For months I have been eyeing beautiful upholstered headboards in catalogs dreaming of one for our new king-sized bed…and then I check the price tags and reality sets in. Really? A thousand dollars for some fabric, cushioning, and wood? That is just not in this girl’s budget.
I decided I could probably make my own upholstered headboard. And make one I did!
I first measured the width of my bed and decided how high I wanted the headboard to go in the back. I then trucked on over to Home Depot and had the trusty lumber guy cut a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood to size.
Back home, I prepared my materials.
I laid out my freshly-ironed fabric – design down (My choice: this 54” Wide Premier Prints Chipper Slub Charcoal Fabric). The King Headboard used 3 yards of fabric, with plenty left over to make 2 throw pillows.
I laid down some quilt batting next, centered on the fabric.
I then stacked the foam on top of the batting. My money-saving trick: Upholstery foam can be EXPENSIVE. Instead I used a Carpenter Memory Foam Twin XL Mattress Topper. Apparently no one buys these in the Twin X-Long bed size, because they are CHEAP on Amazon. It is just the right size to fit across the back of a King headboard, though the foam will not go all the way to the floor. (That was okay with me, as I didn’t see the need for foam covering the plywood UNDER the bed.)
Once all of these were laid out, I put the plywood on top. I stretched the batting, foam, and fabric over the edges of the plywood, and used my staple gun to secure all three layers to the plywood. Stretch. Staple. Repeat. (Times 1000).
This project seriously took less than a half-hour start to finish…and it has had a HUGE visual impact on the look of my room. I love inexpensive, easy home projects. If you have a staple gun and the materials, you can make it yourself.
Anyone else here in the market for a new headboard? Next on my list – some cute throw pillows for the bed!
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