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We’d been needing a headboard for our bed for a long time, but had a hard time choosing one. We wanted to get an upholstered headboard, but had a hard time finding one in the colour and size we like. We also wanted one that wouldn’t be full of foam and other chemicals that would be slowly off-gassing above our heads. We decided to make one that would be in the exact fabric we wanted and that would be an easy under-one-day weekend project. We’re super happy with the result! It’s simple and sleek and attaches to the wall for a seamless look. Here’s our easy DIY headboard tutorial:
Supplies
Here’s what you’ll need to make the headboard:
- 2 x 2 inch boards (you could choose something slimmer, depending on how thick you want the profile of the headboard)
- MDF, plywood or thick cardboard to cover the surface of the headboard
- Heavy-duty staple gun and staples
- Saw (we used a miter saw)
- Cotton quilting batting (enough for 1-2 layers over the headboard – I did 2 layers, it should be large enough to wrap around the edges to be stapled to the back of the headboard)
- Upholstery fabric – I like a heavy linen or cotton, the one we purchased is a mix of fibers (it will need to be enough to be stapled to the back of the headboard).
- Fabric scissors (or your sharpest scissors)
- French cleat hanger to attach the headboard to the wall
- Cordless drill (for attaching the hanger to the headboard and wall)
- Level (to make sure the headboard hangs straight!)
- Kreg pocket hole jig (for attaching the pieces of the frame)
Step 1: Building the frame
First decide on the dimensions of your headboard. We wanted our headboard to extend beyond the edge of our Queen bed and hang slightly below the mattress. We ended up making it 225cm long and 80cm high.
You’ll need to have enough wood boards to make the outside frame, and at least 1-2 supports in the middle to keep the frame stable. It will be hanging on the wall (the frame has not ‘legs’ that attach to the bed frame or stand on the floor so all the pressure is on the frame).
Cut the pieces to the right size for your bed – the only limitations in this sense is how wide/long a piece of fabric you can find to cover it.
Attach the pieces of the frame at a right angle to each other using the Kreg Pocket-Hole Jig (we like this one – it does the job for home-use). Check that the frame remains square as you build it.
Step 2: Cover the frame with MDF, Plywood or thick cardboard
Once the frame is built, you will want to cover the surface of the headboard with MDF, plywood or thick cardboard, so your cotton batting and fabric have something to sit on. This way when you lean on the headboard the fabric won’t stretch or sink-in between the support pieces. The reason I give the few options of materials is that we ended up using some MDF that we had lying around from an old sliding closet door that we’d taken out. In fact, the MDF wasn’t even the exact right size to cover the whole headboard – however, we knew we only needed the MDF covering the upper portion of the headboard because the lower portion would be dipping below our mattress and would not be leaned or pressed on – so we used what we had! I encourage you to get creative and recycle some materials you might have lying around – perhaps some old pieces of plywood or even a big piece of cardboard. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it will all be covered in the end!
Cut the material of your choice to the right size for your headboard and staple or nail it to the frame. We ended up attaching the MDF rough-side up so the cotton batting would stick to it a bit.
Step 3: Attach the cotton batting
Now you’ll lay the cotton batting onto your headboard. We chose to do two layers over the headboard for a bit more cushion, as its very thin (in fact, the piece we bought allowed us to do a extra half layer along the top so the top layer has 3 layers and the bottom two – we stapled on on the top half first, then folded it over the whole surface of the headboard, put in some securing staples, then folded it over again over the whole surface).
With the headboard ‘face up’ we found that it was important to lay the whole piece of cotton batting flat in one-layer over the headboard, and put in a few staples at the top and bottom of the frame (leaving enough overhang in order to be able to staple the edges to the back of the frame later) to keep things smooth, before folding over the next layer of the cotton batting. Don’t worry about the corners just yet, just focus on getting the surface completely smooth and taught over the surface of the headboard.
In the picture below we’re putting some staples into the MDF – we only did this on the bottom layer for extra security, we didn’t do it on the extra layers because we worried they would show up as ‘dents’ once we put the fabric over and we wanted a completely smooth surface.
Be careful not to pinch and pull on the batting or it will stretch, or you can even make holes in it, pulling it gently from the edges and smoothing it with your palm works well.
Once the cotton batting is smooth across the front of the headboard and stapled at the edges, you want to flip the whole thing over to attach the cotton batting to the back of the headboard frame. Staple across the long edges of the frame before tackling the corners.
Step 4: Folding corners
Creating nice smooth corners on the headboard is key to a polished finished product. We wanted to make sure that the cotton batting was nice and smooth on the corners so when we put the fabric over it would also be smooth and neat. This short You Tube tutorial on ‘How to wrap fabric on backer board’ super helpful and was the exact process I used to secure the corners with the cotton batting and then the fabric overlay.
Note: the cotton batting and fabric will be quite thick, make sure you press the staple gun hard to the frame of the headboard to be sure each staple attaches. You may also trim off some excess cotton batting from some of the underlayers before securing the rest.
Here’s what the finished corner with the cotton batting looked like:
Step 5: Attach the fabric
Now you can add the fabric over the cotton batting. If you have a fabric with a stripe, grid (like gingham or plaid) or even a pattern like ours has, you’ll need to make sure it’s perfectly straight across the headboard before attaching it.
If there’s no pattern, you can lay the fabric on the floor and then the headboard face down on top of it. Pull the fabric taught (you may also choose to trim some of the fabric so you dont have as much bulk as you’re stapling) and begin stapling along the long edges along the back of the frame.
If you have a pattern, we made this a two person job. One person held the frame upright with the fabric lying on top of it and we made sure it was straight along the top and then secured the fabric along the top edge of the back of the frame, before flipping the fabric and headboard on to the floor face-down to continue the rest of the stapling.
Follow the same process as in the tutorial above to secure the corners of the fabric, pressing the staple-gun hard into the frame to get through all the layers of fabric and cotton batting.
Flip over the headboard to take a quick look and admire the finished product before flipping it over to attach the hanger.
Step 6: Attach the French Cleat Hanger
One side of your French Cleat Hanger goes into the back centre of the headboard frame and the other goes on the wall at the height where you want the headboard to be.
When you attach the wall portion, ensure it’s at the center of where your bed sits and at the right height for where you want the headboard to hang and is level so the headboard won’t be crooked.
On the frame of the headboard you will attach the other side of the french cleat, the hanger works with each side fitting into one another so make sure each piece is oriented in the right direction. Make sure it is in the center of the top of the headboard frame and attach it to the frame with screws.
Step 7: Hang your headboard on the wall
Now you’re ready to hand your headboard on the wall! It might require a few tries to get the two pieces of the french cleat to fit into one another. We needed to press the headboard against the wall since some of the cotton batting pushes it slightly out from the wall making it hard for the two pieces to connect. Once it connects, it’s nice and flush against the wall and you’re ready to reposition your bed and admire your work!
If you have any questions – or try it out yourself – let us know in the comments!