There’s a lot going on in Jeff Goldblum’s home in the Hollywood Hills in between the aerial rig behind the guesthouse and the completely pink home fitness center (his other half is an experienced aerialist and a previous Olympic balanced gymnast). Amongst the sophisticated, ’70s-style interiors, however, I was fascinated by one comparatively banal piece: the extra-large reinforce pillow in his self-identified “nap space.”
As somebody who’s never been one to “design” her bed (I am ethically opposed to ironing my sheets, which are, as a result, drastically neglected), I ruminate obsessively about what makes a bed appearance regal and polished with the least effort. The answer emerged in Goldblum’s home tour: cushioned between an orange velour headboard, atop a floral quilt and color-block throw, stood one very long, cylindrical bolster pillow.The humble device that when embellished passing out couches in early 19th-century portraiture is appearing throughout contemporary bedrooms, from Ariel Kaye’s house to Brunch With Babs’s Connecticut home to this Palm Beach Spanish-style retreat. It presides over Sarah Sherman Samuel’s four-poster bed in this Grand Rapids”castle gone wrong” reno. Colin King, stylist to the stars, designed one that anchors its matching bedscape in his 2023 Cultiver cooperation. The main bedroom of Parachute founder Ariel Kaye’s Los Angeles home is equipped with Parachute’s Canyon Bed in faux shearling and matching Parachute bed linen. It is accented by a Clare Grill painting. Head sculpture by Carmen D’Apollonio; pendant light by Lindsey Adelman; circa 1969 Italian Murano glass flooring lamp by Carlos Nason; Oushak carpet from Lawrence of La Brea. Photo: Laure Joliet, Art: Clare Grill/M+B, Los Angeles.”More standard material treatments are making a comeback, and bolsters belong to that world,”Heather Peterson, a Minneapolis-based designer, informs me of the strengthen’s current popularity.Loui Burke has developed a following on Instagram around authoritative bed-making standards.
He informs me: “The most refined beds aren’t usually the ones with the most pillows. They’re the ones with the best proportions. On a larger bed, smaller square cushions can feel uncomfortable, whereas a long bolster or back continues the shape of the bed and offers it a cleaner, more tailored appearance.”Where everything else on a bed is soft and inclined to go slack, the strengthen, typically foam-or feather-filled, holds its line. The result is a bed that looks tidy and made up rather than slept-in– artfully set up, and honestly, a little pleased with its own posture.