedrooms for solace, private space and intimacy. We’ve certainly come a long way, and so has our bedroom furniture.

Whether you’re seeking bright or moody, Baroque or mid-century modern, consider the amount of time that will be spent in this space. Don’t choose furnishings you won’t enjoy looking at every day.

The most important piece of bedroom furniture is, not surprisingly, the bed. When shopping for a bed and bed frame, keep the size of your bedroom in mind — you’ll need to navigate your way around the bed during your daily routine. Bed sizes range from twin to king, and there is also the California king. At 76 inches wide and 80 inches long, a king-size bed is approximately 16 inches wider than a queen-size mattress, and your bed frame will probably add two to five inches to each side. (The California king bed is 84 inches long.)

If you’re putting together design ideas for a large bedroom, why not go all out? A king platform bed is low-profile and minimalist — a mattress is placed directly on a simple and solid frame, which offers support without a box spring. A traditional bed sees a mattress rest on a box spring or foundation.

Smaller bedrooms or guest rooms could benefit from something more streamlined, such as a vintage daybed. The important thing is not to choose a bed that is too big for your space. After all, you still need to squeeze in an Italian nightstand and an elegant American of Martinsville dresser.

Headboards can make or break the style of a bedroom. If you are going for a clean and contemporary look, maybe a headboard isn’t the best fit, but if not having a headboard will keep you up at night, there are plenty of options. Rattan headboards are a great choice to top off a casual country theme. Alternately, you can think of the headboard as a statement piece. With maximalism riding high in the design world, bedrooms are getting on board with vibrant upholstered headboards, and an upholstered bed may very well be the one thing you need to pull the entire look of your bedroom furniture together.

Once your bedding is situated, shift your focus to other pieces for the room.

The size of your closet will have an impact on the size and amount of furniture you need. If you have a small closet, for example, a larger dresser is going to come in handy. If you are lucky enough to have a large walk-in closet, you can utilize the extra bedroom space for other pieces, such as an antique or vintage nightstand.

Turn your humdrum bedroom into a dramatic hideaway that you never want to leave — find vintage, new and antique bedroom furniture today on 1stDibs.