How to Make a Headboard
After spending a couple of days searching through furniture stores and still not being able to find the perfect headboard, it is easy to get frustrated and consider giving up. If a headboard is something that you really want to have, however, you might want to think about making one yourself.
Stuff you’ll need
Plywood
Pencils or marker
Stencil
Measuring tape
Spray adhesive
Here is how to make a headboard.
Decide how tall and how wide you want your headboard to be. Usually a headboard is at least equal to if not a little bit wider than the width of the bed.
Next you decide what shape you want your headboard to be and draw it out on the paper. Once you have the pattern drawn, cut it out and put the paper stencil onto your plywood. It is a good idea to tape the paper down before tracing the stencil onto the plywood. Using your saw, cut the headboard out of the sheet of plywood.
Now cut out a sheet of upholstery foam to match the size of the wooden headboard frame. Make sure it is one inch larger all around. Lay the sheet of foam down onto the frame and staple it down in a few places. Then use spray adhesive to fix the foam to the frame.
Cover the foam with a sheet of batting and be certain to cut the batting between two to four inches larger around than the frame. Use the staple gun to fix the batting to the frame’s back.
Cut out a piece of white sheeting that is between four and six inches larger than the shape of the headboard. Make sure all of the corners of the sheeting are even and then staple it to the back of the frame.
Now add the fabric
Smooth your decorative fabric out over the work area (ironing it helps). Place the headboard face down on the top of the fabric. Cut the fabric to match the shape and size of the frame, but add four extra inches all around it.
Start at the middle of the top of the frame and staple the fabric to the frame’s back. If there is a pattern on the fabric, be certain that it is centered and straight (or is situated the way that you want it). As you are stapling, pull the fabric tight enough to keep it smooth on the front, but do not let it pucker.
After stapling twelve inches on the top, start stapling on the bottom edge in the same way that you were stapling on the top. Once you have the top and bottom stapled, fold over the outer sides of the fabric onto the back and begin stapling the sides, making sure that you staple the extra fabric down to the back of the frame. Take extra care around the corners. If you wish, you can staple some fabric onto the back of the frame to keep it pretty.
Now, if you have legs, you will want to attach the legs to the headboard.