A new story for you….I DIY-ed a headboard out of a combination of materials…
At the present, I kind of thought I was barking up the wrong tree. I do have scraps of wood lying around, but I don’t exactly have the kind of know-how for something like this. I’ve seen lots of pictures of headboards, and it all looked like the kind of work out of my league.
Until I came across a Youtube content creator who professed to using cardboard and foam as the backbone of her design. Now I was a little short on cardboard, but then I thought….what about CANVASES…
Last Christmas my sister-in-law gifted me with a five-pack of 16″ by 20″ canvases. I have always seen the value of canvases for things that don’t include painting. As this work shows.
But anyway, when spread out, those five canvases all lined up 16 x 5 = 80″ I have a king sized bed which measures 79″ in width. Talk about s*&^house luck!
It was almost like a sign. To attach the canvases together, I used some metal bracketrs, a total of 8 I think, with five canvases joined together and two on each edge.
Now as you know, anything this long, even when secured, there is going to be anticipated some bowing out which I wanted to prevent. So I used one of my wood slab thingys in the middle as a brace.
This step was done by me with the assistance of a Phillips head screwdriver…The middle brace, two-three nails slightly over 2″ in length.
Now came the next material….for this, foam. I had some of that squishy foam that is good for back support, apparently I had used it for awhile, but it wasn’t he right size; later on I had folded it up and stashed it in the closet along with everything else.
A little measuring and cutting (inch and a half thick memory foam, quite a feat with my big Fiskars.) and the cushioning for my future DIY headboard was soon to be glued in place.
If you decide to try this, I would encourage you to look for a different type of foam, this is what I had in a pinch. After gluing I left it alone until the next day.
Since I have always been vehemently opposed to any kind of wall nails, then came the hairy situation of trying to come up with a way this could act as a standalone piece behind the bed, in which case what could I find that would be sturdy enough to support it.
After a lot of thinking I ended up getting a couple of empty juice jugs (I save semi-regularly) and filled them up with sand and inserted each end brace into the sanded weights. I ended up moving the contraption into the room and seguing it behind the bed because to be honest, it really needed a third brace in the middle for extra support. Which I do plan on doing, at some point. I just kind of wanted to “feel it out” and make sure my work in progress would work.
I draped a twin size brown sheet over the whole thing. I thought, good so far, it just needs a little bit of flair. Not coming up with much here….I didn’t want to hand sew little diamond bling or buttons all over it. I finally came across some bead strands (no, not from Mardi Gras, lol – these were souvenir beads I got from Savannah, GA during St. Patrick’s Day festivities
But being green, and I wanted them gold or silver., so I washed them, let them dry and then spray painted them. Not before cutting them in half to and stringing them end to end to see how much length I’d need, including a little swag in the middle.
This had to be the easiest way. Not perfect as there’s a slight break when I joined the ends, maybe later I will add a little crystal bling to each end for a little more pizazz.
Well, here goes nothing, as they say….I’m happy with it. I have a few things I want to add…a third brace in the middle for extra support, and maybe some diamond looking bling in the middle.
Not the most artsy thing I have ever done, but hey, I like it, and having a headboard is nice considering I went so long without one. Buddy is sleeping in the middle and I think he’s happy sleeping anywhere, to be honest🐱.
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