On Board For Headboards!

Last weekend, I made a headboard so

I thought I would blog the process,

step by step, in case you're interested in 

making one of your own. It was pretty easy 

but that's because I probably didn't do the

best job I could have, but that's kinda how I roll.

I bought a piece of plywood at Home Depot and had them

cut it to size, all for around $20.  Make sure to use solid plywood,

and not a piece of the cheaper stuff that isn't as solid.

At first, I was at a loss in terms of fabric.  I wasn't sure what color to use until 

I discovered that Target still sold our bedroom curtains online, so I bought one.

Fortunately, the material is thick and coarse because thin material 

doesn't work as well; make sure to use a heavier fabric so it covers the board nicely.

Then came the tricky part for me: finding batting and foam to go under the material.

Now, this probably won't be an issue for most of you, because you can probably 

just hop in your car and drive to Jo-Ann's Fabric, or Walmart, etc. 

I, on the other hand, didn't want to a). drive to Paramus on a Saturday or 

b). lose my parking spot so I walked over to Target and improvised with this:

and this (a mattress pad)

Worked for me and only cost, once again, $20. 

Once I had gathered all of my materials, I got to work.

The first step was to measure and cut a piece of foam to fit the board.

 

Then it was time for the fun to begin: 

Can't Stop, Staple Time!

First, the foam:

    Then, I stapled the batting over the foam:

Then, it was time for the hard part: covering the foam and battened covered plywood with the material.  It may not be hard for you; the reason it was hard for me is because my material was extra long and I wanted to keep it that way since we currently have a queen size bed, but are looking to upgrade to a king.  In order to re-use the material, I had to fasten it to the board without cutting off the extra length.  That way, when we upgrade, I can "unpin"(unstaple) the material from the queen board and, since I didn't cut it to size, use it on the new king size board.  Make sense?  I hope.  Here's how it turned out:

Not bad, eh?

I'm pretty proud of myself.  We're going to hang it this weekend and when we do, I'll let you know how we did it.  I've researched it online and found several options.  The one I wanted to use required special hanging hooks that I tried but failed to track down.  Hell, we may just drill it straight into the studs!

To end, here are just a few tips that I didn't mention above:

1. When you measure for the size, take into consideration where you want it on the wall and now much of it you want showing.  Looking back, I wish I would have gone longer in the length so it would extend down below the mattress.  Instead, ours will appear to float on the wall above the mattress.  We have a lot of pillow, so it should work... we'll see.

2. Solid colored material is the easiest to work with because you don't have to worry about matching up patterns or maintaining straight lines as you pull it around the board.  My material is pretty busy but in a good way: it hides imperfections!