Easy Headboard Update

So, I’m back after another brief hiatus and another epic wedding.  Rachel and Andy, who have been dating since, well foreva, are FINALLY married.  I think I cried more at this wedding than I have in my whole life and if you know me…that’s saying a lot.

All of my best friends that I’ve known since third grade, spent all night tearing up the dance floor.  Amazing.

In all of my down time (enter sarcastic tone), I have managed to work on a couple projects.  I am particularly proud of this one. 

Since moving in, the bedroom has been completely neglected, as is sometimes the case.  We figure, everyone will see the rest of the house first.  But, that’s so silly, considering we spend so much of our time in this one room.  Shouldn’t it reflect that?

So, I am making the bedroom a priority and my first project was to tackle the bed.  I’ve always wanted and upholstered headboard, but to be quite honest, I don’t need a new bed, the one I have is beautiful and not that old. 

I decided to use the “cut-outs” already present in the headboard and make my own “upholstered” headboard.  I went to my fav fabric store—Not Just Fabrics and picked this out.  Two yards came to $28.

 Then I measured the inside of each rectangle (twice) and I went to Lowes.  I knew I needed a light thin piece of something; I just hadn’t worked out all the logistics.  So, first I picked up some Styrofoam insulation, structured, but light.  BRILLIANT.  Except, when I got to the register, it was really priced $36 instead of the $12 I thought I saw originally.  So, I scratched that idea and continued my search.  The very nice Lowes worker man suggested that I get a sheet of Luan—it’s that flimsy kind of wood that’s super thin and the best part…it was only $10!  I gave the nice man the measurements and he cut it right there. 

 I was cooking with gas!

The project ended up being super easy and a really inexpensive fix.  I used some quilt batting ($7), spray adhesive (that can be used on wood which I already had from this project), fabric scissors (already had) and a staple gun (had it).

First, I cut pieces of batting a little bigger than my pieces of wood.  Then, I took the wood outside and sprayed a layer of adhesive and quickly stuck the batting to the wood.  Then, using my fabric scissors, I trimmed the excess batting.

Next, I cut a piece of fabric a little bigger than my wood covered with batting (at least an inch on each side, to staple).  I paid special attention to which way I wanted the pattern to face and laid it on the table with the wood on top.  I then began stapling the fabric, making sure to pull it tight on all sides before I pulled the trigger. This is what it looked like (from the back) when I was finished.

 It literally took about 10 minutes to do each board. 

Now, I had to figure out how to hang them.  There were a lot of ideas being thrown around; finishing nails, upholstery nails, wood glue, gorilla glue… then, I remembered I had a bag full of 3M Command double sided Velcro strips.  You know, the kind that won’t damage the wall?  Amazing, I was going to have an “upholstered” headboard without ruining the original!  

I peeled off the tabs and put it up! I love, love, love it!  It looks great and is a huge step in the beautification of our bedroom; all for only $45.  Next up, eradicating the stupid ceiling fan…that I hate and Seth loves…this should be interesting!