DIY Upholstered Headboard

Yay!!!!  It's finally done.

 

I made a headboard for my bed when I first bought the house.  It was a sea grass mat, like you would use for the beach, that I built a frame for.

Here it is in one of the before photos.

Nothin' fancy, but it worked.

I've wanted to do something different for a long time.  I've coveted the Farmhouse Bed on Ana White's website since she first added the plans.  I love that bed.  But I also have a ton of bedroom photos ripped from magazines that have upholstered headboards.  

When Crystal at The Weekend Homemaker made one a couple weeks ago, I decided that was it.  I was goin' for it.  I made mine a little bigger for a queen size bed, but other than that, I pretty much did mine exactly like hers, minus the nail head trim around the perimeter.

Here's a picture of the one she made, without the trim.

Source: theweekendhomemaker.com via Mindy on Pinterest

Pretty, right?

So I started pinning upholstered headboards to my Bedroom Pinterest board for ideas and inspiration.  As well as, pulling out every photo of every bed I've ever ripped from a magazine.

I kept coming back to Pottery Barn.  Oh Pottery Barn, how I love thee.  For visual inspiration anyway.  

Their catalogs are SO fun to look at.

This is one of the images I kept coming back to.

Source: potterybarn.com via Mindy on Pinterest

I have a page from the catalog with it in a room as well and it's so dang pretty.  

Guess how much it costs?

$499 buckaroos.  (cough)  PLUS, $75 more for shipping.  (cough, cough) 

Um, yeah, I don't think so.

So I rounded up my supplies.  

Plywood, foam, batting, fabric, spray adhesive, staple gun, wood trim, stain, nail gun.

I'll give you a break down of the cost at the end, but let me just say, foam is stinkin' expensive!  

 I cruised around Joann's trying to come up with the cheapest way to buy it and this is what I came up with.

  

A twin sized eggshell mat.  Waaaay cheaper than buying the precut, or even the foam by the yard.  

You may even find it cheaper in the camping section of a sporting goods store.

Just a little tiperoo.

The batting had a big range in pricing as well, so I went with the cheapest option.

 While I was at Joann's, I was planning on getting the same fabric that I used for my curtains in the room.

It's a Better Homes & Gardens fabric called Jayda Bramble.

It's $40 a yard.  

Even with my 40% off coupon, I just couldn't justify spendin' that kind of money.

Then I remembered my patio curtain I made from the painters canvas drop cloth.

A 6' x 9' piece is $9.99.

Much better.

Okay, supplies in hand, time to get busy.

With the plywood flat on the floor, I layed the foam out first and cut it to fit.  I left about a 2-inch space on the top and sides, just like Crystal's.

To cut foam, an electric turkey carver is best, but if you don't have one, and I don't, use a serrated bread knife.

Next, I cut the batting and fabric to fit, leaving enough for wrapping and attaching to the back.

I attached the foam, eggshell-side down, to the plywood using spray adhesive.

Then I flipped everything over and centered the plywood on top.

 I checked to make sure their weren't any major wrinkles or folds in the fabric and started stapling away.

This is how I did the corners.

Here's the front once I was done stapling all the sides to the back.

Next up, trim for the top and sides.

(the bottom will be behind the bed and won't show)

I used some trim we already had and stained it Jacobean, which is a really dark brown.

Then I put two coats of water-based Varathane over the top.

The Dad pulled out the nail gun, put in the smallest nails it holds, and we attached the trim to the three sides of the upholstered part.

I haven't done it yet, but the nail holes will need to be filled with a matching dark wood fill.

To hang it, we got kind of creative.  It wouldn't hang flush against the wall because of the chair rail, so we attached a strip of wood to the plaster wall as a shim, with super duper screws.

Then we put two screws in that and attached two hooks to the back of the plywood.

Hooked those over the screws and it's good to go.

Here it is in the room:

I'm still debating whether or not to put buttons in it like this one.

Source: google.com via Mindy on Pinterest

What do you think?

So now, I need to finish hanging things on the wall and I have a couple sewing projects to tackle.

 The Dad got the rest of the chair rail up yesterday, but the batten still needs to be installed on his side of the room.

I, of course, will share the finished project once I get it all done.

Here's a break down of how much I spent:

(let's not forget the Pottery Barn one is $574 with shipping)

Plywood:  $6.55

Foam:  $19.19 with 40% off coupon

Batting:  $5.99 with 40% off coupon

Fabric:  $9.99 (plus I have some leftover)

Spray Adhesive:  Already had

Trim:  Already had

Stain:  Already had

Varathane:  Already had

Grand Total:   $41.72

That's a savings of  $532.28.

I'll take it.