DIY:Fabric Headboard

In 2003, Paul and I ditched the Ikea furniture and bought real furniture, from a real furniture store. We already had a queen mattress that we purchased after our wedding, so we automatically purchased a queen headboard and footboard.

By 2009,  I felt Paul was sleeping too close to me in that queen bed, resulting in 3 adorable kids. Therefore,I finally convinced him to buy us a king sized mattress. The dilema? The bed set we purchased 6 years before had been discontinued and I didn't want to chance the woods stain not matching another set, so we've been without a headboard. Another conundrum...I got pregnant again, even with the king bed. Apparently, the queen sized bed was not the issue. Who woulda thought?

Since it's a holiday weekend, I thought it would be nice to try out a do-it-yourself project. For some reason, the thought of a headboard popped into my mind.  Paul originally wanted to do wood and stain, but again, I didn't want the stain to not match our current furniture, so I suggested a fabric headboard. I browsed the internet and found this site. It had the most detailed info on what I was looking to do and was easy to understand, although we did make some alterations.

We went to Joann Fabrics to purchase our fabric, batting, and foam. You need to know what size headboard you are going to build in order to determine the amount of fabric, batting and foam. Plan to get a few inches more so that you have enough to wrap around your plywood to attach easily.

Then we headed to Lowe's to pick up our plywood. We tied the plywood down to the top of our SUV, which was quite the adventure! I see a pick-up in Paul's near future ;)

Supply List:

4'x8' Plywood

Fabric (upholstery)

Foam Padding

Polyester Batting

Staple Gun/Staples

Measuring Tape

Circular Saw

Power Drill
Safety Glasses
1/4" Machine Screws




Step 1:

Size of your headboard depends on the size of your bed. As I said, we have a king, so we measured from one end of the frame to the other. At 76.5", we Paul had to use the circular saw to cut the plywood to size since the plywood was 96" long. (You could opt to not do this and just have a headboard that is wider than your bed.) The plywood was 48" wide, which was a perfect height for our bed.

Step 2:

Paul measured the bolt holes on the metal bed frame and pre-drilled the holes into the plywood accordingly.

Step 3:

Attach your foam using your staple gun. Unlike the link above, we did use 1/2" foam. Joann's did not have 1", so we bought 2 rolls of 1/2" but decided not to use the other roll. I found it easier to lie the board on the foam and pull it over the edge, rather than standing the board up. Do what works for you.

Step 4:

Attach your polyester batting using your staple gun. Again, I did this with the board lying on the batting versus standing up.

Step 5:

Attach your fabric. This has to be the best part of the project because you get to see all your work coming together. I did the top, bottom, sides and then the corners. You want to make sure you are pulling the fabric taut, but not too much so that it causes the edges to look bumpy in between staples.

You can't see it in the above pic, but I did cut the fabric around the pre-drilled holes in the back to make it easier for installation. Paul then used an exacto knife to cut the holes in the fabric on the front side.

Step 6:

Attach the board to your bed frame.

Before Pic:

After Pic:

Now I just need to get some more brown/blue accents and some wall art, and we may actually have an adult bedroom. Woohoo!

It took us about 2.5 hours from start to finish, including installation. It did take us 3 hours to buy supplies incase you were curious, but being an infrequent customer at a fabric store can be overwhelming. The project itself was super easy and I think we may make these for the girls' rooms.

Cost:
Foam:       $12.48
Batting:     $11.98
Fabric:      $43.73
Plywood:  $ 16.98
Total:        $85.17 + tax

Note: Make sure you get your material/foam/batting while on sale...it can be pricey if not.