DIY Upholstered Headboard and Slipcover

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This project intimidated me a little bit because of the size of the headboard and the cost of the materials, but it ended up being a lot less daunting when I actually was in the midst of this DIY. I was pleasantly surprised at how much easier upholstering my own headboard was than I thought it would be.  This took me probably 3-5 hours to make a queen and two twin sized headboards while watching two kids and taking lunch and water breaks.

SUPPLIES

+ Staple gun and staples (I have a cheap one like this, but my hand was killing my by the end of the project)

+ Plywood

+ Egg carton foam

+ Batting

+ Fabric (I used April Rhodes Indigo Window Crystal for the queen and Two Daughters floral for the twins)

+ French cleat 

1. Cut the plywood to size.  I taped off the headboard size on the bedroom wall to make sure it was the size I wanted. I measured the taped off area and got it cut at the store. The queen is about 5'x3'. I used some of the extra pieces of that plywood for the twin headboards.

2. Lay out the egg carton on the board (I did most of my work with the board leaning on a chair and moving it around so I could go back and forth between the front and the back)

3. Lay out the batting over top of the egg carton.  I added a couple of extra layers of batting around the edge so it was a little more padded.  On the twin beds I was able to wrap the egg carton around it and that would be my preference on my next piece.

4. Staple a couple of times on each side to make sure it's secure and then staple every inch or so all the way around to make sure it's really taught and secure.

5. Lay the fabric down on the ground and put the headboard on top.  Staple a couple of pieces on each side and check the front to make sure it's wrinkle free before going back around and stapling ever half inch or more.

If you chose your final fabric to use on the last step, then you're all ready to hang.  I like to make life a little complicated sometimes, so I wanted to make a slipcover for this.  I have messy kids and we sometimes like to have dinner and movies in bed.  I knew that making a slipcover would make my life easier in the long run.  I originally was thinking of doing something that was kind of like a fitted sheet, but finally came up with this little idea.

6. Put fabric wrong side out on the headboard and pin at the corners and mark where you're going to sew.

7. Sew the corner.  I have no official training and not exactly sure how other people would do this.  I just folded and sewed in a straight line. It looks great so winging it is okay.

8. Sew the velcro strips in various spots around the bottom three sides of the fabric. On the queen, I put a velcro in the middle section, but it isn't really necessary.

9. Attach the remaining velcro strips to the plywood and voila, you're finished with the slip cover.

10. Fold the bottom corners and safety pin it together (this will allow you to take it off easily)

11. Hang using french cleat.

Master Bedroom : More Progress

This month, I joined ThriftDiving's 30 day room makeover challenge to get as much stuff in the bedroom done as possible. I had a little hiccup in the middle of the month and didn't get much done for the middle two weeks, but I'm happy with the amount of progress we've made so far. Check out this post to see where we left off.

We spend a lot of time in here just hanging out with the girls, watching movies, reading, cuddling, rough housing, and playing.  I wanted to make this a place filled with love and family.  I got a bunch of pictures that I love of different combinations of the five of us (including Clove).  Each picture makes me so happy to look at and I love this little wall of family. 

The brackets for the shelf are from IKEA and I was originally going to use it for my closet, but figured this would be the perfect spot. I had this piece of wood that I got from a pallet salvage place and Ben cut it down to size for me.  It had some writing on the side, but it mostly came off when I oiled the piece down.  I'm thinking about tracing over the letters to add a little bit of character, but I haven't decided yet. It's the perfect little shelf for our speakers, my planner/journal, and a little box of photos.  

I picked out some black and white curtains and hung them in Ben's studio (door on the left). I sewed them together so both sides are showing pattern and we can block out more of the light when he's working in there at night. We also hung up one of the tapestries I bought when I traveled to Burkina Faso.

We made plans to build a larger headboard and bed that is layered in front with this upholstered headboard.  I had all of the parts for the upholstered part, so I went ahead and built that before we get to building the rest of the piece. 

I was surprised at how easy and fairly inexpensive building this headboard was. First, I upholstered this piece with some plain fabric and then created a slipcover so that I would be able to take this off and wash it.  Knowing that we have messy toddlers and love to have 'picnics' and movies in bed, the slipcover was totally necessary.  I'll share a tutorial on that soon.

We're about halfway done, so here is where we are on the to do list:
+ Replace fan. (done, just need pictures)
+ Build bed/side tables.  I have some ideas for this, but no official plans yet.
+ Build/upholster headboard
+ Hang pictures.  Planning a wall of pictures (kind of like Ashley's)
+ Get rug or FLOR tiles.  This is a tricky room since the bed is covering half of it and the other half is essentially a cut through for the bathroom and man cave.  Thinking FLOR tiles may be the way to go.
+ Mount TV.  Still deciding if I want it in it's current spot or if we want it above the dresser.  Once we decide, we'll put it up since we already have a mount. (we're going to skip mounting this for now)
+ Redo closet. Paint whole closet and put in to place some kind of organization system
+ Make art for above the beds.  I'm thinking of some kind of wall hanging or even hanging some african baskets.  I have a bunch of ideas so I'm putting that off until the bed gets done.
+ Figure out something to do with the giant blank wall... Ben and I are leaning towards a giant black and white photo, but we haven't picked anything yet.
+ Curtains? Or some other window covering? Ida likes looking out the window so she has torn up the blinds (we have breakaway ones and she is constantly being watched, so she isn't in danger), so I'm thinking of a roman shade

Master Bedroom : Progress

It doesn't seem like much has happened since we moved in... until I look back at the before photos.

We painted everything white when we moved in.  After looking at the room, I decided I wanted black doors (which has always been on my wish list for a home anyways).  Ben got me the dresser from EBTH for a steal and that's pretty much where we're at right now.

TO DO:
+ Replace fan. (done, just need pictures)
+ Build bed/side tables.  I have some ideas for this, but no official plans yet.
+ Build/upholster headboard
+ Hang pictures.  Planning a wall of pictures (kind of like Ashley's)
+ Get rug or FLOR tiles.  This is a tricky room since the bed is covering half of it and the other half is essentially a cut through for the bathroom and man cave.  Thinking FLOR tiles may be the way to go.
+ Mount TV.  Still deciding if I want it in it's current spot or if we want it above the dresser.  Once we decide, we'll put it up since we already have a mount.
+ Redo closet. Paint whole closet and put in to place some kind of organization system
+ Make art for above the beds.  I'm thinking of some kind of wall hanging or even hanging some african baskets.  I have a bunch of ideas so I'm putting that off until the bed gets done.
+ Figure out something to do with the giant blank wall.
+ Curtains? Or some other window covering?  Still undecided on this.