Look for old wood privacy fence boards cast offs or placed at the curb or better yet call your local fence companies or installers and request that they either save it for you or let you know where the old boards are being disposed of. You can usually find a few boards still with enough meat on their bones to veneer a small space with. Use them to veneer an accent wall or a headboard as you might. These could also be re-sawn in half edgewise by a band saw for more of a true veneer. Save the scraps as test pieces for your finish choices.

For me it totally depends on the style of room. I currently have a plain chic leather one which works well in my room as its not vast. But when a room is very large, then a headboard can be an incredible feature. The great thing about headboards is that they can add such depth to a space, either by way of colour, texture or intricate detailing they are also great alternatives to Mirrors and art if you want the bed to take centre stage.

I think if you look online you will see tall headboards that are more cost effective than making your own. Tall headboards give a modern look do perhaps you should put a roman blind at the small window. Something should also be the same height as the window- this doesn't have to be the headboard- it could be a picture. If you are just going to paper one wall I say do the wall opposite the bed as the bed wall has plenty going on and when you sit in bed you will want something to look at.

Thank you so much for all your comments, really kind of you. Read Interiors will take your advice and get a wall mounted headboard, will start calling upholsterers tomorrow to get prices. Daisy, yes I do have a vax from the last house and the newer models are much better than the previous ones in terms of drying times. Vicki thanks for the name of the stretch valance as I couldn't find them on Google apart from on House of Fraser but they have limited colours and were pretty pricey at £100 or so! Angm, funnily enough I had this conversation with the carpet man as when I lifted the 50 year old carpet I noticed there was paper down and he explained that was why. He said it was also a good idea to tape any joins in underlay as well as the carpet but said a lot of fitters don't do this. Forzaitalia and Sam appreciate the insights and very interesting given your experiences Corbridge Interior design interesting point re rug and sizing I am still torn!!!! But I am probably moving towards carpets. I think the pics make the floor look better than it is! Noise wouldn't be a problem as we are in a bungalow, which is why I am concerned about the kids walking into their rooms on carpet having forgotten to take their shoes off! If it was upstairs I would definitely go with carpet! Aargh decisions, decisions!