DIY Padded Headboard

As you may have seen my hints on Facebook, Instagram, and my 4Sleep mattress review from yesterday, I done made myself a padded headboard last weekend.

Well, I made it…with help from Troy and Jack.

Troy is one of those rare men who gives two craps about what the house interior looks like.  He wants to be consulted.  I’d rather just do it and not ask him for input, because we have the exact opposite kinds of taste.  As a result, we’ve had a beige and white home since we’ve been married.  Snoooooorrrrrrrrrre.

I dipped my toe in the “fun colors” pool slowly to try to get Troy on board with some brightness and flair in Bennett’s room.  Shockingly, he has been fine with everything I have suggested.  After a few days of this, I realized he is just relieved that I am containing all the color in to one room and he doesn’t have to put up with it in our bedroom.

And I am going to run with that baton as long and as far as I can.  That’s what she said.

It all started with a $50 plain jane bedframe from IKEA.  Jack and I primed it and painted it a beautifully silvery grey.  Safety first of course.  Which is why I let Jack wear his mask upside down.

Then, we purchased a piece of MDF from the hardware store.

Which we laid over an old twin egg crate foam bed pad that Troy used during the fire academy to stay in a dorm.  I’m sure it is perfectly clean and not gross at all…

And then trimmed the foam around the MDF, leaving a few inches on each side.

If you want to add buttons at the end (you’re a sadist if you do), use this time to measure where the buttons will go, and mark them.

At this point, your super assistants will take it outside and drill holes in it.  Learn from our mistake, and use a bigger drill bit to make the holes.  We used a small bit, and I hated myself for it in the end.

Calves McGee and little McGee in training.

Using a staple gun, start from the middle of the long end of the wood/foam and go ahead, knock yourself out, and staple it while pulling the foam tight.

Take your assistant up on the offer when he says “can I help Mommy”?  It’s just a staple gun…we reserve the power tools for when we cut down our Christmas tree.  Like responsible parents.

Staple all but the last portion of the foam.

Be crazy shocked that he had enough patience to finish one whole side.

Dodge flying foam

Then, again starting from the middle of the other side of the board, staple the foam down, pulling as tightly as possible.

Holding the foam as tightly as possible, put a final staple in the end piece.

Then, fold the short end of the foam up and over the long end.

Staple.

Do it on the other side too.

Then, lay out your thing cotton batting over your fabric (put the pretty side of the fabric against the floor.  The back side will be facing up.  This is the kind of batting I use for quilting, so I had it on hand.

Place the board over the batting and fabric, leaving a few inches on each side.  And then, from the middle of the long end, start your stapling again!

This time, staple to the end of the board.

Take the corner, and fold half of it over, and staple in the middle of it.  It will look like some weird “v”.

Fold that bottom piece up over the corner and staple.

Repeat with the other sides.

Now, if you hate yourself, you’re going to add buttons to the front.  You’re totally going to hate everything halfway through this.

Prop the headboard up, and starting from the back, push the needle through the foam and fabric.  You’re supposed to use an upholstery needle.  I couldn’t find one, so I used a doll needle.  More like dull needle.  And let’s talk about the fact that they sell doll needles.  That’s kind of creepy.

Staple the end of the thread on board.

After that first one, it got really hard.  That’s what she said.  Troy or Jack took a photo of me hunched over the board at one point.  I can’t tell if I am threading the needle, or sobbing.  Ignore the box of Minecraft toys.

Re-evaluate your plan to have like 15 buttons, and declare “eight is enough”.

Pause while Jack takes over the camera.  Realize when downloading the photos later that Troy has more grey hair than you realized.  Super hot.

Troy attached the headboard to the bed frame using something called plumbers tape, but apparently it isn’t tape and is made out of metal.  So there you go, you’re learning stuff.

Step back and admire your work.  Realize that at some point, you’re going to need to get a duvet cover for that comforter that you have had since college.  Realize it has been like 13 years since you were in college.  Feel old.

Be so thrilled that you are done with one part of the room.  Tip toe out backwards without looking at the rest of the nursery…

All in all, it was a really fun project.  Jack and Troy were big helpers, and had I bought the proper needle for doing the buttons, I likely would not have become dehydrated from screaming.

So there’s that.