We finally completed our DIY headboard! WHAT a deal and a super fun project (that prompted us to completely re-style our entire bedroom!) It's been a fun week of putting it all together. We've made multiple trips to Home Depot & Joanne's, 2 very expensive trips to Target and a LONG, frustrating afternoon was spent in Bed Bath & Beyond looking at comforters.... But it's been completely worth it! Here's the details:
I should start by saying that Andrew and I have been very lucky as far as furniture is concerned. When we moved in here last April, Andrew's uncle gave us a full, beautiful bedroom set that has been passed down the family. The dressers are lovely with matching night-tables and a king size bed. I absolutely love everything about the set... With the exception of the headboard. This is what it looked like when we set it all up --
.jpg)
The headborad was cold, metal and black. It wasn't terrible, by any means... Just not what I wanted. The comforter in this picture was a gift my in-laws got us last Chirstmas. The picture above the bed I got for ten bucks at Big Lots. The lamps I had in my room at my dad's house. It was nice... But not what I wanted and by NO measure finished.
Andrew and I made a deal that when I lost 20lbs, I would reward myself. I decided to reward myself with a little bedroom update. I figured a new headboard would be a good start. I did some browsing online and realized pretty quickly that upholstered headboards are not cheap. That's when I stumbled upon this blog:
The instructions were super easy, very clear and detailed. The end result was BEAUTIFUL. I was sold. Luckily, my husband is handy because I am not...) And he was able and very willing to help me! So, here's the process... Or what I have pictures of anyway....
We bought the plywood at Home Depot. It was about 18 bucks for the 3/4 inch thick piece that we bought. It was 4' by 8' because, like the blogger in the instructions, we also have a king-sized bed.
We also bought 3/4 inch thick MDF (medium density fiberboard) at Home Depot. This goes around the edges of the plywood where you will be hammering in your nail-head trim. Speaking of which, you'll need some nail-head trim. We found ours at Joanne Fabrics for about 20 bucks. It was relatively easy to use and they have a variety of different color trim. Ours is a brassy-silver-ish? If that even makes sense.
Anyway, you'll also need fabric. We bought 7.5 yards because we wanted to make sure we had enough. We do have some left over, but not TOO much. I was hoping enough to upholster a throw pillow or something, but no such luck. Also from Joanne's, we purchased 3/4 inch stuffing... Although, we ended up double padding our headboard so I'm sure thicker will do just fine. The blogger mentioned making the stuffing perfectly flush with the MDF but I didn't like the way it looked. I actually ripped the 3/4 inch stuffing in half and added that on. It just wasn't puffy enough for my liking.
Here's the pictures I managed to get of the process. I'd hoped to get pictures of the headboard at each stage but I failed miserably. Sorry about that. I was busy making a headboard out of plywood.
So. This was the fabric we chose after spending literally 2 hours in Joanne Fabrics. I think over the course of those 2 hours I had at least 5 different fabrics that I thought would work. It wasn't until this one that I was willing to abandon all others and commit. Woo! It's more white than it photographs. It looks kind of yellow-ish ivory here.
This is the fabric and the stuffing.
The plywood and the MDF.
This is the nail-head trim. Pretty easy but LONG process...It's absolutely worth it though!
Here is my husband in the freezing cold garage during a snowstorm cutting my headboard into shape... Such a trooper.
This is us nailing in the nail-head trim. It took both of us and it STILL ended up slightly cooked... But, whatever. Every 5th nail has a little cap you nail into it. That's how it stays in place. Trust me, it's easier than I'm making it sound.
Before the trim in my messy living room. Lots of cutting ironing and hammering going on!
1/2 way done with the trim... Looking good!
And done!
It stands about 5 1/2 feet tall with the legs my hubby added and it looks fantastic in our room! The whole project cost under 100.00 dollars with coupons at Joanne's. It looks SO much more expensive though and completely changes the look of the room!
...And here's where it gets expensive.
I decided that with this beautiful new headboard, we needed a new, matching comforter set, maybe some throw pillows... And while we're at it, let's get some shelves and decorative accents for the walls! Off to Target we went.
No luck with the comforter. But I did find some lovely lamps! They're simple, tall and black and white. Oh. And a TV. Ha. Yeah. Not expected but we did have a huge box TV in here from the 90's and it was taking up SO much room. We got a really good deal at Target and, hey, it's tax refund season! So that's how we ended up with a brand new flat-screen in the bedroom.
Day 2-- MUCH more luck... Maybe TOO much luck. Haha. I found our beautiful comforter set at Bed Bath & Beyond along with a few cute throw pillows. Then we went back to Target where I found some shelves, a nice mirror, and some small decorative accents. I'd decided at this point that I was going with primarily black and white so I was looking for some white, glass accents. Success!
Then we went to Michael's where I found some more glass vases, a "B" with a easel display and some super cute picture frames!
Then it was time to come home and put it all together.
Voila!
It's so nice to finally have the room completed! I love everything about it! There's just a few more things I'd like to do eventually but for now it's perfect and I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment