Padded Headboard Tutorial (Bedroom Upgrade - Part I)

I've been wanting to update our bedroom for awhile now.  We are renters so can't make too many changes to the room itself (apart from hanging some art), but our furniture is fair game.  I'm pretty cheap frugal but love one-of-a-kind items... luckily I'm also a crafty lady!  I loooove the look of padded headboards, but not the price tag at a typical home store.  Read on for details on how you too can create your own designer-inspired headboard...

The finished product!

There are tons of websites that provide instructions on how to make your own padded headboard:

• 1) eHow - Instructions for an upholstered headboard
• 2) Canadian House & Home - DIY Upholstered Headboard

I used a combination of a few different ones.

How to Make a Padded Headboard

1. Measure the width of your bed (we have a king)
2. Decide how high you want your headboard to be ( we made ours extra tall so we could sit up in bed and read... or breastfeed, ha!)
3. Cut a piece of plywood to the desired dimensions (we got it cut by the staff at Home Depot because we don't have a proper saw)
4. Cut a piece of 2" foam padding.  Using a spray adhesive, attach it to the plywood leaving a few inches of exposed plywood around the top and side edges.  You will be attaching trim later
5. Wrap your fabric around the padding and plywood, securing it with a staple gun (leaving the couple of inches of exposed plywood)

6.  Stain some wood trim.  It should be long enough to have legs that extend down to the floor

Step 6: Trim Legs

7.  Once the trim is dry, attach it to the sheet of plywood.  We used screws from the back of the plywood into the trim for a seamless finish.  Make sure the screws are the proper length so they don't pop through the front of your beautiful trim

Step 7: Trim framing around the padded headboard

8.  Screw the legs into the boxspring so the bed is a complete unit.
9.  You are done!  Enjoy!

I picked up this awesome upholstery fabric at Fabricland on clearance last year... I think it cost me $8 total (!!!).  I am a huge fan of Sarah's House and adore her use of bold textiles in her designs.  This brightly colored bold patterned fabric was just calling my name.  The little "eggs" in the fabric remind me of the intricate pysankas that my Ukrainian grandmother used to keep in her china cabinet.  The only downside was that the design runs vertically on the fabric and it wasn't wide enough for our king-sized headboard.  After consulting my fellow crafty friend Shelly, we decided that adding a bit of accent piping would make the design break look intentional.

Closeup of the pysanka

Closeup of the seam piping

My in-laws came out to see Nova when she was about 1 week old.  My father-in-law is a handyman and always needs "a project" to work on or else he gets bored.  And let's face it: a 1-week-old baby is only sooo interesting... hahaha.  This headboard was a nice father-son project for my hubby and his dad to work on.

I love the headboard so much, it makes me so happy every time I go into our bedroom.  Now I need to get cracking on making a bedskirt in a luscious chocolate brown to finish off the look.

Happy Tuesday everyone!
xxx
Caramia