DIY Headboard- Burlap and Old Wood Flooring

I am beside myself with the newest addition to our bedroom! 

I have been wanting to make a headboard forever! I have had a interest board just for headboards so that I could sort my ideas and pinpoint what I really wanted. I knew that I wanted fabric of some sort and Happy Hubby wanted steel or wood of some sort... I decided we would compromise! I haven't been able to make my headboard because we never had a car big enough to carry home the materials. Well, guess what?!

We bought a new car on Saturday, but that's a whole other post! 

We woke up on Sunday morning and Happy Hubs asked, "what do you want to do today?" I said , "Make our headboard." I mean, why waste time?! We got the car finally!

We visited my favorite place in the whole world, The Rebuilding Center! Now I knew I wanted some sort of fabric and some sort of frame, but I decided a long time ago, to be very open minded when shopping at the rebuilding center and allow the project details to truly manifest themselves (yoga teacher language lol) once I see what is available. 

Materials:

We found a sheet of plywood for $3!!!!! It was almost the perfect size too, we only had to cut off 4 inches. I thought initially that I wanted raw wood as the boarder, but then we found this chipping white wood that looks like it used to be old tongue and groove wood flooring. We paid $7.20 for plywood and frame wood, ya can't beat that! I purchased a twin sized foam mattress cover for $10, 1 1/4"nails for $3, flush mounts (to hang the headboard on the wall) for $4. We already had an old fitted sheet that I cut up as base fabric and the burlap was leftover from our wedding last year. 

Tools:

We used a miter saw, hammer, screw gun, a staple gun, and a tape measure.

Here is how we put it together:

I didn't want pieces of white paint to chip off of our frame wood, so I sanded it with a 220 grit foam sander block. Then slapped on a coat of Mod Podge (I'll use it on anything I can!!) and then sealed it with a coat of Minwax Polyacrylic. These steps are not necessary, we have children and I did  not want them picking off paint chips... One child in particular has been known to do this already lol!

Cut Plywood to desired width and cut foam to fit. 

Staple foam to plywood. Note: Because I knew we would be using the old flooring frame, I did not fold my foam over and staple it to the back. I knew the frame would cover any bumps.

Cover foam with old sheet, staple on the back and cut off any excess fabric. Because this was a fitted sheet, I had to cut off the elastic band, which you can see in the background of this next photo.

Lay burlap on top of headboard structure and cut it leaving 4-6 inches all of the way around. Iron burlap then lay it out on the floor I didn't get a shot of that, but it was important to lay the burlap on the floor then place the headboard structure on top of it face down. The burlap shifts very easily and this keeps it straight. Pull the burlap tight around the edges, staple all the way around, taking care at the corners to keep them tidy.

Measure the boarder of the headboard and cut your wood to fit, and cut the ends of the wood pieces that will come together to make the frame at a 45 degree angle. 

Here is where it gets tricky, you will need 2 people. One person holds the wood down while the other person hammers in the nails to attach the wood to the head board.

We screwed the frame onto the headboard from the back for extra security. We didn't want wood falling on us in the middle of the night!

**Make sure your screws aren't too long or they will poke through the frame wood.

Measure and attach flush mounts to back of headboard and the wall. I can't give you too much information on this as it was Happy Hubby's job and I was just the eyeballs... We were off by about 1/2" initially and had to adjust. my advice: Have patience.

Let's look at the final product again!

I love how rugged yet elegant the frame looks!

It goes great with the pin tucked duvet cover that I made :)

I love that this burlap was in our wedding. 

It's a little reminder every morning of that special day that we promised each other our forevers!

I'm feeling a little stenciling coming on. I have no idea what color(s) or pattern I'd use, but I think a little pattern on the burlap would soften it up a bit. 

Any suggestions on what I should stencil or what color you think would look good?

I linked up:

Tuesday:

Creatively Living

Vintage Wanna Bee

Homework

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Cherished Bliss

Wednesday:

Ginger Snap Crafts

Friday:

Redoux