DIY Head Board

When thinking about the master bedroom, it was next to impossible not to think about getting a new mattress set.  The one we have been using is a memory foam queen mattress which was wonderful for years but has recently been leaving my husband waking up with a soar back.  I think this has something to so with the memory foam pillow top on top of the memory foam mattress.  Anyway, we decided to invest in a king bed mattress set.  It is amazing!  Especially now that I am pregnant and sleeping with pillows all around me, the extra space is much appreciated by both of us (and once and a while by Winston as well). Because we spent money on the new mattress it was hard to justify spending alot of money on a bed frame.  We were really drawn to the upholstered bedframes or headboards but they are so over priced for what they are. One day we popped into a sketchy furniture and fabric warehouse in our neighborhood, where we were told to let them know what we liked and they would make it for us for a hefty fee.  The light bulb went on, we were in a store that sold all the material!  We picked out some fabric, a large piece of foam, cotton batting, some buttons and were on our way.  We had a giant piece of ply wood sitting in our basement so we just needed to drop by Home Depot to pick up a few other material.  The list included: 4 pieces of 2 x 4; a staple gun and some staples, and wire for the buttons). We had some extra screws and nails hanging around the basement.

Step 1: Measure your mattress and cut the ply wood to the width of you mattress. Determine the height you would like, factoring in that the 2x4s will be the legs. Screw the 2x4s into the plywood around the perimeters of the board, leaving extra length for the legs.

Step 2: Cut the piece of foam (using scissors or an exacto knife) to the same size as your ply wood.  Using a spray adhesive, glue the foam onto the flat edge of your ply wood.  Once the glue is dry, place a large piece of cotton batting over the foam and staple it along the 2x4s at the back of the board. This just adds an extra layer around the edges.

Step 3: Once the foam and the cotton batting is securely in place, you are ready to add the material.  We picked out a cream coloured cotton/canvas material and purchased enough material so that we could cut a panel to staple onto the back, as the last step once we had completed the tufting.

Step 4: This was actually the hardest step -the tufting!  Figure out where you want to place the buttons and mark the back of the board.  Once you have it all marked, drill small holes through the ply wood only.  Using a long piece of wire,  poke it through the hole and have someone on the other end place the button on the wire (we used wooden buttons).  Twist the wire together neatly so that you can send it back through the original hole.  Have one person push hard on the button (I used the back of a screwdriver to push) while the other person twists the remainder of the wire around a nail until the button is well secured.

DIY Upholstered headboard

Voila! We have created a headboard much like the ones we saw in the stores or online.  We did end up buying a metal frame (often thrown in by the mattress store when purchasing a new mattress -we negotiated pillows instead -oops). We attached the headboard to the frame and added a bed skirt that matches the colour of the head board. I will post the final picture in my upcoming post about the work we've done on the master bedroom. 

Update on what we've been up to in 2011

I haven't posted in a while, maily because I haven't had alot to report.  Our renos were at a standstill for sometime mostly because of our busy schedules, lack of funds, and reno burnout! There was an incident with a leaky pipe back in January.  We had water dripping into our kitchen and had to turn the water on and off before and after our showers. This also left us using the toilet in the basement (which is just that -no sink, no walls, just a toilet). We ended up with a couple of holes in our kitchen ceiling (which still need to be patched) but the pictures were way too boring to share. Once we had the problem isolated, we realized that there was a tiny leak in one of the elbow joints so we called in a plumber to have it repaired.

Me, at 16 weeks

Also in 2011, we've received some good news which has provided us with a solid timeline to get additional work done around the house. I am due at the end of November.  We've decided to work on the master bedroom first, then tackle the guest room (which will be converted to the nursery), then the office (which will become the new guest room) and then the dining room (including finishing the hutch!). We still plan to carpet the two sets of stairs, as well as the 3rd floor bedroom (which until now, we have been using as our master bedroom). The room will be converted into the new office and we will leave the bed up there for guests. We are in the process of looking for quotes to convert the other room on the 3rd floor to a beautiful master bathroom, which once complete we can move forward on the carpeting mentioned above. Stay tuned for updates on the Master bedroom!