7.22.2013

Upholstered Headboard DIY

Hello, my sweets!!

Having a good week?

Mine's going well...just getting ready to head to Nags Head with Bryce's family for vacay!  I am excited to be going, but also kind of sad, because it means that summer is coming closer to the end.

Today I am finally getting around to sharing my upholstered headboard DIY.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram, have seen the final product:

I am smitten!

Thanks to LOTS of help from my dad, the project was a big success, and not all that difficult.

So here goes, how we did it!

Materials
Plywood
   (measure to the height you'd like, and then typically the width is    1-2" wider than your mattress)
Fabric
   (we ordered 2.5 yd and had more than enough...I may use 
   what's left to make a pillow!)
Foam
Quilt Batting
Spray Adhesive
Staple Gun
Hammer
Scissors or Exacto Knife

Steps
1.  Measure your bed frame and decide the dimensions you would like your headboard to be. Remember that once you have added foam, batting, and fabric it will be slightly wider than the actual plywood.  At Home Depot, once you have selected your plywood they will cut it to the dimensions you would like.


2.  Spray your plywood and foam with spray adhesive.  Place foam on top of plywood and press down firmly to attach.




3.  Staple foam around edges of wood.


 We found that it was beneficial to hammer the staples in after using the staple gun, to ensure that they would stay put.


At the corners, we used a knife to cut a square out of the foam so that there would not be excess fabric and the corners would lay flat.



4.  Repeat process, covering the foam with batting.


Now the next step is where it gets interesting...adding you fabric!  If you have a small, all-over print, this step will be easier, however, my fabric had a larger  print so you had to be exact with fabric placement.

5.  Lay fabric out.  You may have to play with it to make sure that it is placed in the way you'd like.  For example, I knew that once I added the pillows, etc, I still wanted to be sure that I was able to see the full print above them.


6.  Staple along the top, being very careful to keep the fabric in place (this is where having a smaller design or a solid color, would make things much easier!

Frustration began to set in here, because it is difficult to get the little staple through fabric, batting, foam, and finally into the wood.   We therefore, modified our strategy a bit....

We found that if Bryce and I held the board in place and provided pressure, it made it easier for my dad to get the staples in.

7.  Staple remaining edges, making sure to pull fabric tight around edges and at corners.

To make corners tight, we folded fabric in and laid it down nicely, as shown above.

8.  Install!

Because my bed sits in front of a window, we could not mount the headboard to the wall, like many other DIYs suggest.  My dad, therefore, used the remaining plywood (from the original piece Home Depot cut) to make legs that could be attached to my bed frame.



full view of the legs

bolted to the bed frame

Once installed, my dad drilled the legs to the headboard for extra stability.

9.  Style!
I am so thrilled with how this project has turned out!


I do have to add one more time, a HUGE thank you to my dad!  None of this would have happened if it weren't for his help and he ended up with more than he bargained for-- since seeing us work on mine, my mom has asked that he make another for their bed at the new house!

My next project is to make a bed skirt, which Bryce's mom has agreed to help me with.  This project is off to a slow start only because I can't decide on a fabric for it.  Any suggestions?

Have a great day!

Be sure to enter my giveaway here if you haven't already!