DIY Headboard: Part I

This is my 50th blog post on HOUSEography!  I hope I am as excited about the 100th and 200th posts as I am about the 50th!  Back to business.

I have been wanting to make an upholstered headboard for a ridiculously long time.  I love the luxurious and cozy look they give a bedroom, but until now I didn't have the right spot.  Our basement guest room seemed liked the perfect spot to try one out.  It's a small room so a real bed frame was not going to work since there is barely enough room for the mattress.   Also, the area under the uncentered window makes wall decor challenging.

So, we decided to DIY an upholstered headboard, and I got some additional inspiration from my friends over at Young House Love.   This entire project cost me less than $45!

We started with a piece of peg board that we had leftover from a pre-addition furnace surround.  We did a standard 54" wide for a full size bed and I went with a slightly higher 36" tall.  

For stability and depth, Jim took some scrap pieces of 3/4" MDF and nailed them around the edges.  For interest, we cut the corners on the diagonal (6" x 6").

I then took some basic green foam from JoAnn Fabrics, and some white quilt batting (crib blanket size), and stapled each to the headboard around the edges (mostly just to keep it from slipping while I worked the fabric on).

Next, I chose a chocolate brown fabric which I found on the sale remnant table at G Street Fabrics.  I thought the dark brown would stand out nicely against the light mocha colored walls and pick up the deep tones in the bedspread.  After a quick ironing, I placed it over the padding and flipped it over.  Starting at the center of the top, then center of the bottom, then each side, I stapled the fabric on the back with a staple gun. 

I then worked around the head board, pulling the fabric so it was taught and stapling about every inch to inch and a half around the outside.

For an extra luxurious and custom look, I wanted to add buttons to make the headboard appear tufted.  I made covered buttons using a readily available covered button kit (about $4 for 3 buttons).

The buttons were surprisingly easy to make.  I snapped together 7 of them in about 20 minutes with  fabric scraps that match the headboard using the pattern on the back of the button package.  

Check back tomorrow to see the final steps and the finished product!

Click here to see the big reveal.