Look!: Vintage Iron Folding Screen Headboard

We picked up this vintage iron folding screen at the Alameda Flea Market a few months ago, hoping it would work as a headboard but figuring if it didn't we'd use it in the garden. Luckily for us it fit the bed and space we had in mind perfectly, and has since become one of our all time favorite rehab projects.

When we first bought the screen it had the chipping white paint/rust shabby chic look that we would have loved oh-so-much five years ago, but some rust-killing primer and a few coats of satin spray paint (Rustoleum Painter's Touch in Summer Squash - the same color as the mirror in the same room) made it much more current.

Anyone else out there with untraditional headboards?

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Comments (30)

Well done!

very nice. how did you attach the headboard?

Thanks! The perfect project for my guestroom!

sweet

Wow. Looks great. I love the bedspread, too...another flea market find, or is it something I could purchase at a store?

absolutely beautiful! the headboard and bedspread!

I love that. Great job.

love it!

love the bedspread/pillows/headboard/everything/you guys are amazing.

thanks! :)

I've always thought that folding screens would make perfect headboards, glad to see someone tried it and it worked. Looks great btw!

I also like the bedspread. where did you get it?

I do not know if it is still available, but if anyone likes this project and is in the dc metro area, this would be perfect:
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fur/744753260.html

Good idea!!! so i post it in my blog (http://x4durosdesing.blogspot.com/2008/07/un-biombo-como-cabecero.html )!!! thanks so much

tururu from x4duros

thanks everyone! The duvet is from Pottery Barn, see the post about it here.

The screen is attached to the wall, not the bed - if people are interested I'll try and put a post together showing how we did it.

Elizabeth, please stop taunting me with posts that include photos of this beautiful screen. If you are going to put together a "how to" post about assembling it, can you please substitute a hideous screen in lieu of this fantastically magical one?

You can also hinge doors together, and you can get the doors at the stores like here:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/green-stores/salvaged-goods-in-kc-054588

That is gorgeous. The color made my day about 10% better all by itself!

Mine:

Found gate, draped with a Turkish scarf from a street market in Berlin.

I just moved, though, and I'm rethinking the new space.

Oops, I did not know you can't post images! New here.

headboard here

I don't get this at all. It would make going to sleep a nightmare.

so pretty!

When I see that screenboard, all I can think of is hanging potential.

Hang book reading lights, toys, pictures, murals, mobile phones, speakers and even dried sausages and cabanna.

Mafan Green lasers rulz

Now that is an unusual headboard, so high, are their leaves missing from the frame?

I would have preferred to see an antique finish, maybe a little distressed.

http://www.gold-vault.com

I love it!

The yellow is so cheery and soothing at the same time. Great job.

I think it looks adorable, but I could see hurting my head on it (restless sleeper) and it not being comfortable for reading in bed (though I guess if it were really well affixed to the wall and there were enough pillows it would be fine).

In any case, I would like to see the how-to. I could see it working for the guest room!

Juust lovely! Very creative. It gives me inspiration to continue thinking 'out of the box'.

Lovely. Makes me smile. Must be really nice to come home to such a beautiful bedroom.

Oh yay! I did this with a screen that I wasn't willing to part with when we moved into a smaller space. It works perfectly as a headboard and gives height to the room. We love it!

oh yes. and here is the picture. oops: http://thedailymax.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/05/bedroom_after.jpg

Lovely! very creative!