A Place to Rest your Head

If you’re anything like me, a bedroom can never hold enough of my crap is never big enough. Especially if you live in an apartment! You need to limit how much “stuff” you have, but then again you don’t want to skimp on anything that will make the bedroom feel homey and complete, right? I decided that I was not going to go with a traditional headboard, because they were all just too big and too “heavy” looking for a little bedroom. Besides, I knew I could make one that would be more me. Looking back, I’d change a few things to cut costs, but I am so pleased at how it came out, I don’t even mind that I had to shell out a little bit of cash. I plan to be using it for a good while!

 To start off, gather your materials. I used: a canvas, a roll of cotton batting, and fabric of your choice (in the correct width/height to cover the fabric plus about 1” on each side). You’ll also need a staple gun. To determine how much batting and fabric you need, you must first decide how large of a headboard you will make based on the size bed you have (just measure the width).
Once I knew my measurements, I went to Michaels and found a canvas that was as close to the width of my bed as possible. The biggest one they carried was just a hair shorter than what I needed, but I decided it would look okay if I centered it. No one will ever notice once I put the bed together with pillows. (To keep the price down, you could just make your own frame, rather than buying a canvas, using some thin pieces of wood cut to the size you need.)

Next step: Roll out your batting on a large kitchen table and lay the canvas face down on top of it. Cut off the batting from the roll, leaving yourself space to pull the batting up around each edge to staple. Gently pull the batting tight, and staple. Don’t pull too hard, as the batting can come unraveled from itself. Do opposite sides first (ex: Left then right, top then bottom rather than Left, top, right, bottom). This will help you keep ripples from forming.
*Tip: cut the backs of the corners off rather than trying to fold them nicely and getting a staple to go through the giant wad of cotton. When you put the fabric over, you’ll never be able to tell anyway.

Finally, roll your fabric out face down and place the canvas-batting duo face down on top. Cut your fabric to size, and then begin to staple just as you did for the batting. You will need to take special care to fold your corners neatly on the back side, so that they don’t wrinkle over onto the front. I did this buy folding one edge in and stapling, and then folding the other flap on top and adding another staple or two. (Luckily I had Dad around to help me!)

Since this project was done pre-blog, there are no step by step pictures. Thanks to my dad (again!), it is hung securely on the wall, and will likely not come off until it’s time to move. Therefore, no shots of the backside upon completion either….sorry guys!
We attached two picture hangers on top backside edge of the canvas, and then secured it to the wall. The great thing about this project is that it’s totally customized to you and your needs! You pick the size, the fabric, and even how high you want it to protrude above the mattress (just hang it higher or lower on the wall).

I absolutely love my headboard, and it’s just the perfect size for my apartment sized bedroom. When I have my bed all made, this headboard is just the pop of color that the bed needs. And guess what?! A year after I had the headboard made, I realized that I had enough scraps of fabric left to make a pillow, fill two frames that I picked up from the thrift store (and spray painted) and even enough to add detail to a rolling desk chair slipcover! Now the pattern is pulled around the room, and nothing went to waste. SCORE for being a packrat and not throwing out the extra fabric! You can see the frames and the pillow in this picture below:

If you’ve made your own headboard, like this, or some other way, leave a link in a comment below. We’d love to check out your methods and designs!

As always, let us know what you think, and keep checking back for more posts! ::sniff, sniff:: In this pleasant fall breeze there is the faint smell a giveaway, coming soon!

Thrifting in our Sleep,
Chelsea & Allison