Thank you for joining me this week for a continuation of my master bedroom project. Last week I gave you a little insight as to why I started this project and I left off with my finished bedroom chair. This week I will share with you the process for my new headboard.
Armed with measurements of my king size bed, I made a trip to our local Home Depot. I usually head straight for the bin of discounted wood. There I found a piece of plywood measuring 48”x 96”x ½“–only $2.00. There was a small chip on the bottom which would not be seen once it was upholstered—not a problem. They were happy to cut the wood to my specifications of 48” x 76”.
If you will notice the back of my chair has a scallop design which I wanted to replicate on my headboard. I took a roll of brown wrapping paper and taped it to the top of the wood of the headboard. I measured and marked the center and drew the design on one half. Once I was happy with the design I removed the paper, folded it in half and cut it out. This way I am assured of getting both sides exact. I taped the paper on the wood, traced the design and used my jigsaw to cut it.
I waited for another 50% sale at our local fabric store to purchase the fabric and materials I would need to cover the headboard which cost a little under $30.00. I was worried knowing that foam can be very expensive; however, I was able to find a polyester version that cost very little and actually worked much better. Again, my handy dandy staple gun was the tool for the job. I first glued the polyester foam to the board and then covered it with a thick batting and stapled it to the back of the headboard. I then added the fabric which I pulled tightly and stapled to the back. It looks beautiful as is, but I wanted to add buttons for a tufting effect. I made a headboard for my son’s bedroom a year ago and glued the buttons on using hot glue but in the process, I glued my eyelid. Don’t ask–it was one of those freak accidents that I don’t want to repeat.
I measured to carefully plan the button placement adding thumb tacks to mark the spots. Once I had the design I wanted and it looked even, I used a marker to mark the spot of each thumb tack as I removed them. I then used a nail with a good sized head and washer to hammer through the material and wood at each spot marked for the tufting effect. I then hammered the end of the nail down and into the wood to secure it. This makes the tufting uniform and it won’t pop out. I covered 14 buttons (1 1/8”) with the same headboard fabric. You can either hot glue the buttons at each nail head or you can use industrial Velcro to attach them. After my last experience with the glue gun, I am going with the Velcro!
There are several options for attaching the headboard to the wall. I chose to attach a 4 X 6 board the width of the bed to sit the headboard on. It allows me to sit the headboard as high or as low as I prefer. I found the studs in the wall using my stud finder (girls, it works on wood, not men) to attach the board to, for more strength. In addition, I used flush mounts (check your nearest hardware store) to secure the headboard to the wall. Attach the flush mounts to the headboard facing down and the wall facing up. Be sure to attach the wall mounts into a stud. Slide the mounts together to create an interlocking. This headboard isn’t going anywhere!
I love my new headboard and my master bedroom is quickly coming to life. But now, I have to deal with that ugly oak furniture. Join me next week and I will let you know how I chose to deal with that.
