Make An Upholstered Headboard (For Dirt Cheap!)

When the weather turns yucky I get a yen for things that are squishy, duvets, blankies, cushions, carpets, you name it so long as it's sink-into-able. Realsimple has an idea for re-purposing a  seen-better-days comforter into a luxe looking upholstered headboard.

You'll need:

• A quilt,
• a piece of 3/4-inch plywood four feet tall and as wide as your bed (twin, 39 inches; full, 54; queen, 60; king, 76),
• two 2-by-3-by-40-inch pieces of wood,
  
• scissors, a staple gun,
• 1/4-inch staples,
• a drill
• 2 four two-inch screws.

It's not include in the instructions but I have a bunch of quilt wadding to use up so I would add it for extra puffiness.

what you'll need to do:

1. Spread the quilt right-side down on the floor. If your using extra wadding lay it down now too. Place the plywood on top, avoiding any icky areas on the quilt.
2. Cut the fabric (and wadding), leaving a four-inch border around the panel. 
3. Attach the fabric to the plywood with staples about three inches apart. Do one side, then (pulling the fabric taut) the opposite side, then the remaining sides.
4. If you're using extra wadding then you could do a mock tufting type thing by stapling trough the layers of squishyness onto the plywood from the front. You could also add self coloured buttons. Have a peek at ModHomeEcTeacher's awesome post on Mock Tufting for inspiration
5. Now the legs...Drill two 1/2 inch deep holes on the wide side of each two-by-three, at 4 and 10 inches from one end
6. Position the two-by-threes about six inches in from the edge of the plywood so they extend about 24 inches past the bottom of the headboard.
   
7. Screw the whole thing together with your 2 inch screws using your handy pre-drilled holes.
8. Prop the headboard up against the wall then push the bed up to it.

September 30, 2008

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About: Decorating on a teeny budget is my thing. Recycling and Reusing and Repurposing are my...

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