For years, regular bedsheets have been used to do much more than just serve as bedding! By using flat sheets, you could easily and affordably create all kinds of soft furnishings — like this rainbow canopy decor.
Especially in the 1960s and 1970s, companies happily promoted all the creative ways sheets could be used, running beautiful ads showing how even people who didn’t like to sew could decorate with them to create curtains and canopies, bedspreads and headboards, throw pillows and tablecloths, wallcoverings and ceiling shirring.
Here’s another example of sheets being used to create a canopy bed, also from back in 1973:
Making retro rainbow canopy bed decor
So, captivated by the decorative possibilities of using bright and vibrant retro 70s sheet sets, interior designer Angelo Donghia created this colorful, whimsical rainbow canopy bed decor.
Back in the early 1970s, he dramatized a tall tester bed in a child’s room by enclosing the bedposts in marvelous flounces of J P Stevens’ vintage “Rainbow” sheets (see if they’re available on eBay here).
Then, using the same potent pattern, he reduced the tall ceiling’s height with a balanced canopy of shirring.
To cover the bedframe, the decorator arranged the flat sheets horizontally — making the very top a band of pink — but they could also be turned vertically, or used at a diagonal, for a different effect.
Inside the canopy, a pale sky blue fabric was used as a backing for the colorful striped material.
Rainbows echoed in the padded, arched headboard against quiet, pewter walls, and the whole room was set upon a silvery gray carpet.
Next to the bed was a simple rectangular accent table, which was entirely colored in hot pink. A cloud white lamp and shade sat on the far side of the room.
MORE: See 70 beautiful vintage canopy beds from the 1970s
Also in the room were two pink and orange armless padded modern-style chairs that were upholstered in vinyl.
