Building a Bed Headboard

Benefits

• The exact benefits you reap from having a headboard depends entirely on the type of headboard you choose. Generally, a headboard provides a central design point for the bedroom that ties the overall style together. The best headboards also provide a comfortable place to lean back against when you're sitting up in bed. Naturally, the benefit of building the headboard yourself means you get all of this for a fraction of what it would cost to buy the headboard.

Types

• Hard and padded are the two main types in the world of DIY bed headboard styles. Hard headboards are often carved wood or faux wood, some with posts and some solid panels. More often than not, hard DIY headboards consist of sanded and painted wood or plywood. Soft headboards tend to be large plywood shapes covered with padding and quality upholstery fabric.

  There are also two main types of headboards when it comes to how they fit behind the bed. The first type has legs, so that the headboard stands on the floor, sandwiched between the wall and the top of your bed. The second type has no legs and requires wall mounting to hang behind the bed. It's important to consider how you're going to mount the headboard before you build it, especially in terms of weight and hanging it on a wall.

Materials

• Regardless of whether you're building a hard or soft headboard, the materials you use need to be comfortable, washable and long lasting. If you're carving wood logs to create a chunky headboard, make sure the wood is sanded so it's comfortable, sealed so it's washable and stable so it's long lasting. If you're draping fabric over a pad, make sure the fabric isn't itchy, make sure it can be spot-washed, and make sure it's of a quality that's not going to tear after a few months of wear.

Other Popular Projects

• If you're looking for a DIY headboard project that doesn't consist of the basic hard or soft selections, you'll likely need to use basic craft supplies. An oversize canvas painted with a simple picture makes an elegant headboard for a master bedroom. A large curtain with funky polka-dots makes a cheerful headboard for a girl's bedroom. An attractive fireplace mantle hung like a shelf over the bed makes an artistic headboard for a modern bedroom.