Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tuesday Tutorial

Today's tutorial is on how to make an upholstered headboard. (I know I've posted pictures about it on my personal blog, but I don't remember ever posting any instructions on how to do it. A few people have asked how to do it, so here it is.)


Things you'll need:
*A piece of wood (MDF, hardwood, anything...) sized for your bed. Height and width depend on your preference.
*A drill
*A staple gun
*Fabric (enough to cover the wood with extra to wrap around the edges)
*High Density Foam (1" or 2" whichever you prefer)
*Batting (enough to cover the piece of wood)
*Adhesive Spray
*Buttons (optional)
*Washers (only needed if you use buttons)
*Needle and Upholstery Thread (again, only needed if you use buttons)

Instructions:
1. Cut the wood to the desired height and width (the store will do this if you ask)
2. If you're going to use buttons (for a tufted look,) decide where you are going to place them. Mark it on the wood and drill a small hole (large enough for your upholstery needle to fit through.)
3. Spray the adhesive on the front of the wood and carefully lay your high density foam on top. (I say carefully because with most brands of adhesive you'll only get one chance...it's super sticky!)
4. Once the foam is secured, place the batting down on top of the foam. Wrap it around the edges of the wood. Use a staple gun to secure the batting down on the backside of the wood.
5. Place your fabric down, right side up, on the foam (the front side of your board.) TIP: I actually laid my fabric right side down on the floor and placed my board with the batting and foam directly on top of it. It made wrapping the fabric around the board a lot easier!!
6. Wrap the fabric around to the backside of the headboard on 1 side. Start stapling from the middle of the headboard. Pull fabric TIGHT for the best look. Staple 1 entire side before moving on to the next side. Repeat for all sides. Wrap the corners like you would wrap a present. The key is to make sure that the fabric is always being pulled tight.
7. Once the fabric has been stapled down on all sides, you're pretty much finished...unless you would like to add buttons for decoration to the headboard. If you're using buttons, thread your needle, start on the backside of the headboard, poke the needle through the wood, foam, batting and fabric (leave a long thread on the backside.) Attach your button and bring the needle and thread back through to the backside of your headboard. Pull the button tight. Tie a knot around a washer (with both ends of thread) to secure the button. Don't worry...the washer won't be seen. It's on the backside of the headboard. Repeat this procedure for each button.

Ta-Da...you have your very own upholstered, custom-made headboard. I mounted mine directly on the wall (like a floating shelf) however, there are several ways to mount it. I like it, but it's kind of permanent and I like to move furniture around quite a bit. I could still move it, but it would take a lot of work...and some patch work on the wall. (My husband got a little drill happy when putting the headboard up.) I've heard of people mounting the headboard on the wall with heavy duty picture hooks. Not sure how that would work?? My personal preference...and what I will do next time; buy enough wood to stand the headboard on the floor behind the bed (all the wood could be upholstered or else it could just be left as wood) or put some sort of legs on the headboard and attach it to the bed frame.

Cost: I was trying to see how cheaply I could make the headboard...therefore, I used MDF, 1" foam, batting that I already had, made my own buttons, and I got a great deal on the fabric...SO, the grand total was right around $100. Obviously the cost would go up depending on the materials that you use, but I'm really happy with our cheap headboard.

Idea: You might find an old headboard on craigslist or at a garage sale. What a perfect project to upholster...you could cut a piece out of the headboard to upholster and then stick it back in. Easy! I think I might try this next time!

*Sorry for the lack of pictures. I made the headboard before I ever thought of blogging about it! If you have any questions or if my directions are not clear, leave a comment and your e-mail address and I'll answer them as best I can.

1 comment:

Andy Porter said...

That is so awesome! It looks beautiful! I love the paint job in your bedroom too.

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