apartmentalist.

Before

Materials

For the headboard itself:

Tools

• A pencil.

• A level(er?).

• Measuring tape.

• A drill with appropriate bits to drill through both the wood of the headboard and whatever material comprises your bed frame. Bits should bore holes large enough to fit .5" bolts. A smaller bit will be needed if you want to put fabric-covered buttons on the headboard.

• Protective eyewear for use during drilling.

• A Phillips head screwdriver.

• An adjustable wrench.

Materials

• A sheet of lightweight, approximately 1" thick plywood as wide as/slightly wider than your bed (always measure!), and about 27"-30" in height, cut to your desired shape. A plain square is modern & simple, but a jigsaw can be used to fashion a rounded or scalloped edge.

• Two or three 1x3 boards, each cut to about 15 inches long. (This may vary, depending on the size of your existing bed. You'll want the 1x3s to be long enough to bolt to both the bed and the headboard without sticking out at the top or bottom. Also ensure the 1x3s won't stick out further than the legs of your bed, preventing the bed from sitting evenly on the floor. If you have a Queen- or a King-size bed, you will need at least three 1x3s to secure the headboard to your bed frame.

• Four .5" diameter, 2.5" long bolts with four corresponding nuts and eight washers.

• Four .5" diameter bolts long enough to go through your bed frame, the 1x3s, and the plywood. Measure the thickness of your bed frame! And again, be sure to get four corresponding nuts and eight washers. (This is unnecessary for wall-mounting.)

• Sandpaper, if you're very thorough.

• Optional: jigsaw.

(Note: I don’t suggest this, but if you plan on mounting the headboard onto your wall instead of bolting it to your bed frame: buy the plywood and a strong mounting kit or two (like for heavy artwork, ask the hardware salesman for help and err on the side of caution), a stud finder, and possibly some strong drywall anchors.

I scrapped the wall-mounting method for several reasons, the most significant being that I couldn’t think of a method for fastening the whole thing to the wall without scratching the wall with staples and making it kind of uneven due to the fabric bunching around the edges. Not to mention, what if the placement of my bed didn’t coincide with wall-studs? I wasn’t comfortable with making large holes in the wall as a renter, and I feared the whole thing would eventually fall down. If you can find some way to overcome these issues, that is awesome. But I much prefer the permanence and sturdiness of the bed frame-bolting method.)

For the upholstery:

Tools

• Staple gun & lots of staples. You will use more staples than you can even begin to imagine.

• Flat head screwdriver or small hammer for prying out poorly placed staples.

Materials

• Enough polyester sheet batting to cover your headboard generously, entirely, and thickly. A fantastic, highly suggested, much less expensive option: use 1-2 old wool/poly/cotton blankets in light colors. I got a blanket at a cheap linens outlet for like, $5.

• 2-3 yards (depending on bed size) of cotton broadcloth in the color of your choice. Be sure the fabric will totally cover the front of the plywood.

• Optional: Scotch Guard spray or similar.

For buttons, which are optional:

Materials

• Fabric-covered button-making kit, with 8 buttons (this count is approximate, depending upon your taste/bed size). These can be found in any craft or fabric store.

• Strip of leftover headboard fabric, less than 6" by 2", depending on the size of the buttons you choose.

• Embroidery floss, color unimportant.

• A large, 3” long embroidery needle.

• 8 (or same quantity as fabric buttons) plastic, 1", 2-hole buttons, color unimportant, least expensive you can find.

* * * *

Instructions

For simplicity’s sake, have the lumber store cut your wood to the right size for you. And if you want a fancy shaped headboard & you happen to be very handy with a jigsaw, that’s great too.

Step 1.
Back at home, find a space large enough to work in. If you can, recruit a friend to help; it’ll really make it so much easier. Measure your wood into thirds or fourths (again, depending upon bed-size) to determine even, sturdy placement of the 1x3 supports, making sure everything is even and level with the measuring tape and the level.

Step 2.
Mark the proper placement of the 1x3s with a pencil. Again, you'll want the 1x3s to be long enough to bolt to both the bed and the headboard without sticking out at the top or bottom. You’ll need some room around the top edge for fabric stapling, you want your headboard to rest on the frame, and the bed should sit evenly upon the floor.

Step 3.
After figuring out where the 1x3s will go on the plywood, mark two bolt-holes (at least 4 inches from one another) on each 1x3, making certain that they’ll sturdily attach to the headboard. Put on your protective eyewear. Drill the holes with a wood-boring bit, and make sure the bit is not too much larger than the bolts. Be careful not to drill into your floor, your wall, or your furniture (don’t laugh, it happens). I don’t have a work area, so I balanced each 1x3 on an end table (carefully) and had a friend (fine, it was my mom, hi mom) steady it while I drilled. Make sure the 2.5” bolts fit inside the holes.

Step 4.
Place the 1x3s onto the plywood again, make sure they’re lined up with the level marks you made earlier in Step 2, and use the pencil to mark hole-placement on the plywood. If your pencil is too wide, find a nail or something to make your mark. Okay, now ensuring that you won’t harm yourself or your surroundings, have your friend steady the plywood & drill your holes.

Step 5.
Now figure out which flat side of the plywood will be the front. The bolt heads should go through the front and poke out the back to fasten the 1x3s. Do it! Bolt them together! Like this:

Bolt -> Washer -> Plywood -> 1x3 -> Washer -> Nut

Step 6.
Note: This step deals with buttons. If you don’t want to add buttons to the headboard, skip to Step 7.

Now get the measuring tape back out, and evenly space your button marks in two rows of four (or more, depending again upon the number of buttons you want), slightly closer to the top than the bottom so your pillows don’t hide them all later. use your judgement. It helps to divide the board width into five (I even used a calculator to make it as exact as possible). Make sure they are all level and even with one another and make pencil marks. Using a small drill bit (just wide enough for the needle & embroidery thread), make your button holes. You won’t do anything with these holes for a while, but they must be made before you start adding the batting/blankets/fabric.

Step 7.
Okay! Now place the batting or blankets over the front (bolt-head) side of the plywood. I folded my old blanket in thirds, and it made for a very plush & cushy feel. Make sure the padding fits evenly, stretch it taut, and staple away. Again, don’t hurt yourself/your furniture/ your walls, and make sure your wood is balanced and supported. Have your friend arrange and pull the batting while you staple. Start in one corner and go around the headboard symmetrically. Do the left side first, do a few staples around to the top left corner, then go back down to the bottom left corner, making sure the batting is pulled taut the whole time. Keep alternating staples between the top & bottom to make sure it is pulled as secure and snug as possible. Work around the 1x3s as neatly as you can, or even loosen the bolts to tuck the ends in/underneath. If there is a ton of extra batting/blanket leftover, cut it off.

If you can easily feel the bolt-heads poking through the padding, or if it just isn’t as padded as you’d like, get another blanket or more batting and repeat as necessary. It’s really a matter of personal taste.

Step 8.
Duplicate Step 7 using your exterior broadcloth, carefully stapling to ensure the fabric is snug and tightly pulled. Very important: fold the fabric over at least once and staple through both layers to help prevent pulls, rips, and snags. It also worked best to staple the fabric directly atop the batting. I cannot stress enough that this is easier with a friend (or your dad, hi dad) to help you.

Step 9.
Note: more button talk. Skip to Step 11 if you’re not buttoning.

Okay, get your leftover broadcloth and follow the fabric-covered button-making kit instructions to the letter. Sit down and rest your knees and back for this part. Mine went something like this:

I think these are the coolest things ever.

Step 10.
Now get out your long needle, embroidery floss, and plastic buttons. Thread the needle, tie a knot in the end, string a plastic button onto the thread, and don’t let it fall off. Find those little drilled holes on the back of the headboard (remember them?), stick the needle through a hole, go through all the padding and fabric, and grab it on the front side. Poke the needle through the eyelet of your fabric-covered button, and make a different (although very nearby) entry back into the fabric toward the hole in the wood (if you use the same hole, the button won’t be as securely fastened, and the fabric is more likely to rip). Once you have both ends of the floss on the back side of the headboard, pull tightly and tug the needle through the other plastic button hole. Tie a very tight knot around the plastic buttons to tuft the batting and fabric. The plastic button should keep the knot from sliding through the hole. Get it?

Repeat for every buttonhole. Spray with Scotch-Guard or similar if you like & allow it to dry per the instructions on the can.

Step 11.
Okay, place the nearly-finished headboard against the bed to position it symmetrically. Mark 2 drill holes on the frame where each 1x3 intersects it. Move the headboard away so it doesn’t get too saw-dusty. If your headboard is metal, make sure you have a metal-boring bit and protective gear. Then get that drill back out & make some holes! Carefully!

Now place the headboard again, and use the pencil to mark through the frame holes and onto the 1x3s. Pull it back out, have a friend help you balance and stabilize the whole thing, and drill your bolt-holes. Again.

Fasten the headboard to the bed like you fastened the 1x3s to the plywood in Step 5.

Step 12.
Sweep up the sawdust, put away all the tools, make your new bed, step back and admire your work! Have a drink, even.

After

Final cost, assuming you have/can borrow the tools:

$8 for lumber & hardware (I was unusually lucky & got a $3 scrap of plywood paneling from someone's previous cut; Lowe's was just gonna throw it out.)
$7 for 2 button kits
$5 for plastic buttons & embroidery floss
$10 for 2.5 yards of fabric
$5 for blanket
___________________
=$35 total

Many, many thanks to my lovely visiting parents, who totally spotted me, helped me troubleshoot, tag-teamed the drill, mastered the staple-gun, and drove me to Lowe's hardware at 10:30 pm on a Sunday night when we realized a few of our bolts were too short. With their help, this was only about a four hour project, start to finish, counting the breaks we took to watch some of the Golden Globes.

But dude, I did most of it. And it was my idea. I promise that my parents don't do my homework, internet.