Make a Headboard...

So I wanted to make a headboard for the spare bedroom.  The room was lackluster and was missing some pizzaz.  It is the only room in the house that wasn't furnished and I was glad to take on the challenge.  

I decided that I would make a headboard.  As a disclaimer I don't know if the way I went about it was the best way ever, but it worked for me and hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

This boring space was the inspiration.  

Here's what I did:

1) Went to JoAnn Fabrics to buy 2 inch foam and fabric.  Went to Home Depot to buy wood that was involve as little cutting as possible.

Here's the wood I bought.  Pretty thin so it wouldn't rip off the wall and the EXACT right width so no cutting! 

Here's the foam backing... this is 2 inches think

Going to have to cut those long rods that I am using to put everything together... not too shabby considering I only had to make two cuts! 

2) I cut the wood and the foam down to size.  Then I hammered the 2 by 2 inch wood to the plank board.  I would highly recommend getting wood screws and screwing as hammering is labor intensive!  I would also recommend hammering the wood together on a hard surface (definitely not the bed!) 

The long pieces will hold all the pieces together... I'll worry about getting the foam board to stay a little later. 

I'm no carpenter, so I put a nail every few inches... I figured more couldn't hurt it... right? 

3) Spray the foam board with adhesive spray and allow it to dry for half an hour or longer. 

Now is the time to definitely take it off the bed... I actually did this step before I started nailing... 

4) Gather your supplies of fabric, batting, and a staple gun.  

5) Lay the batting on the floor and put the board on top.  Stretch the batting around the board and staple to the back.  I had to do this two times to cover the green and because my fabric was kind of see through.  

No real strategy here.... just trying to get it flat and then tug - staple, tug-staple, etc. 

6)  Do the same thing with your fabric.  Be sure to cut a sample if you want to buy more fabric for future projects (ie pillows, window treatments, etc.) 

again: tug-staple, tug-staple, etc. 

7) I am sure there are better ways to hand the headboard than I chose, but I screwed small wood screws on the back of the headboard.  Then I strung string from the screws.  I then screwed special screws that hold heavy weight into the wall.  I hung the headboard from these screws on the string.  (This was not easy to do along and I recommend asking for a helping hand). 

Now I am going to buy some more fabric to create a cushion for a rocker in the room and a few pillow cases.  I plan to paint a couple of old furniture pieces purple to contrast the original green and tie the fabric together.