Thursday, March 19, 2009

How We Made Our New Custom Headboard

Total Cost: $100


Total Time: One Lazy Saturday Morning, approx. 2-4 hours, this includes the time it took to obtain all the ingredients


INGREDIENTS


BD Sanded Plywood, Measured to Fit the head of our Full-Size Bed, 24 x 56 inches, ½ inches thick, found at Home Depot or Lowe's, $28


Foam, 1 to 2 inches thick, found at fabric store or arts and crafts store, $20


Foam glue, aka Gorilla Glue, $5


Staple gun with 5/16 inch size staples, $12


Picture Hangers that can hold up to 75 lbs, placed on lateral sides of the back of the finished headboard and attached to the wall, $15


Batting, can be found at the fabric store under the quilting aisle, 72 x 90 inch roll, $6


Cloth, here faux-suede/microfiber dark brown thick cloth in the remnant bin at Joann’s Fabrics, about 2 yards worth, on sale for $7 per yard


RECIPE


  • Buy plywood. Cut plywood to fit, done for free at local Home Depot or Lowe’s

  • Get your foam out

  • Glue foam to posterior or back part of plywood. Allow 30 minutes to dry if using Gorilla Glue and place weights to clamp down glue. Glue will expand, so be careful not to put down too much! Leave windows open to air out any chemical odors. See website: http://www.gorillaglue.com/

  • Wrap board and now glued-on foam with quilt batting.


  • Use Staple Gun to staple batting to back part of board [Remember to leave areas open on back side for picture hangers]... I found this to be very fun.

  • Wrap an old white sheet around the board and staple.

  • Wrap your new cloth around the front part of the board, wrap it tightly. May use cloth pliers or clean Kelly clamp [to use O.R. lingo] to smooth out any wrinkles as you staple. The edges are the most challenging.

  • Staple your new cloth to your new headboard. Iron the front part of the headboard.

  • Attach picture hangers to the back of the headboard. I liked the French Crease or Kissing style picture mounting because it allows for a tight, secure attachment.

  • Hang your new headboard onto the wall. Take pictures and post them on Facebook. Enjoy!

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