DIY Upholstered Headboard~Part 1

DIY Upholstered Headboard

This week my husband, Garrett and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary! I sometimes wonder how we could be together so long or how I got to be "that old" when that number seems to be significant. Yet sometimes it feels like yesterday that we first met and sometimes it feels that I have known him all my life. We were 23 and 25 when we married and I remember thinking how old and mature we were at the time. Anyone else relate to that?

I realize now how young we were just figuring life out and the excitement of what the future held for us. I can honestly look back at the time together and know that I am a better person to have shared my life with such an amazing man! He is my very best friend in the whole world! We, like every couple, have been through struggles but have learned and grown stronger together for them. For any young couples out there who are maybe struggling, I hope that it helps to know that you are not alone in your problems. Every couple experiences "life" with problems; but know that the struggles pass and the friendship and love remains if you work hard at understanding and supporting each other. We have personally been through financial struggles with big pharma layoffs, extended family issues, health issues (my hubby is a cancer survivor), and just the everyday insignificant things that can come up in marriages. I say insignificant things because in the big scheme of life, you have to try and look at the big picture when you can get aggravated with your spouse over doing laundry; which always seems funny after the argument is over.

Of course, I'm not a marriage counselor, but can speak from experience in saying that when things get overwhelming sometimes; whether it's financial or relationship issues, the struggles do end and with it comes a certain peace from knowing that through love and understanding, those issues can be resolved. I love my husband for so many reasons but one of those reasons is that he is supportive of me and my dreams. It's not always easy living on one income but he has given me the support of taking the time to write this blog and to build it into a career and income for our family.

He is also supportive in doing 'my projects' with me. Sometimes I couldn't do those without him and this DIY upholstered headboard is a great example of being able to have his talents of building and mitering corners. So it is only fitting for me to share this project with you that Garrett and I worked on together this week! Without further ado, let's get started!

The first step in this tutorial is finding your dimensions for the size of the headboard you want. We have a queen size bed and I had to decide how tall I wanted the headboard to be by just measuring and eyeballing it! We both decided that it would be better with a taller than normal heaboard so here are the dimensions that we built our headboard.

Dimensions of upholstered queen size headboard:

Total Height: 58 inches ( the headboard, upholstered part will be a different dimension that I will explain later)

Width: 64 inches

When we built our headboard, the dimensions of the total height once we add 1x4 boards to the bottom of the headboard will be 58 inches from floor to top of headboard. However, the dimensions of the upholstered part of the headboard will only be 48 inches in height.

We purchased a 1/2 inch thick birch plyboard sheet for the headboard for $34. The dimensions are 48 inches high x 64 inches wide. Now the trick for us to get the 64 inch plyboard in our mid size suv vehicle was to cut the width of the 64 inches in half. We had purchased the plyboard at Home Depot where they cut the 4 x 8 sheet into two 48" high x 32 in wide pieces. Once we were home, we attached the two 48"h x 32"w panels together with a 1 x 4 board cut to the height of 44" inches and nailed it together on both sides. Here is what it looked like when attached. Obviously, if you have a vehicle to transport the 48" x 64" panel of plyboard, that would be the best, but if not you can copy this method and make it work like we did.

Next, we attached the Poly Foam to the plyboard for the cushion. We purchased a 1" x 39" x 72" foam from Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon. It ended up costing us $11.99. I knew I would be upholstering the headboard but also adding dark stained trim boards to the perimeter of the upholstered part. I marked the trim boards on the plyboard so I would have a guide to where I could staple the uholstered cushion and attach the trim up next to it. Here is a picture to give you an idea what it looked like in the process.

I did not attach a trim board to the bottom, instead leaving that part upholstered. The foam will be cut to fit to end of the plyboard at the bottom.

Once the foam was cut and in place with the marked trim board guides, I used a spray adhesive to attach the corners of the foam to the plyboard just so that it would be secure and not shift on me in the process. The next step is to use an extra loft 1/2" batting to add softness to the headboard before adding the fabric. We purchased the twin size batting from JoAnn's where I also purchased my Linen fabric. The batting cost $9.99. You will need to cut the batting down to the size of your foam and place it over the foam. I did not use any adhesive on this as it has a natural tackiness that adheres to the foam.

Before I attached the linen fabric, I ironed the fabric. Here is where I questioned buying Linen for this project as it is hard to get a really crisp iron with this fabric. Once I layed the fabric over the batting, I ironed it again in place and got a better look.

*Important note: Your fabric needs to be cut at least a 1/2" wider than your foam in order to tuck and staple to get a nice tight fit. I started with the top of the headboard and worked my way around. I used the trim boards as a guide to check the staple line was covered by the trim boards by holding them and aligning them to the edges where they would be attached later. This process is a little tedious but will be worth it in the end. Here is what the upholstered part of your headboard will look like once you are done and before the trim boards are attached.

We then worked on mittering the corners of the trim boards to fit the headboard. Once they were cut, I used my new "restoration" staining process. If you want to get this same stain color you can learn how on the blog link here. After the boards were stained I let them dry and cure for a day before I applied Annie Sloan's clear wax to the trim to give them a more finished and professional look. The reason I used trim boards for this headboard from a design stand point was to bring in the same restoration stained wood that I duplicated on the dressers for the bedroom makeover. The headboard and dressers will look like a set as opposed to mix matched furniture. It's a beautiful thing!

We still need to attach the trim pieces with our nail gun, hence the Part 2 coming soon, and then I want to apply the upholster buttons that I spray painted in a Rustoleum Rust to match the same color nail heads I found at Hobby Lobby. By adding the flourishes of the nail heads and upholster buttons, it should give it a more Rustic French country look that I am trying to acheive in the master. We will also be attaching the stained base boards to the headboard as well as the bed frame to finish it. I will be showing you the finished product in a few days for Part 2 of the DIY Upholstered headboard.