DIY Headboard under $20

This new blog post THRILLS my heart. I have been dreaming of making a headboard since we moved in. I was going to make one for our bedroom upstairs – actually it probably would have used very similar fabric to the one I ended up making. However Paul and I ended up being given a huge painting that worked really well over our bed and took the place of a headboard so I didn’t get to do that DIY. As I’ve mentioned in some posts we have to furnish three rooms come this month. We had bed frames for two rooms (one beautiful sleigh bed from Lyndsay for our wood room and one frame (no headboard) for middle room)  but only a mattress/box spring combo for the third. We tried it in the room and it looked pretty pathetic without a frame. We looked around for free first (as I always do) or for cheap on CL but weren’t coming up with anything, especially since the mattress/box spring is a weird quarter size – smaller than a double but larger than a single. Annoying! Armed with the exact measurements we set off – nothing at Ikea, nothing at a whole wack of furniture places on Bridgeport BUT when we made our way to Sleep Country Canada (did anyone else sing along with that when they read it?) they let us know that the single/double frame was adjustable and would easily fit our measurements! The frame was only $50. Score! In that moment I knew, this was my moment to DIY a headboard…and I had JUST the material to make it happen.

First up, Paul needed to build the frame. While he did that I ironed the material we would be using. When we were done putting the frame together (parts of it needed two people) we then started to put together the headboard. It was so easy!

Step 1: Measurements. I measured the width of the mattress/boxspring (you want it to fit snug-ly inside the frame) and then measured how high we wanted it to go to (this measurement is from the base of the frame, not the floor, to the wherever it is you want it to send). We decided it shouldn’t be high than the window ledge in the room (in case we ever wanted to move it that way) so that made our decision for us). At this stage you’ll either need to cut your back (plywood, mdf board or particle board will all work, heck even carboard could work!) or as we did (since we were lucky enough to find two pieces that fit perfectly) just piece it together.

Step 2: Cut a frame. We made our frame for two reasons, 1. We were using scrap particle board from my Sassy Secretary project and needed to keep it held together and 2. This would give us something to staple into, rather than the very thin particle board. Rather than purchasing new wood we used the last two baseboards that we’d gotten on sale a year earlier for our frame. Paul measured out what size we would need and cut them to fit. We kept a 1 1/2 space around the edge of the board.

Step 3: Build your frame. We then laid our frame on the ground. We made sure to staple the edges together so that they would be secure. As it was on the ground we could lay our particle board on top it to attach it. We wanted to do it in this order so that we could have the staples going from the front of the piece, into the frame. As an FYI we bought our staple gun at home depot for $32.97 dollars, and a staple kit to go with it for $9. There were many options but this was mid range and offered both staples and brad nails. 

Step 4: Attach your frame. Once we were sure the particle board was centered on the frame we stapled it in. Staple as much or as little as you feel is necessary for it to be sturdy. We also at this point realized a middle section for the frame would be helpful and so we used a scrap of the baseboards which fit perfectly. This helps hold the piece steady.

Step 5: Attach the batting with a Staple Gun. Make sure to center the batting under your piece, then work around the piece. My batting was a couple inches too short on two sides to staple but I knew that when I purchased it and planned to capture it when I stapled the material on, so it was no problem. I just securely added the two sides that were long enough.

Step 6: Attach your fabric with a Staple Gun. My big mistake here was not realizing I could use the pattern of the fabric to line it up and instead used the edges of the pieces, which means that the pattern on my headboard is slightly askew (Agh!) but nothing too terrible. Make sure you line up your pattern (if you have one) or just make sure you have enough material on all sides to staple into your frame. Then begin pulling the material tightly to the frame and stapling. To keep it taut this really is a two person job. I was in charge of folding the edges so that they wouldn’t look funky from the other side and it was easier than I thought it would be. And voila! You have a headboard that is ready to be installed!

Paul's close up

At this stage I was so excited I could hardly stand it! Gorgeous!

I believe it was also this point that I forced many excited high 5's upon Paul - so easy! Oh my gosh, so easy! Paul thought my enthusiasm was cute but wanted to be clear that, "any job is easy with the right tools." #truth

Step 7: Insert headboard into frame! As our frame fit perfect, even a bit tightly, it was being held into place with the pressure from the edges. We knew that the mattress / box spring would slide up against it and that pressure would make sure it didn’t wobble.

Then it was time to make the bed up! We used my favorite black and white bedding with some soft blue sheets (with an extra set of the sheets in the nightstand next to the bed for easy cleaning) to complete the look. I love how it came together. Seriously I couldn’t be happier. It took us less than half an hour to create and it is so worth that time!

The budget breakdown is as follows: (Anything marked free was purchased for another project and leftover.

• Particle Board – Free
• Baseboard Frame – Free
• Fabric – Free
• Batting $18

And there you have it! $18 for this Headboard!
But Tara, you say, I don’t have all those free things, how much would it cost them? Great question!

• Particle Board – (you’ll use about a third of a sheet but need to purchase the entire sheet, which is $15 at Home Depot)
• Baseboard Frame – 2x4’s (only 2, you’ll pay around $6) or baseboard (only 2, around $10)
• Fabric – I got mine at Hobby Lobby and it only cost me $6 when I bought it.
• Batting $18 (without a discount at Fabricland in Canada, so you can definitely get it cheaper elsewhere)

Bringing us to a total of $45 for the headboard, which is still a fabulous price! To get a headboard anywhere else would cost at least $50 if not more, especially for something that looks fabulous, and this way you get to a) customize the look of the headbaord and b) have the satisfaction of knowing you created something awesome.

I’m so pleased with how this whole room turned out, look at it all come together. Complete with a big art piece my aunt gave me, three little art pieces I created years ago and a striped closet desk that I made last summer. I also used some of the leftover headboard fabric to create ties for the curtains - I made them using my sewing machine, after I hemmed the curtains. 

Also we got our middle room all ready – Sam was bringing most of the decorations for the room but we were providing the furniture and curtains, I’m so pleased with how it turned out!!

Phew, 2 rooms down. 1 to go! That room will be empty this next week so we can finish it up by the time I leave for camp on August 16th! Woot!