Bed against external wall

[ariel251408]

My youngest DD has her bed against an external wall & it can be a bit chilly. I'm trying to redo her bedroom for her and thinking it would be good to put something there to make it more cosy. Her headboard is fine but it's the length of the bed that's against the wall. I'm looking at double headboards but need something slim enough to fit down a 2 inch gap as her bed is fitted. Any suggestions?

Does she actually sleep against the wall when she's in bed? How old is she? Maybe an electric blanket? If the house is old or prone to damp I wouldn't put a double headboard along the edge of the bed. Insulating wallpaper could work if you're just worried about it being cold to the touch.

I would be wary of this in case it causes condensation.
In a previous house the external walls were really cold and if I had anything directly against them & blocking the heat of the room getting to them I would get condensation.

Yes I had no idea I had mould growing behind my heavy divan headboard so I got rid and the problem went away

Ah okay that's good info thanks I didn't think of this
Okay I'll go for a long big cushion instead. Thank you
Our house has been prone to mould on the windows this year too which has been annoying.

She's got fitted furniture along an external
wall Hope that's not causing a mould problem. I'll see if I can check some how

Even a big cushion can hide mould. Is there nowhere else the bed can go?

No. It's fitted furniture in her bedroom. She has 2 external walls....one has a bed & the other has toy storage. It's an awkward shape so we got fitted to maximise the space. In fact thinking about our house we have dressing tables fitted against external walls in 2 rooms so I guess there's not much I can do about that now.
At least with a large cushion I can remove it and check for any problems.

I had mould inside two sets of fitted wardrobes so after I cleaned it, I now leave the doors open slightly to let air circulate which prevents it from reappearing. Just keep an eye inside any fitted furniture on our side walls.

Our DS has a cabin style bed against an external wall and the wall gets mould if the bed is right up against it so we leave a little gap to air it. Hard when it's cold and damp this time of year!

I've checked our furniture and they have panels between the wall & units so I can't see behind. I guess I'll just keep an eye on it and see if any appears. When we brought the house it had fitted furniture and when we ripped that out there was nothing untowards behind it. I've read you can drill holes in to help circulation so that might be an option
I can't believe I didn't know this.

My home has an unheated bedroom which has had, by the previous occupants, cork tiles fixed to the wall under the window. No mould there, though there is on the window frame, as the current occipant keeps it shut. I have improved that with a dehumidifier. Not sure this helps. The tiles are quite thick, about a cm.

Thanks @Treaclemine we do keep windows open quite a lot in the whole house. I've just noticed that behind her toy storage there's a small gap where the plug is so hopefully some air getting behind there has helped.
I'm redecorating for her atm so I'll see what I can do to increase circulation behind the units but I think a drill will be required. Ill see if I can take the drawers out from under her bed to check behind there.

I was ready to drill holes but luckily the external walls did not have panels covering them.

I did have really bad mould on a wall which adjoined my garage, I think it is single brick but not external. I had not got round to having a headboard put on my bed so the mattress was pushed up against this wall. Not only was there black mould on the wall, my mattress and divan base were soaking wet! It probably didn’t help that the castors on the divan got lot in a recent house move so the base was directly on the floor with no air circulation under it!

I ordered a new bed, a wooden frame with legs, but had to dry out the mattress by sleeping with it next to a radiator as the new bed and mattress took four months to be delivered! It was during this waiting time that I found the mould in the wardrobes, I was paranoid after that!

Yeah we also found that our external walls that had headboards facing them had condensation behind headboards and the walls were really wet... Luckily no mould though.

If you're going to have a cushion then a feather pad and natural rather than synthetic fabric will be best.

We're thinking of putting cork on an external wall in DSs room to increase insulation. You can buy rolls of it rather than tiles. Plus he can use it as a noticeboard. A more disruptive option would be to get internal wall insulation (assuming you don't have cavity insulation).

One of the more expensive electric blankets that has the timer function might be nice for her depending on her age.