Well, hello again 517 Creations readers! It's Beth from NashvillePug,
and I'm absolutely thrilled to be with y'all again! I'm so flattered
that MJ asked me!
Today I'm going to share my new headboard with you. I
asked my fabulous readers and Facebook friends if I should make a tufted vs. nailhead headboard, and the
overwhelming choice was NAILHEAD! I was leaning that way too, so the
deal was sealed. I completed this project in one day a couple of weeks
ago during my daughter's naptime and then after she went to bed. It
really was so easy as long as you have the right tools.
Here’s
a quick reminder of how the old headboard looked. It was a very pretty
headboard, just too big and bulky for the room. I pulled out a really
old pic of our room with the old drapes and old bedding so you could
REALLY appreciate the transformation! What was I thinking with that
bedding? Oh my!
After! Doesn’t it look so much lighter and brighter (and look great with my new Roman shades)?
I am in love with it. I walk by the room and just stare. It has made
such a huge difference in how the room feels. Read on for the tutorial,
price breakdown, and LOTS more
pics!
We
found a piece of fiberboard at Home Depot for $10 and had them cut it
to our specifications of 78”x45” for our king size bed. I knew I wanted
the headboard notched out on the corners, so I made a template from a
piece of standard printer paper and traced it on both sides of the
board. The notch is 11 inches wide and 8.5 inches long. I just drew a
curve from one corner of the paper to the other.
Then
I got to cutting with my new jigsaw! It is so easy to use and fun. Ben
is scared I’m going to get too excited while using it and cut off a
finger…
My
fabric for this project was a drop cloth! I bought two of them a couple
of months ago with plans to stencil them and use as curtains. That
didn’t happen after I realized it would be the perfect neutral fabric
for my headboard. And even better, they were only $10 each! To use a
drop cloth as fabric, make sure you wash it with a good amount of fabric
softener and then iron it really well. I purchased 5 yards of 1/2 inch
thick batting from JoAnn’s to use as my padding. Foam is too expensive,
and I figured two layers of batting would be plenty (and it was).
This
project is so much easier if you have a nice long work surface.
Luckily,
our dining room table fit the bill. I laid my drop cloth (wrong side
up) down first, then two layers of batting, and then my headboard.
My
batting was barely wide enough to staple to the headboard, so I stapled
each piece separately. This took a little more time, but I had to
really stretch each piece to have enough material to staple down. After
the batting was secure, I went back and stapled the drop cloth down.
LOTS of stapling!
Here it is all ready for some nailhead trim!
I ordered my trim from Beacon Fabric,
and it was $20 for a 10 yard roll. This stuff is so easy to work with! I
am so glad I did not get individual nailheads. I would have pulled my
hair out! Do be careful though when stretching out the trim. I think I
got a cut on each one of my fingertips on my left hand. Ouch!
I
started at the bottom left of the headboard and worked my way around.
You pound in a nailhead with a rubber mallet every 5th head. There’s a
small hole so you know exactly where to put the nailhead.
The corners were a little tricky, but the trim cuts easily with some heavy duty scissors.
figured out a little late in the game that it was easier to get a
straight line with the trim if I went ahead and stretched it all the
way across and nailed the end down. I then went back and filled in the
rest of the holes. Live and learn, my friends. It’s also easy to go back
and pop out any unruly nailheads. You can see a couple in the pic
below. The nail stem bent a little when hammered in, so I popped them
out and replaced them with a new one.
To
hang the headboard, I used a French cleat. When I asked the guys at
Home Depot which aisle they were on, they said “a French what?”! Ben
said the only cleats he knew about were the ones on the bottom of his
football shoes! I used a cleat
because I was not about to hang this bad boy with D-rings. No way was I
going to try and line those up straight. A cleat makes things so much
easier because you can slide the headboard to the left and right until
it’s in the right spot. This one even came with a little level on it, so
we knew it was straight. It was $15 and well worth it! They come in
different sizes, so you can use them to hang all kinds of things. I went
with the 200# cleat because I didn’t want to take any chances of the
headboard coming off the wall. It may not look it, but it is heavy!
Here’s the part of the cleat that went on the top of the headboard.
And
here is Ben screwing the other part into the wall. It had these fancy
screws with teeth around them, so you’re not supposed to use a drill.
Luckily one of the screws went into a stud, so the headboard is not
going anywhere!
Here’s how the back of the headboard turned out looking.
And
here it is hung on the wall! So pretty! The drop cloth did have a seam
down the middle of it, but I knew it would be hidden by the bed and
pillows, so I was not worried about it.
Here it is all dressed up and ready for it’s debut!
Again,
I’m in love! Doesn’t it look good with the shade fabric? I didn’t even
plan that! I literally made the entire headboard, and the first time I
saw the fabric in the room was when we hung it! I’m the kind of person
who doesn’t even take paint swatches home to make sure they look good. I
pick out my paint right on the spot, fabric too. It’s a blessing and a
curse. I go with my gut, and it most always works out.
One more time…Before and After pic
And
here was my little helper while I took pictures. She saw the headboard
first thing when she woke up and said “ooooohhh, new pillow!”! So cute!
Here’s the cost break down:
Drop Cloth $10
Headboard $10
Batting $20
Nailheads $20
French Cleat $15
Grand Total $75
Not too shabby
when stores are charging over $1000 for one of these!
Thanks again, MJ, for having me!! Y'all come see me over at NashvillePug when you get the chance!
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Can you believe that transformation? As soon as I saw Beth's post, I e-mailed her this picture of a VERY similar headboard from Ballard Designs that sells for WAY more!
Another awesome knock off, Beth! Be sure to pop over to Nashville Pug and leave Beth some comment love!
