How to Make a Homemade Headboard

Find a charming old door at your local architectural salvage yard, thrift store, flea market or yard sale. Depending on the style of your door and your bedroom, you may wish to repaint or re-stain the door to freshen the appearance and to compliment your room. If the door is painted, you can only repaint it if you sand it completely down to the wood, which is labor intensive. If it has been stained, you can stain or paint over it. You can find all the necessary materials for this project at your local home improvement store.

Sand the door with medium-grade sandpaper, then with light-grade sandpaper. This process will allow the new paint or stain to adhere to the surface of the door as well as eliminate any imperfections in the finished surface.

Apply a coat of primer or stain/polyurethane combination to the door. Let this coat dry. Apply a coat of paint or another coat of stain/polyurethane to the surface of the door and let it dry. There are many different decorative painting techniques you can apply to your headboard, such as ragging or sponging to create a special impact in your bedroom.

Place the door lengthwise against the wall where you plan to place the bed. Locate two wall studs and mark the edge of the door accordingly.

Lay the door face down and attach the two brackets to the back of the door where they will hang on the wall studs. Insert two screws into the wall at the desired height for your headboard. Hang your homemade headboard on the wall and place your bed against it.