Make Your Own Headboard

 Last spring, when I was reading blogs but not writing them, I saw some great DIY tufted headboards and I decided to embark on my first craftastic blog-inspired project.

What I really wanted for my guest room was something like this...

{Pottery Barn Seagrass Headboard}

But it cost $399. Zoinks. I needed a plan B. I was unable (and unwilling) to spend that much for my guest room, especially since it's a full-sized bed. I have issues with full-sized beds. I should see a therapist.

Since I hadn't seen any tutorials out there for weaving your own headboards, I decided that a upholstered headboard was the next best thing.  I did select a fabric that has a pronounced weave though, to bring an extra bit of texture to the room since I couldn't have my beloved seagrass.

{Image from fabric.com}

And then I got really anal focused. I looked at buckets of tufted headboards and discovered that I preferred the diamond pattern (offset tufts) to the straight rows of tufts. I studied the proportions on my inspiration headboards and created my own template.

{Click image be taken to the larger version of my full-sized headboard diagram}

Yep, that's right. I made a crazy detailed template and it had nothing to do with creating a blog tutorial -- you all just get to reap the benefits of my neurotic behavior.

Because I did this project BB (before blogging, of course!) I don't have step-by-step photographs for a tutorial, but Kate at Centsational Girl shared a tutorial for creating a tufted headboard which is very similar to the process I used for my guest room bed. 

I can, at least, share a few tips I learned to make the process easier:

1. The smoother the foam's outside edges are, the nicer your end result. I've heard of a lot of people using electric knives to cut foam, and in Kate's tutorial that I linked to she used squares of foam and she tucked the cut sides inside so that the smooth factory edges were around the outside of her headboard.
2. I saved a little money by using two twin-sized eggcrate foam pads with the eggcrates facing inwards together + a large piece of clearanced 1-inch foam on top, instead of one more expensive piece of 2- or 3-inch foam.
3. Pick your button covering kit carefully -- my fabric was a little thicker and it was an absolute nightmare to cover the buttons. When I found Kate's tutorial later on and saw that she went through the same thing, I had to laugh. She at least offers a suggestion for a better brand to try... I would definitely take her advice.
4. Use upholstery thread as it's much stronger than regular thread.
5. You can use rings or brackets to hang your headboard from, but I would actually recommend using a french cleat. You can buy them, or watch this short video to see how to make one -- they are very strong, secure, and easy to make.

And that's it. They're actually pretty simple to make and I love what it does for my guest room room. It probably cost around $75 to make and took a weekend.

Don't you think it makes the room? Now I just need something fabulous on the wall above it, and we'll be set.

Sharing at Home Stories A to Z, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Just A Girl, Under The Table and Dreaming, The DIY Show Off