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.