Have you seen those cool headboards on Pinterest?  Earlier this summer, my Pinterest feed had several examples of awesome, padded headboards with tutorials.

After seeing a few, I knew I needed one.  I found some awesome floral fabric on Fabric.com, purchased it, and then let it sit on my fabric shelf for a few months.

After awhile, I decided our bedroom needed a makeover.  It was looking a little drab, to say the least.  We’re pretty simplistic when it comes to furniture and decorating, but this was getting a little old.  So off I went to Lowe’s to pick out some new paint colors.  I didn’t even realize our walls were gray until I started painting the new paint on!

I even painted the ceiling and took down the old ceiling fan.And added an accent wall to make the headboard pop!

At this point, the headboard was already made, but I’ll get to that soon.New ceiling fan!  Good bye 1980’s ceiling fan!Our awesome new paint colors!

Okay, now onto what you’ve been waiting for: the headboard!  I could do this as a tutorial, but I’ll walk you through the steps with pictures and minimal captioning.

The finished product.  So happy with it, even if my mom says it looks a little hippy.First things first, deciding on the dimensions of the headboard, and shaping the corners.  I used 1/2″ plywood for this project.Cut your first corner, and then just flip it over and draw a line for the opposite.  I used a jig saw to make the cuts.Finished cutting the top of the headboard.Next I marked where I was going to put the tufting, and drilled some large pilot holes to make threading the buttons easy.Time to pad the headboard!  I used a cheap foam mattress topper, and covered it with batting, and then stapled it in place.Cut off the excess…it doesn’t have to be pretty at this point.  I repeated the process with the fabric, but on a clean work surface.  Don’t mind the legs on the headboard just yet…we’ll get to that.  I apparently forgot to take a picture of the covered headboard back, but you can see how much I overlapped the fabric here.

Next I added the covered buttons for tufting.  (I also forgot to take pictures of this!)  I used upholstery thread, waxed it so that it would stay better, and threaded my covered buttons through the pre-drilled pilot holes.  John helped me staple them in place on the back.Then we added the 2×4 legs to the headboard.  You could also just hang your headboard on the wall if you didn’t want to add legs and attach it to your bed frame.I covered the legs with a little foam…you know, so it wouldn’t knock against the wall, if you know what I mean 😉Finally, I covered the raw edges with an old sheet, just to make it look pretty.  Not that anybody will see it…John attached it to the bed frame with a couple of screws with washers.  It’s pretty darn secure.Yay!  It’s finished!You can find more detailed tutorials on how to make your own padded headboard by searching the web or on Pinterest.  As far as expenses go, I think I spent $50 on fabric, $25 on wood and screws, another $25 on batting and foam, and $15 on buttons and upholstery thread.  Not too shabby for a new headboard!

Happy crafting!  Cheers!

~Ingrid