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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

DIY: Fabric Headboard with Nailhead Trim

We have been wanting to purchase a new bedroom set for a while especially since we haven't ever had a headboard for our king size bed. After doing a little shopping we discovered how expensive a new bedroom set would cost and decided it would be best to keep the dresser and end tables and make our own headboard after seeing some really cool DIY headboards in blogland. Spending thousands on a bedroom set is not in the cards right now and it just seems like way too much money as well. Thanks to Freckles Chick recent headboard project post, I decided to dive right in and make my own today since my outdoor projects were on hold due to the lovely rain.

I decided to go with an upholstered headboard and when I saw the nail head trim detail on Freckles Chick's headboard, it was love at first sight. I've been drooling over many similar headboards at some of the nicer stores but they were well outside of our price range - a girl can dream though, right? You can find them at Restoration Hardware (mucho dinero), Williams Sonoma (muy mucho dinero), and even Crate and Barrel (muy muy much dinero) but they cost over a $1,000 for a king size! The hubby laughed but when I showed him I could do it myself for under a $100 bucks he was like wow - it looks like a bed at a high end hotel, I knew he loved it as much as I did.

Above: Williams Sonoma Version

Above: Restoration Hardware version

First I had to take some measurements and decided to go with a headboard size of 77" x 36" and decided to head to Calico Corners first to look at fabric and was that ever a trip! They have the most gorgeous fabrics that I have ever seen and some were quite pricey but there were also lots of affordable choices too.

Next I had to purchase the rest of the supplies and here's a breakdown:

  • 3 yards of Linen fabric from Calico Corners - $22.47 (it was 50% off - whoo hoo)
  • 3 yards of Quilter's batting - $13.31
  • Nail head trim - $14.99
  • Plywood 1/2" thick - $17.21 (Home Depot cut it for me for free)
  • Stapler and staples - $24.78
  • Grand Total = $92.76
After gathering all of the supplies it was time to get down to business and first I had to attach the Quilter's batting to the plywood using the staple gun. All you need to do is start from the middle and pull the batting tautly and staple away. (Warning - if you have a small dog you may want to have the hubby take him for a walk because the noise is very loud and scared the $%#@ out of him).

When it comes to the corners, just wrap it like a present and continue stapling away. Are you getting tired yet?......my hand sure was!

Ta da - the batting is done and now it's time to do the same thing with the fabric.

Now that you have the batting and the fabric done, it's time to move on to the most exciting part of all - the nail head trim! I truly believe that this will take your headboard from ho-hum to oh so luxe but it did take a lot more work than I originally thought. The trim requires that you only have to nail in every 5 nail heads so that saved some time but this is where I spent all of my time. You want to make sure that the trim is straight and using a ruler to measure was very helpful. Pounding the nails into the board required a lot more muscle than I thought and I bent about 15 nails in the process and had to do those over a few times. Otherwise it was really easy. (Above warning applies here too - small dogs don't like lots of pounding and a few screams of frustration that may occur during this step).

Ignore the corner above - since it wasn't perfect that corner will be going at the bottom of the headboard so you won't even see it. Wait a minute - did I put the trim all the way across the bottom where no one will see it???? I'm really frustrated now but at least I got to pick which end goes up and which goes down.


Look at that gorgeous fabric above. I'm so glad it matched the wall color so well and it matched our coverlet too. Not bad for going off of memory and a few prayers that it matched.

And here it is.....isn't it gorgeous? It's just leaning against the wall in this picture but we'll be hanging it up tomorrow night after we get the hanging hardware. I was just so excited to see what it looked like in the room that I couldn't wait another day. Since it's leaning against the wall, it won't be hung this high and will be lower. Gosh now I really need to get some artwork, a mirror, or something to hang above the bed now that we have an adult headboard. The hubby is really happy with it too and is already asking me to get some drapes to complete the make-over. I love it when he gets excited about my projects too.

13 comments:

Freckles Chick said...

Love, love, LOVES it!! Fantastic job, M! I esp. love the texture of the linen you chose. And hey, we have similar wall colors too. Great minds, they say....=]

The nailhead trim is SO worth it but yes, I think I seriously aged 10 yrs dealing w/ it. Once, I accidentally flung a tack across the room and narrowly missed the dog. Ah, the things we do for decor. =]

Thanks for the blog love. I'm so thrilled at how yours turned out!

Terri said...

So this is the busy project that kept you from book club! We missed you! You sure have a great sense of style and design Melissa, and you keep inspiring me to be more creative. Did you like The Pirate's Daughter? The discussion was lots of fun. Hope to see you soon!
-t.

Kate Riley said...

Oh, yours turned out so wonderful ! I loved doing this project. Thanks for stopping by my blog !

Cheers,
Kate

Mom said...

A true master piece. Now this I do think you inherited from a family member of yours. You picked a really great piece of fabric and a good choice of tacks. I can't believe you got this idead on your own, with great help from the computer. Thanks Freckles Chick. The time spent is so short. Keep up the good decorating ideas Thumbs up!

Brooke said...

Do you take orders?
HA HA!! I do love the look and what a thrifty way to polish off your bedroom set. It looks like a MILLION BUCKS!!!

Fryer Family said...

Hey! Sorry we've never left a comment before, we didn't even know we could. Yours is the only blog we read. Anyway, we LOVE your headboard!! It is so beautiful! Would you like to reupholster our kitchen chairs?? That's my next project...

Amy @ Design-Aholic said...

I was in the same boat of not wanting to pay the BIG $$$ for a headboard. Check mine out- same project, just slightly different results. :-)

Yours looks great!

http://design-aholic.blogspot.com/2009/09/afternoon-headboard.html

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Happy SITS Saturday Sharefest! Visiting from SITS. I always admire someone who can DIY anything. Your talents are impressive!

Anonymous said...

This turned out great! I love that you added the nail head detail. Great job. Thanks for stopping by tonight.

Charity said...

I have been wanting a fabric headboard if I can convince hubby to let me move the bed out I may try this. THANKS FOR SHARING AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Julia Walsh said...

Hi! GREAT project! I am curious how you hung your headboard once it was complete. Did you hang it to the wall? Or attach it to your bed somehow?

Let me know.

Thanks!

Melissa said...

Hi Julia - you can either attach it to the bed or hang it on the wall. We choice to hang it to the wall using large picture hangers. We were afraid of drilling through our handwork and possibly not getting the holes to line up. A year later we still love our headboard and hope you decide to try this project - if so please share pictures.