Thrift Store Headboard Redo

I've been looking for a headboard forever!  I knew I didn't want to spend a fortune and wanted something a little different than I'd had in the past. I knew I wanted to either build or redo one myself.  I looked through a million plans but didn't really see anything that I thought was worth the time and effort.  There were a couple of headboards from Pottery Barn I thought were nice, but not exactly what I was looking for.  Here are the two I kind of liked:

 Pottery Barn Photo. 

This is the "Gabriella Upholstered Headboard." It would have cost $799 plus tax and shipping for the size I needed (California king).

Pottery Barn Photo

This is the other one I really liked.  Its called the "Lewis Headboard." The headboard itself runs $399. The slipcover is no longer available but when it was, it cost another $299.

I loved the unusual shape of the "Gabriella"  and the contrast between the linen upholstery and the warm wood frame but wasn't super in love with the tufting.  I also really liked the antique french grain sack look of the "Lewis" headboard too. I decided I'd wait until I found what I really liked at a price I could live with. 

Luckily, my favorite Diet Coke stop is RIGHT next door to a thrift shop.  I stop there almost every day after my Diet Coke run but rarely buy anything. The manager there and I have become friends. She thinks I'm a crazy lady because most of the things I buy there are terribly ugly, dated or broken. She even told the man who sorts through donations to decide if they are going on the sales floor or to the dump about me.  She told him to clear "questionable furniture items" with her because I may be willing to buy them.  When she told me that, I couldn't help but laugh.

One morning I stopped in to say hello to my friend at the thrift store and noticed an amazingly ugly headboard stacked behind some other furniture.  I could see the curvy outline of one of the sides so I moved things out of the way and there she was.  One of the most amazingly hideous/awesome headboards ever.  It really was ugly but had loads of potential. And for $30??  SOLD to the crazy lady who will buy anything!

We were actually on our way to help out with a friend's son's Eagle Scout project when we stopped for sodas and ended up with a bed.  My girls were mortified when they realized the headboard had to hang halfway out the back of our minivan (as if the minvan weren't bad enough) at the service project for all of their friends to see.  Can you believe I would do that to them? Geesh!

Here she is in all her seventies glory

I immediately knew what I'd do.  I headed to Lowe's and got a the thinnest sheet of plywood I could find. then I taped up wrapping paper to the outside wood frame and used a pencil to trace the shape of the inside lattice work.

I used my jigsaw and cut the plywood about 1/4 inch inside my pencil traced lines (to leave room for upholstery).  I decided to combine the things I loved about each of the two Pottery Barn headboards into one. 

First I needed to find upholstery.   I really wanted to use a coarse, more rustic natural linen that would resemble antique grain sack cloth.  I quickly realized that was a tall order.  The linen I wanted was really expensive.  I found a cheap version at Home Fabrics in Tucson that was printed on one side with tacky cabbage roses.  I'm pretty sure its the same fabric I chose for my dress to go to the eighth grade dance in 1988.  The background was exactly what I was looking for.  If you flipped the fabric over, you couldn't see any evidence of the print.  The price wasn't marked so I asked someone at the cutting counter how much it was.  Now you'll think I'm lying, but I'm not.  He replied "well, I don't think a single soul has bought that fabric since 1988.  How does $3 a yard sound?" Who was this man??? CREEPY!  I of course bought the rest of the bolt in case ever wanted matching accessories (or maybe another dress). 

I didn't want the headboard to be too fluffy so I stapled two thin layers of batting (leftover from the Raleigh headboard project - not sure of the weight, but thin) over the plywood I'd cut.  I then flipped the fabric wrong side out and stretched and stapled stretched and stapled until it was completely covered.

After the upholstery was as straight and tight as I could get it, I used painters tape to tape off a stripe pattern I liked to mimic grain sack cloth.  I mixed a few acrylic craft paint colors until I had a muted blue/gray color I liked.  I used a cheapo disposable sponge brush (the black kind) to paint the stripes.  The trick to getting aged looking stripes is to use a very very dry brush and dab very lightly.  Don't paint up and down.  You want it to look blotchy and very light.  Sometimes it was actually very hard to tell if I was laying any color down at all.  Compared to the dark blue painters tape pale, faint paint was a bit hard to see.  Go lighter at first and once you remove your tape if you decide want it darker, you can re tape and add another very thin coat.  If you do get it darker than you'd like of if you'd like to make some areas appear a lighter and more worn, you can get a very fine grain sand paper and lightly

Make sure not to get ahead of yourself and try to paint your stripes before you upholster.  It will be next to impossible to keep your lines straight while stretching your upholstery to cover your frame.  This is especially true if the shape you are upholstering isn't a square or has any curves to it at all. Patience will really pay off. 

I didn't do anything to the outside wood frame at all.  I decided I liked the wood color.  Once the stripes were done, I fit the upholstered inset into the frame and used a few wood screws to secure it from the back.  I decided not to use adhesive and used the screws sparingly so I can easily change out upholstery or maybe even someday take the insert out and do something with the original lattice. 

This project would work for many different headboards.  I see cheap headboards that would work at yard sales and on Craigslist all the time.  Just look for beds with inset panels that you could fit a very thin layer of plywood into. The shape of the headboard doesn't really matter, just find one you like.

This was an incredibly easy project and start to finish cost less than $50 including all supplies except the paint and batting I already had on hand.  Here's a photo of it in my room:

I'm in love :)