DIY Upholstered Headboard

Let’s talk upholstered headboards.

I’ve been eyeing upholstered headboards online for quite some time. New from a furniture store they run anywhere from $700-$2000, and even a second-hand upholstered headboard from a popular online free classifieds website is at least $200. Well, that’s out of the question. So DIY it is!

I had never upholstered anything before, but I was inspired by the numerous tutorials I read online. Here’s how mine turned out:

Not too shabby for a first-time upholsterer and two days of work. 

Here’s how I did it! 

Supplies

• 1/2” plywood, cut to size by the wonderful people at your local hardware store – I got mine from Home Hardware for about $25, and got it cut to 62”x30”.
• Twin size egg carton foam mattress topper – Mine was purchased at Walmart for about $15.
• Twin size flat sheet in the colour/pattern of your choice – Again, mine was purchased at Walmart and was about $10.
• Mounting hardware – I got two sets of “flush mount hangers” from Home Hardware for about $10, and they worked beautifully.
• A crap load of furniture nails (I called them upholstery tacks, and the guy at Home Hardware knew what I was talking about) – I got 210 (7 packs of 30) “hammered antique brass” nails for about $20. I read one tutorial that said you can get tacks in a strip where you only nail down every fifth head or something, but my hardware store didn’t have that, and I don’t think the finished product would look as nice because the strip wouldn’t give consistent pressure against the foam.

Total cost was about $80+tax, which is a far cry from a store bought one for $1000, or even a second hand one for $200.

Additional supplies not pictured: Wrapping paper, staple gun and about 100 staples, pliers, screw driver, hammer, cloth tape measure, power drill, washers. 

How it’s Done 

I used wrapping paper taped up on my wall in the spot where the headboard was to go in order to figure out the sizing I wanted. I started with a piece that was way too big, and folded it down and in until I got the right size, which ended up being 62”x30”. I chose 62” across because, while I have a double bed right now, I do plan on eventually upgrading to a queen. 62” is still small enough to look normal on a double bed, but wide enough to fit a queen size as well.

Once I got all the supplies I needed, the first step was to lay out the foam topper (bumpy side up) and lay the plywood centered on top of it. Fold the foam up and over the plywood and start stapling about 1” in from the edge of the board. Pull the foam taught, but don’t over-stretch it because foam will tear. Once stapled all the way around, trim the excess foam. It should look like this all the way around:

And the front should look like this:

Next, lay out your flat sheet, good side down, and put the plywood, foam side down, centered on top of it. This time you want your staples to be about 2” in from the edge of the board. Pull tight. Check out how I did the corners:

You think you’re done stapling, don’t you? ... Nope! Go around the whole perimeter again, this time sliding your fingers along the fabric from the front of the board to the back, scooping the fabric even tighter, and staple again about 1” in from the edge. I ended up getting the fabric about a half inch tighter by doing this. These staples should be close beside each other, like, almost touching, otherwise you’ll get a puckering effect on the front... not what we’re going for.

Now, ready to get super frustrated?? You need to pull out all the staples from your first go around (the ones that are 2” in from the edge). Ugh. This is because you pulled the fabric tighter with your second pass, so your first pass is essentially useless. In order to take pressure off the second pass’ row of staples, the loose fabric needs to be pulled tight and stapled down 2” in from the edge.

Now you’re done stapling. You can trim the extra fabric now. This is how we look so far:

And the front:

That was day one... Day two: Hammering!

I measured 3” in from the edge on the front of the headboard on the top and sides, and I laid my fabric tape measure to make a straight edge, pinning it in place at the ends. I used a fine tip Sharpie to mark my fabric, but I suggest using something that can be washed off later.

The tacks’ heads had a 1/4” diameter, so I put a dot every 1/2”, leaving a 1/8” gap between each tack head.

Then I started hammering

And yes, I used every single one of the 210 tacks I purchased. So much hammering... But eventually I made it all the way around the top and sides.

 

It was ready to mount! I’m not going to lie to you, I called my dad over to do this part. He attached the mounts to the back of the headboard first. He put a washer under each of the screw holes on the mounts to make sure the ½” screws didn’t poke through the ½” plywood (that would hurt to lean up against!). We put a dab of toothpaste on the mounts and pressed the headboard against the wall where I wanted it. My dad used the toothpaste marks to locate where the other half of the mounts should be attached to the wall. Then we hooked the mounts together and it was done!

Look at it...

So have I inspired any first-time upholsterers, or have I struck fear in the hearts of all you DIY-ers out there? It was a tedious project, but overall it was not that difficult, and I think the end product looks amazing. Now to get some fancy shams and throws to make everything extra flashy.