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DIY Upholstered Headboard Tutorial

May 29, 2014 by Doreen Cagno Filed Under: Uncategorized 15 Comments


Over the weekend, the upholstered headboard went through a bit of a color change!  The  gray fabric that I used wasn’t working with the silvery gray of the comforter and nightstand I painted silver.   Something needed to change and the headboard was the easiest option. Here’s how it looks now in white canvas.

We didn’t even remove the gray upholstery fabric.  We just removed the nail heads and recovered right over the gray. 
So here’s how we made the headboard.  (All of the photos are with the original gray fabric.)   The basic supplies you will need are:
1 4 x 8 ft. piece of plywood or MDF
3 full/queen sized egg crate foam for mattresses at Walmart
1 package high loft batting (we purchased ours at Walmart)
Spray adhesive
Staple gun – we have a pneumatic staple gun and it really makes a job like this much easier.
Jigsaw
Fabric to cover the headboard
Large upholstery nail heads
One thing to keep in mind when you are purchasing wood or plywood for a project – know what will fit into your vehicle!  We got the board in the minivan, but had to duck under it to get inside the van, recline our seats and drive that way home!  Here’s a picture of Mark driving with his seat reclined on our way home from Lowes.  
The first thing you need to do is measure the width of your bed and cut your board to size.  We made ours to be about six inches wider than our queen sized bed.  Then, along the top of the board, draw the shape you would like the top of the headboard to have.  I liked the Pottery Barn Raleigh upholstered headboard shape, so I mimicked that shape on one side of the board.  Mark used the jigsaw to cut along my line.  Then we took that piece that was cut off and used it to trace the same pattern in reverse on the other side of the board.  This will insure that your pattern is symmetrical.  In the picture below, you can see the shape that we cut.  It was taken after we had some of the project already completed.
Now, it’s time to apply the foam to the board.  We used a high performance spray adhesive on the board and then applied the foam.  We pressed the foam down as we went along to make sure it was secured to the board with the adhesive.  Once the first layer of foam was attached, I used basic utility scissors to cut around the foam using the board edge as my guide.   Repeat these steps to apply the next two layers of foam.  
Here’s the cut edge of foam with all three layers attached to the board.
Now, it’s time to add the batting.  There was enough batting in the package for us to keep it doubled and still cover the entire board.  We spread the batting over the foam and then flipped the board over on top of our work table  –  so the back of the board would be facing up.  Beginning at the top curved edge in the center, we pulled the batting over the wood edge and used the staple gun to apply a few staples to hold the batting.  Then we went to the bottom opposite edge and did the same – pulling the batting tight and wrapping it  around the bottom edge and stapling to the back of the headboard.  We continued to work in this back and worth fashion to make sure the batting was tight all the way around the board.  You can see that we used small pieces of thin chipboard to hold the staples in place.  With a pneumatic gun, there is sometimes a tendency for the staples to be so tight that the fabric will pull through.  The chipboard keeps this from happening.  We just cut up pieces from a cereal box.  You can see from the photo below how I folded the corner – like you would a present.
The final step is to attach the fabric in the same way you did the batting.  I would pull the fabric and Mark would staple and it seemed to go pretty fast.   We would take occasional breaks and flip the board over to make sure we were getting a good result.  I would say that the hardest part of this is getting the corners to look neat.  
For this next step, I didn’t take any photos.  I think I was too excited about how it was turning out and just forget to take any pictures.  Mark took the headboard to our bedroom and placed it behind the bed and I showed him how high I wanted it to be off the floor.  Then Mark made legs to the size needed out of 2 x 4 wood and screwed the legs  into the back of the headboard.  He set the legs in a bit so they wouldn’t be seen behind the bed frame.  Since they won’t be seen, we didn’t bother to cover them with fabric.

I used my tap hammer to add the decorative nail heads.    I used a piece of cardboard I cut as a spacer to keep them equally spaced.  The second time around with the white fabric, I put the nail heads closer together.
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Comments

  1. Kim @ Savvy Southern Style says:
    May 28, 2014 at 9:34 pm

    Just beautiful. Wish I had the patience to do that.

    Reply
  2. marty (A Stroll Thru Life) says:
    May 28, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    Oh I love the white. It looks fabulous.

    Reply
  3. Linda@Coastal Charm says:
    May 28, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    Thanks so much for the tutorial…this will really help Mr.CC out.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    Reply
  4. Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made says:
    May 28, 2014 at 11:57 pm

    Ingenious to use the mattress pads! I have two from my girls' dorms I was going to toss but not now! The headboard is stunning

    Reply
  5. Fairhope Supply Co. says:
    May 29, 2014 at 1:41 am

    You did such a good job, and I love your fabric choice. Years ago, I tried to cover a HUGE king sized headboard by myself and got pinned beneath it! It was like a Lucy episode!

    Reply
  6. Something Nice and Pretty says:
    May 29, 2014 at 2:10 am

    What a lovely headboard you both did together, love it!

    Reply
  7. Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co. says:
    May 29, 2014 at 3:29 am

    What a beautiful headboard and a nicely detailed tutorial Doreen! And I think we've all had that moment at Lowes or Home Depot when we realize our vehicle isn't quite as big as we thought it was! And what a good blogger to remember to snap a picture to document the moment!

    Reply
  8. Moni - Zuhaus at Home says:
    May 30, 2014 at 3:02 am

    Your headboard turned out beautiful….love the color of your bedding too!

    Reply
  9. feathersanddimes says:
    May 31, 2014 at 12:42 pm

    I'm visiting from Miss Mustard Seed's FFF and I Love how your headboard turned out! This is just the kind of project I'm hoping to do soon and thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  10. Melissa Leach says:
    June 2, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    I love it! Thank you so very much for the inspriation and the tutorial. Your bedding is beautiful.

    Reply
  11. Irene Kimble says:
    June 2, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    I've been wanting to do this for years to a bed without a headboard.. thanks for for inspiration.

    Reply
  12. Irene Kimble says:
    June 2, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    I've been wanting to do this for years to a bed without a headboard.. thanks for for inspiration.

    Reply
  13. Anonymous says:
    February 4, 2015 at 3:47 am

    What kind of canvas did you use?? Want to do this project this weekend!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. My Small Home Tour - Hymns and Verses says:
    February 26, 2016 at 1:39 pm

    […] floor adds interest to the small space.    We switched out our headboard and footboard bed for a DIY upholstered headboard in […]

    Reply
  2. Christmas Plaid in the Bedroom - Hymns and Verses says:
    December 18, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    […] Doesn’t time fly between Thanksgiving and Christmas!  It’s like we’re on warp speed, and I just want time to slow down!  I want to savor and enjoy Christmas in my home and heart more!  One of the places that I like to slow down is in our bedroom.  Yesterday I had a lazy day doing just that!   I would do some things that needed done and then I’d retreat to my bedroom for a little break to snuggle with Sadie!  I found myself repeating this pattern throughout the day, and I didn’t let myself feel guilty about it!  Sometimes we need a day like this – at least I do!   Having a cozy retreat in your home is important.  A place to get away from it all and just be!  You know I love to decorate for Christmas and I really like to give my bedroom some special Christmas touches each year.  This year I made a bold choice and decided to reupholster our gray, buffalo check headboard with a pretty, red Christmas plaid!   I know it’s only going to be “appropriate” for the Christmas season, but why not!  It took Mark and I about 30 minutes tops and I love it!  I’m also thinking about getting a vintage-style iron bed in the new year.  But, even if I don’t, I can always reupholster the headboard with a new neutral fabric in January!   That’s the beauty of a DIY upholstered headboard like mine!  You can see the tutorial to make one HERE. […]

    Reply

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