I finally got our headboard made! It only took me 2 years.... I've been itching for an upholstered headboard since we got our new bed 2 years ago. I've been pinning headboards on Pinterest for a while to get some inspiration.
After a lot of thinking about what I liked, what I was willing to build and how much it would cost. I decided on a slight curve on the top with nail head trim around the edges. I found the fabric in the remnant pile at Hancocks. It's an upholstery fabric in a dark greyish-brown.
This was my inspiration pic of what I wanted to make.
Source
I'm going to give a rough tutorial on this, or rather what I did.
Since I wanted a slight curve on the top of the headboard, I took the plywood to my dad to cut the curve for me. After cutting it down to the size we wanted (38"x76"), we found the middle and I used some freezer paper to to draw half of a curve, then flipped it over to the other half. This is so both sides are exactly the same. Then my dad cut it using his jigsaw.
I took it home and sanded all the edges down and wiped it down with a wet cloth. I brought it inside and laid it down on the floor of our bedroom to work on. I started by cutting the foam down to size. When it fit just right I used some spray adhesive on the plywood and then laid the foam on top using heavy books to keep it in contact with the adhesive.
If you do this I have some tips. 1. I wouldn't suggest doing this inside unless you can open some windows (which I did). 2. It's a spray so there will be over-spray. Use a drop cloth.
I also sprayed the top of the foam and laid down some quilters batting. This helps hide the foam seams and softens the edges. I highly recommend this step. The batting was about $5 with a coupon at Hancocks (or JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby), for a package. I have a king sized bed so using the batting for a twin sized quilt (it says on the package) was perfect.
While waiting for all the adhesive to dry, I cut my fabric to size and ironed it.
Then I flipped the headboard up so I could lay the fabric down and then flipped the board over. This was the fun part in my opinion. I like to staple!
I'm sure there are tons of ways to do this and everyone has their own way so find what works for you. For me, I like to start on one end and staple it with a few staples, then move to the next side. When I get to a side that the opposite side has been stapled (clear as mud?) I start pulling to get it good and tight.
Now, for me after I finished putting in just a few staples on all sides I flipped it up and saw a big wrinkle. So, I just stood it up and pulled staples out of the top and redid all the staples pulling it as tight as I needed.
I was intending on using nail head trim all around the edges but I ran into a few problems. First, I didn't have anywhere near enough. I'd bought 4 packages of 24. I knew I didn't have enough but that's all I could get my hands on locally. Second, I think I should have done them before stapling the whole thing, but I didn't know for sure. After talking with David about it we decided to go without. I'd looked on Amazon for nail heads and it would have cost me about $25 to get the rest of the trim and I wasn't willing to do that. We also figured that if at a later time we wanted it we could probably do it.
We decided to hang the headboard on the wall instead of hooking it to the frame. We wanted it to be very secure. My dad suggested using a 2x4 attached to the wall (in the studs) then attach another to the headboard and then sit the hb 2x4 on top of the wall 2x4 and then screw 4" screws into both boards from the top. I hope that makes sense, if not and you want to know what I mean leave a comment and I'll try to explain better.
Ok, so after all of that, we were done!!! We put the mattresses back, remade the bed (with my new $17 king size sheets from Kohl's, thank you Black Friday!) And 2 weeks ago I made some new throw pillow covers. I love the patterned ones, they add so much life to the room. I tend to lean to monochromatic in my decorating, even when I try not to! So this touch of bold pattern (it's bold for me!) is just right for this room.
I LOVE IT! It finally feels like a real bed, and not just a set of mattresses shoved against the wall! It's cushy to lean on too. The wall that our bed is on is an outside wall and we have an old house and so in the colder months that wall is cold and without a headboard you could feel the cold air seeping into the bed. Now our bed will stay cozy! And David loves it too.
Ok here's a before:
And now the after again:
SO much better!
So that was my big project finally finished! If feels so good to be done and I'm so happy with the way it turned out.
Have you ever made a headboard? Was it upholstered or something else?
Comments make me Happy!
After a lot of thinking about what I liked, what I was willing to build and how much it would cost. I decided on a slight curve on the top with nail head trim around the edges. I found the fabric in the remnant pile at Hancocks. It's an upholstery fabric in a dark greyish-brown.
This was my inspiration pic of what I wanted to make.
I'm going to give a rough tutorial on this, or rather what I did.
Since I wanted a slight curve on the top of the headboard, I took the plywood to my dad to cut the curve for me. After cutting it down to the size we wanted (38"x76"), we found the middle and I used some freezer paper to to draw half of a curve, then flipped it over to the other half. This is so both sides are exactly the same. Then my dad cut it using his jigsaw.
I took it home and sanded all the edges down and wiped it down with a wet cloth. I brought it inside and laid it down on the floor of our bedroom to work on. I started by cutting the foam down to size. When it fit just right I used some spray adhesive on the plywood and then laid the foam on top using heavy books to keep it in contact with the adhesive.
If you do this I have some tips. 1. I wouldn't suggest doing this inside unless you can open some windows (which I did). 2. It's a spray so there will be over-spray. Use a drop cloth.
I also sprayed the top of the foam and laid down some quilters batting. This helps hide the foam seams and softens the edges. I highly recommend this step. The batting was about $5 with a coupon at Hancocks (or JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby), for a package. I have a king sized bed so using the batting for a twin sized quilt (it says on the package) was perfect.
While waiting for all the adhesive to dry, I cut my fabric to size and ironed it.
Then I flipped the headboard up so I could lay the fabric down and then flipped the board over. This was the fun part in my opinion. I like to staple!
 |
| Pic courtesy of Trey |
Now, for me after I finished putting in just a few staples on all sides I flipped it up and saw a big wrinkle. So, I just stood it up and pulled staples out of the top and redid all the staples pulling it as tight as I needed.
I was intending on using nail head trim all around the edges but I ran into a few problems. First, I didn't have anywhere near enough. I'd bought 4 packages of 24. I knew I didn't have enough but that's all I could get my hands on locally. Second, I think I should have done them before stapling the whole thing, but I didn't know for sure. After talking with David about it we decided to go without. I'd looked on Amazon for nail heads and it would have cost me about $25 to get the rest of the trim and I wasn't willing to do that. We also figured that if at a later time we wanted it we could probably do it.
We decided to hang the headboard on the wall instead of hooking it to the frame. We wanted it to be very secure. My dad suggested using a 2x4 attached to the wall (in the studs) then attach another to the headboard and then sit the hb 2x4 on top of the wall 2x4 and then screw 4" screws into both boards from the top. I hope that makes sense, if not and you want to know what I mean leave a comment and I'll try to explain better.
Ok, so after all of that, we were done!!! We put the mattresses back, remade the bed (with my new $17 king size sheets from Kohl's, thank you Black Friday!) And 2 weeks ago I made some new throw pillow covers. I love the patterned ones, they add so much life to the room. I tend to lean to monochromatic in my decorating, even when I try not to! So this touch of bold pattern (it's bold for me!) is just right for this room.
I LOVE IT! It finally feels like a real bed, and not just a set of mattresses shoved against the wall! It's cushy to lean on too. The wall that our bed is on is an outside wall and we have an old house and so in the colder months that wall is cold and without a headboard you could feel the cold air seeping into the bed. Now our bed will stay cozy! And David loves it too.
Ok here's a before:
And now the after again:
SO much better!
So that was my big project finally finished! If feels so good to be done and I'm so happy with the way it turned out.
Have you ever made a headboard? Was it upholstered or something else?
Comments make me Happy!
cute!
ReplyDeleteWow! It looks awesome!
ReplyDelete