Upholstered Headboard

I love the look of upholstered headboards. I've had this one from Ballard Designs saved in my favorites for a while but it starts at $679, which is more than I wanted to spend. I did use it for shape inspiration. I like this one from West Elm, too. This one was a great find from a DIY blog. I loved the color of it and the nailhead trim. I couldn't find the nailhead trim that was attached in a strand, just the individual nailheads. Time is a luxury so that option got nixed...

Tools and supplies:

• Graph paper to sketch out your design
• Fabric that is large enough to fit your desired plywood size
• Quilt batting (I did 3 layers)
• Covered button kit
• Plywood
• Fishing line or sturdy thread
• Long needle
• Scissors
• Nail or something to attach the button
• Jig saw if you are doing a shape
• Drill if you are adding buttons

I started with sketching the button location on graph paper. This gave me the approximate proportions of how I thought it should look. There were two graph paper squares between each button. There are 18 squares that made up the width.I found one queen size headboard online that was 62". So, I took 62 divided by 18 and came up with 3.44444. That's too difficult to measure. So, I rounded the 3.4444 up to 3.5, which would be much easier to measure. Are you with me still? I took the 18 squares and multipled by the 3.5 and got 63.This established the width of the headboard.

To determine the height, I just measured above my mattress to the height that I wanted (about 32").

Sketching out the headboard



Lowe's cut out the plywood at 63" X 32". I sketched and gridded out the headboard onto the plywood according to the graph paper plan.

Then, using a jig saw, my hubby cut along the sketched edges.

Then he drilled the holes.

I laid the fabric on my table with the right side facing down. I also added 3 layers of quilt batting on top of the fabric. Then I placed my newly cut and drilled plywood on this.

I started in the middle of the top and started stapling. I pulled firmly, but not with a lot of pressure because I didn't want to distort the fabric. To staple around the curves, I cut 1 inch slashes into the fabric and quilt batting in the curved section.

Then I stapled each "slash", smoothing as I went along.

I made some fabric covered buttons and then attached the buttons. I used fishing line as the thread and tied the fishing line to a nail. I then fed the thread through the hole and attached the button with a couple of stitches.

When I got finished, I used duct tape to attach the nails to the plywood. I think this also helps to keep the button tight against the quilt batting.



Here is a preview of the headboard. More to come when the bedroom is finished...