DIY Upholstered Headboard with Nailhead Trim

Confession:
 I have been drooling over upholstered headboards for a long time. I often virtually visit this one from West Elm for $449

 And this one from Restoration Hardware for $1120

But I don't have that kind of money just laying around.

So after seeing how many other people in blog world had made their own, I decided to give it a go...anddd it turned out way better than I thought it would! I followed this tutorial from Centsational Girl pretty much to a T.

I started by rounding up all the supplies:
1/2 inch piece of plywood that I had cut at Lowe's to the size I needed- $15
1 package of batting (I bought the queen size)- $9
1/2 inch foam (I got it on sale at Joann's)- $10
Staple Gun- borrowed
Staples- already had
Pliers- already had
Hammer in a sock- had it
Jigsaw- borrowed
D-rings- had it
Drill- had it
Fabric (I used 2 yards)- $30
Nailhead Trim Kit (French Natural) from Beacon Fabrics- $20

So that is just 84 beans for our headboard! We were much happier about that price tag and we actually had fun making it.

So here's what we did:

After I got the plywood cut at Lowe's, I took it over to my parents to borrow their jigsaw to cut the curves out of the top. As I had secretly hoped, my Dad cut the curves for me.

Next I cut the 1/2 inch foam to completely cover the plywood.

I didn't bother using any adhesive to hold it down. I just wrapped and stapled the batting tightly around the foam and plywood to hold it in place.

Next came the fabric which we attached with a staple gun.We probably should have trimmed it and made it look pretty on the back, but we are lazy and who is ever going to see it?

We then put D-rings on the back to hold it on the wall and waited for the Nailhead Trim Kit to come in the mail.

 I highly highly recommend getting the kit instead of trying to put in individual nailheads. I know I would never in a million years get it straight. We had a hard enough time with the kit where there is a strip of nailheads and you only have to put in every 5th one.

 

 

 Be super careful because the trim is sharp! J sliced his hand open. Men...

We bought a rubber mallet like the tutorial we used said to. I had a hard time getting the nails in with this. I don't know if it was the mallet or the user but the nails kept bending instead of going into the plywood. I had much more success when I wrapped a regular hammer in a sock. The sock was to keep the hammer from scratching the nail trim. Once we switched hammers it was so easy to do!

And that was it! It really was as easy as it sounds and I love it!

Now it's time for me to Ooh and Ahhh over the fact that this project actually turned out exactly as I had planned. Please excuse the iPhone quality pictures.

 

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