apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Great job, it looks fabulous! I will have to try this for sure.

On a side note, your dog is SO pretty!

i paid $600 for my tufted headboard and yours looks way nicer.

Wow this is awesome!

That dog is a super model, nice headboard too- need to get cracking on mine- thanks

LOVE the sheets! where are they from?

Love your Mal - or is he just a big husky?

Wow, I love the whole look! You did such a great job! Also, as an aside, where did you get the duvet cover and sheets?

Lovely headboard & husky! Where did you get the bedding from?

Really stunning job. Nice work.

lovely! and only 6 hours work, cool!

LOVE this!! I've been contemplating buying a padded headboard from C&B for $400, but its not tufted like this one, and I like tufts! I dunno if I am up for the DIY challenge though, I am not very good with wood and power tools... hrmm.

and what type of fabric did you use for the headboard??

So pretty. Well done.

I bet if you used a regular button on the back behind the plywood you could secure your strings with a good tight knot. Plus it would be easy to repair and tighten if one came loose.

~k

Most importantly, the doggie looks comfy.

Gori Girl: Shadow is a Siberian Husky. Maybe the picture makes him look large? He is relatively small for a sibe, only 50 lbs.

The duvet set is called Sanctuary by Pure Green. I bought it at Linens N Things awhile ago on sale for around $30. You get what you pay for though. The quality isn't great.

I used a suede home decor fabric from JoAnn's.

I've been rethinking the headboard process. Instead of using 1x4's to mount it to the bedframe, flush mounts on the wall would probably be better.

I've been thinking about selling a few of these on Etsy...do you think anyone would buy one? What do you think would be a reasonable price? Not sure how shipping would work though.

Don't forget to check out my blog. I will be posting other projects/tutorials as I complete them. Right now I'm in the process of refinishing a side table.

iheart-orange.blogspot.com

Forget the headboard. That husky is BEAUTIFUL!

This is very cool and professional-looking. I did this years ago but I cheated on the tufts, and they didn't look as nice as yours. Here's another mounting idea, though. Cut a 45-degree angle along the length of two 2x4s. (I was lucky to have a FIL with a wood shop.) Bolt one 2x4 to the headboard with angle facing down and inward toward headboard. Bolt the other 2x4 to the wall with angle facing up and inward toward wall. Set headboard onto wall mount.

Charissa:

Headboards on etsy sounds good. For pricing, consider that similar headboards are selling on Urban Outfitters for $325 plus $35 shipping and handling. Personally, I'm still waiting for them to come down in price.

Beautiful dog!!

I find it kinda freaky that you and I have very similar color schemes for the bedroom, along with very similar how-tos for the headboard.

Good work :)

It looks great! Clarissa did a great job, but she's right about there being a better way to do the buttons.

I would suggest that anyone embarking on this project take the time to consult an upholstery "how-to" book first (Singer Upholstery Basics is good). It's too involved to explain here, but for one thing, you shouldn't pull the fabric taught before attaching the buttons. When done correctly, you get a very attractive pleating effect between the buttons that adds a lot of depth to the piece; you can also learn how to secure the buttons correctly.

Sorry! Charissa, not Clarissa.

Not to give away my secret... but an even easier way to accomplish the same project is to use pegboard. Available at hardware stores, it's a lot less expensive than plywood, has the holes already drilled in a uniform pattern, and weighs a lot less. You may need to use two sheets of pegboard over the 1 x 4 frame if you can't find a sheet large enough for your bed. For those of you afraid of tackling a project too cumbersome, this may help alleviate your anxieties as it eliminates the drilling of holes in plywood.
Go for it! What a beautiful end result!

the husky makes the pic!

LIZ_B

What a great idea! This is a project I've wanted to try but was afraid I would mess up the pattern. The pegboard really takes the fear out of the project.

Thanks!

Thanks for sharing!! I have done exactly the same project myself
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_tdNwO66oILw/SWEk1ENcQmI/AAAAAAAACEo/tyhJVoS4GvM/s912/IMG_7767.JPG
and
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_tdNwO66oILw/SWEk15Il57I/AAAAAAAACEw/XAriQWzAkFg/s912/IMG_7775.JPG

The most difficult part I found was when poking the needle from the front, through the fabric/batting, then through the drilled hole. My measured spots from the front and the measure holes on the board never quite lined up right and I had to poke several times to find the pre-drilled hole... It's quite a pain :( Did you have the same problem? How did you solve it? TIA!

icymimosa I did have the same problem. I was smoothing the fabric as I went along because I didn't want a bunch of wrinkling. If you don't smooth it, it's easier to poke the needle back through. Or you can poke a needle through the other side and try to guide it through. But regardless it is a pain.

Great DIY project!!! I've been longing for one of these tufted headboards for awhile but wasn't comfortable paying $300 for one I wasn't completely in love with.

Selling on etsy would be a great idea, but shipping might be a bummer due to packaging and everything. I do think its worth looking into though! You could also set it up so the customer sends you their fabric of choice and you make a customized headboard for them!

Oh also for the legs you could use two 2x6's that end flush with the top of the board and two 2x6's going across the top and bottom between them to make it more of a frame shape. That way you can staple the fabric around the leg to the inside of the frame and the headboard can be flush with the wall (plus you won't see wood legs from the side). I think also using the 2x6's will make it more sturdy if you end up using Pegboard instead of Plywood.

That is beautiful! For securing upholstery thread I used another button (instead of staples) on the back side.

LOVE this! Thanks for the inspiration. I think I will flush mount mine to the wall. Gorgeous dog - great photo all around!

This looks gorgeous and I think the peg board variation is brilliant.

if you use the pegboard as a backing, you could get a more tech/industrial look by replacing buttons with small bolts with domed heads, and nuts to hold them. shanks just have to be long enough to go through all the layers, and you would use an awl or large needle from the back to place the bolts. put a tiny washer on each side of the peg board to protect against wear. hold the washers with glue until the bolts go in. probably wise to lay out the tuft pattern in advance on the back of the peg board, and to make some provision so that the nuts and shanks don't scratch the wall behind. also might be a bit hard to lean against, but with black micro-suede and silver bolt heads, it could be a great look.

I am planning on making a tufted headboard also, and was considering using wire (such as floral wire) to attach the buttons instead of thread. I'm thinking it might be easier to pull tightly and secure to the back?

I have the same duvet cover in seafoam. The label stated that it was made exclusively for Linens N Things - so I suppose you can't find it anymore. I purchased mine during their Going out of Business sale around Christmas. (Finding a queen/king size required visiting around 5 different stores from here to Chattanooga.) I was a little concerned about the quality of the duvet cover - it is sheet thin - but I was not able to find anything else anywhere in Atlanta with a large scale organic graphic print. (Nothing came close!)

I'm very happy with mine! The only thing that would be better is if it came in a yellow-green version. :)

(Note: I did consider Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel – one of their websites had a leaf/bird print duvet, but they have been out of stock for quite some time.)

heatherose: You can buy upholstery wire instead of thread. I hear it is hard on the fingers though.

i have a shower curtain from crate and barrel that i bought years ago in a grey ground with a large white print... looks very similar to the bedspread.

it's by marimekko and the pattern is still available:

http://www.marimekko.fi/ENG/interior/fabric/verhoilukankaat/collection/kukkula_verhoilukangas_912.htm

i love how your pup matches the bedding!

I found a cute upholstered headboard at Target. It is only $200. For the time and trouble it would save me I'm thinking I'll skip the DIY project. But first, do any other ATers have headboards from Target? What do you think of the quality?

http://www.target.com/Blanc-de-Headboard/dp/B000RZNEFG/sr=1-6/qid=1236110406/ref=sr_1_6/190-4806931-3337509?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Aupholstered%20headboard&page=1

Thanks Charissa, I found your instructions really easy to follow and I love my new DIY tufted headboard! You can see the results here

That last link didn't work so here it is again...

http://www.mabelandviolet.com/blog/how-to-diy-a-tufted-headboard/

I have two Target headboards. One is ultrasuede and the other is leather. The ultrasuede one is fantastic. Durable, cat proof, and looks way more expensive than what it was. There is color transfer if you get a darker colored one, but it washes out of your sheets easily.

The leather one is okay enough...but do not get it if you have cats like I do. My kitty likes to jump up on it and the leather isn't the highest quality so it's trashed with little claw poke marks all over it. I wouldn't get it again had I known this. I just would have gotten another ultrasuede one.

Wait for the free shipping promotions which Target offers periodically and then google for a 10% coupon. You'll get a smoking deal.

LOVE the DIY one! Great job!

Hi everyone !
I love this headboard, so elegant. Love the dog too !
I've just finished my first DIY upholstered heaboard myself, and also it's far less pretty than this one, I'm quite proud of it. You can check it out if you want : http://nocesdecoton.canalblog.com/archives/2009/09/17/15103854.html
I'll try to do a tufted one as soon as I have a new house !
Thanks for sharing all these projects with us ! I keep tuned everyday from France !

I made a tufted ottoman years ago and had an upholstery shop make my cloth covered buttons for me with their industrial strength button-setter device. It was very cheap (dollars if I remember correctly) because I supplied the fabric and buttons (from a kit bought at Joann's). They finished all of them for me while I waited: approx. 5 minutes. They were great and never popped open (I used very thick home dec fabric)!

This is lovely. Does anyone have an estimate on how much fabric I would need for a project like this? My bed is a queen and I'm working on deciding how tall I want the headboard to be.. I want to lean against it when I read but don't need it much taller than that.

If your not on etsy I would love to pay you to make me one....I can not find the size or color I want and I am so not a diy person...I wish...my email is remigirl25@yahoo.com Thx