Ideas for Making a Headboard for a Queen-Size Bed

Repurpose

• Turn architectural features from around the home into a queen-size headboard. A shoji screen placed sideways above the bed becomes a new headboard, or use an old door instead. Stand several screens or doors vertically at the head of the bed to create a headboard. An old stained glass window attached to the wall gives the bed a new look, as does an old fireplace mantel. Strip the paint off the items and stain them in your bedroom colors, or embellish the items with wood trim for a more elaborate design.

Revise

• An existing headboard can be transformed into a new one with a couple of inexpensive tricks. Place batting, found at the local craft store, over the headboard and a piece of fabric with a design you enjoy. Staple both to the back of the headboard and push the headboard against the wall so the staples are not visible. Cut a new pattern into a wooden headboard by making a hump design in a square one, or remove the curves to create a linear headboard.

Scratch

• Design a headboard from scratch if you, or a trusty friend, are good with tools. Pick up a piece of plywood and cover it with batting and fabric. Attach it to the wall as your headboard, or cut the wood into 12-inch squares and apply leather to them. Hang the squares in a row and surround the whole design with a piece of black lacquer trim. Go vertically as high as you like with this design, which also works well with mirrors.

Illusion

• Create the illusion of a headboard by drawing one on the wall freehand, if you are artistic, or using a paper stencil. Draw a Moroccan-shaped headboard onto the wall and paint it, or paint a square area above the bed and frame it. Simulate an upholstered headboard by placing fabric above the bed on the wall. Frame it with dark wood posts on the sides and a line across the middle. Create tufts by sticking jeweled bead pushpins into the fabric.