apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I can't wait to try it! I'll just have to be creative finding foam, tools, etc in Los Angeles.

I've also seen panels mounted to the wall using a two-part wood cleat, where the one screwed to the wall is angled, and "mates" with the one (also angled) secured to the back of the headboard. The two opposing angles, and the weight of the headboard seem to keep it from moving.

About mounting brackets, by the way, if you are NOT in a place where you can find THAT kind, "rip" cut (or have someone who DOES have an electric mitre saw) a couple of 4 inch long pieces of 1-by-6 (the kind they use for fascia boards) at an angle, and install one side to the wall making like a little hook, and the other side to the back of the head board, making sort another half of the hook, so and it will hang VERY solidly.

That's spooky -- p2 and I posted that same idea at the same time, although his sounded a tad clearer than mine did.

A little digging yielded the carpentry technical term for what Curtis and I describe: French Cleat.

I've noticed that I've never seen Curtis or Patrick (too) in the same place at the same time.

Not that it helps dispel your suspicions, ebrown, but I have! :)

I'm the perfectly-decent-looking one who seems to call to mind a generic third-world dictator who's fairly relaxed. P2 is the one who looks like he absolutely belongs in those luxe digs of his.

hi, not sure if you'll remember, but did you actually get the mounting brackets at metro lumber. if not, where? i'm looking for something like this for my headboard and it's next to impossible! thanks

The metal mounting brackets described above are Extra Thin Flush Mount Cleats. There are also Steel Cleats, Z-clips & Adjustable Flush Mounts.
All are available from Rockler.com - let your fingers do the shopping

What about mounting with heavy duty velcro ? Has anyone tried this method?

I want to make a padded head board but need to mount it to my frame and just cannot get in my head where to put the legs(boards). Should they be part of the back prior to covering? Maybe, I am making this a lot harder than it is in my mind. Help!

Thanks much.

Mary

Any suggestions for mounting a curved headboard and dealing with legs and attachmentment to the bedframe?

Here are some pictures:

http://tk-jk.net/redo/Articles/Helpussolveheadboardprobl.html

I am a college student and I wanted a cheap alternative to buying a new headboard. This was fun and easy. My dad helped me with the wood part and instead of hanging it we put legs on it. The decoration part took the most time but it turned out great. The best part was that it was under $40!!

My plan for the weekend was to finally make the headboard that I've been planning for months. Funny that this should be here now.

Thanks for the tip on the kind of foam. My plan needed to involve a slipcover because I'm kind of paranoid that after awhile the fabric will start to look dirty from my head and hair leaning against it. (I'm not dirty, really...) We built the bed frame, too. It is just made from 3/4 inch plywood. I was thinking of cutting the plywood for the headboard so that it would reach far below where the mattress rests, attaching the foam with some adheisive (one that won't melt the foam) wraping that in a cheap fabric, and then bolting the new headboard to the old frame in many places. A slipcover (with piping) and a bedskirt to match will make it look much more finished.

I'm wondering, though.... will all of that squeak? The bed doesn't squeak at all now and I'm worried about adding a squeaky element.

How did you do the corners of the headboard. I have everything all together but am stuck on that?

Just go to wallmountedheadboards. They aren't under $40 but they are beautiful!! I've got one

I agree with Gary. We have 2 of the wallmountedheadboards. They are beautiful, well made and reasonably priced. I love them!

I would like to make a headboard for my round bed but do not know where to start.

Please give me any information as to what to do.

CAN ANY TELL ME IF THERE IS A BOOK TELLING ME HOW TO MAKE DIFFERENT KINDS OF HEADBOARDS? I WANT TO USE 2 4X4X6FT FOR THE LEGS, A 4X6 SHEET OF PLYWOOD FOR THE BACK,1X3 STRIS OF 1X3 AS FRAMING AND DESIGN. I JUT DONT KNOW HOW TO PUT THE PLYWOOD INTO THE 4X4 , I THINK I CAN DO THE REST. CAN SOMEONE HELP ME. IM 65 AND I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT BEFORE I TURN 66 IN JULY. I DONT HAVE A HUSBAND TO HELP ME. THANK YOU SO MUCH ,,,,MS. D. BOYD

I can't mount a headboard to the wall - i need it to attach to the mattress frame...any suggestions?

Bridget - if you click on my name you can hop over to see pics of the headboard I made...with legs. I attached it to my bedframce with a bolts & nuts. I made a king sized one.

Hi-I work for Blueprint magazine...Go online to our website or look at the new issue for a how-to on this very subject!!

I made one that I didn't mount to the wall. I took a sheet of plywood that was wide enough and tall enough to prop behind my bed. This uses more batting and fabric, however. And, the plywood is a bit flimsy. If I were to try this again, i would probably frame it out with something.

I totally need a headboard to finish the look of my bedroom. I hate bed frames because of the squeaky factor, so this solution is perfect! Thank you so much for posting this!

This is cool.. i just made a headboard too! Its really fun. posted the how-to in my blog recently.

When I lived just north of West Point and the Storm King Mountain, I found (in Newberg) the Rag and Foam Man (honestly!) in the infinitely huge, windowless, and blact-dark basement of an old Factory! Unlike Krook, he was a singularly handsome fellow who skuffled around in the dark in good leather slippers. His wares included mountains (15-20' high) of immaculate white rags made from men's old tank top and t-shirt underware ($1.00 per trashbagful) and enormous bolts of foam in every thickness and density. Very inexpensive, too, and possibly worthy of a weekend jaunt from the city (about 40 or 50 mi?). Many was the project I bought foam for, and oh, did my furniture, car, and bathrooms sparkle from use of the throw-away rags! Also great for paint and brush cleanups.

This fellow had also seen much of the world, but generally maintained a basic secrecy about himself. Thanks for reminding me of all this! I'll post the address of this place if I can find it again. . . .

Our bed is currently sitting diagonally in the bedroom. We'd like to build a headboard which is high enough to lean against when reading but also is flat on top to act as a triangle-shaped table. Anyone seen any pictures of this or got any suggestions?

Hello From Waterloo, Canada.

I built my own padded headboard last weekend. It turned out fantastic and I owe it all to this site. I had a good idea of what to do but not a lot of confidence. After reading all the comments and looking at the links etc. I said " what the heck" and went for it.

It's a lot easier than I thought and the results are wonderful.

i found these headboard wall decals
http://wp1068115.wp102.webpack.hosteurope.de/xt/index.php?cat=c12_Collection-Marie-Antoinette.html
they are a little to girly for me but it makes me think i could paint my own version

also if you do a search for tin ceiling you will find a bunch of companies that sell tin panels used for making cool ceilings that can also be mounted in groups on your wall

Love this idea, but how would I do it if I wanted to slipcover the headboard. I know I would make the headboard about the same way and just cover it with muslin or something, but how could I attach it to the wall and still be able to get the slipcover on?

If you have a king bed you can also try using an old door instead of buying wood. we had an old standard-size door in our garage, and we draped foam and fabric on it to create a headboard. it was so easy and all i paid for was the fabric, foam, and some batting. it was probably around $50.

A local artist in my area took those tin tiles that fcrawfor is talking and framed them. Then his wife paints the tiles and give the frames a distressed look. We have three hanging over our bed and they look great!

Robyn, I ended up trimming the back in hardware to slipcover our guest bedroom headboard. Took some cotton muslin, a package of snaps and a snap plier tool, lined up rows of backs along the fabric, and wrapped the muslin around four 1x2s that we used to frame out the back of the headboard. The snaps are heavy duty (the ones used for boat covers and the like), the whole thing is shallow enough not to interfere with the cleat, and we're about to snap a fresh cover on the headboard come laundry day.

I'm in desperate need of a headboard but i can't mount anything to my wall...rental you know. Any tips for a mattress frame attachment?

i made mine too! it was so fun :) i love my jigsaw...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/megmcg/462433458/in/set-72157594537208023/

Um, the JC Penney website has very attractive upholstered headboards (button-tufted even!) for very little ... just call, order, and it arrives ...

Snaps! Why didn't I think of that? HMMMM, now on to picking fabric !!!

Bridget, just use a sheet of plywood - you can have it cut to size. If you have a Hollywood (metal) bed frame, you can drill holes in the plywood and attach it to your frame. I did this years ago, and just painted the plywood. But you could also upholster it. You could run the upholstery all the way down the sides of the plywood/headboard (glue and/or staple the fabric to the wood, and cover w/some fabric trim). Or you could attach some foam to the top half of the plywood/headboard, make or buy a slipcover, and paint the bottom half a dark color, or the same color as your bedroom wall.

wall decals work too
this one is a headboard great for a girls rooms
http://wallies.com/item/W15203.htm?tab=big_murals&page=2
or piece together a bunch of squares or stripes
blik
amazon has some, too

also i was in home depot the other day and they had iron gates for fences that were about five feet wide and looked just like an iron headboard except way cheaper!
you could also paint a bunch of picket fence posts and line them up
just wandering around home depot gave me lots of ideas
i want to get some flexible bamboo fencing and staple it to the wall for a headboard because it will match the natural colors of my bedroom and my bamboo lamp

I just finished making my first upholstered headboard, it was really fun and turned out well. The two hardest parts were the tufting and trying to find brackets to mount it to the wall. The trick that I found with tufting is to make sure you have a long enough needle and heavy enough button cord. The needles I found surprisingly at a doll making shop and the cord at an upholstery supply co. Now I just have to find the brackets so that I can mount it. Loved this project, easy and inexpensive!!

JAZ, I made a headboard years ago when my bed was on an angle and made a shelf with 3/4 inch plywood for in the corner behind it. You will need help and a table saw, skill saw, and drill with a hole saw attachment. But here is basically what I did. If you are married as I am, have the tallest person sit down on a straight back chair. Measure from the seat of the chair up to the top of their head, add 1 or 2 inches, this is so the they won't bump there head on the top edge. This gives you the measurement for height above the mattress. Make the padded part. Now measure up from the floor to the top of the mattress add this measurement to the height of your headboard minus 3/4 of an inch for thickness of shelf. Cut 2-2x4's this length, you know have the legs for your headboard to attach it to the frame. Label one L and one R, take them in the bedroom, as your looking at the bed place L on the left behind the bed and R on the right. Put the 4 inch side of the 2x4 flat against the back of the mattress, make a mark on the top on the side that is against the side wall. do this for both sides. Take then to the table saw and cut a 45 degree angle on the side that you marked. Attach to the back of the headboard setting the 45 back from the edge about a 1/2 inch and the top of the leg down 3/4 of an inch from the top of the headboard. This is so they don't show on the edge of the headboard. I stained mine to match the dressers, before I attached them. Once your legs are attached, cut another piece of 2x4 that fits in between the legs, attach it to the back flush with the top of the legs. This gives you part of the support for your shelf. Attach to bed frame with nuts&bolts. Push bed into corner, as snug as possible, try to make it as even as possible on the side walls, this will make it easier to cut the shelf. For support on the side walls we used more 2x4s, measure from the back of the headboard leg to the corner, subtract 4 inches, cut your 2x4s. Center these pieces on the wall between the back of the headboard and the corner, make sure they are level with the top of the leg and center support on the back of the headboard, attach to wall. For the shelf use 3/4 inch plywood. Measure back of padded part of headboard top from corner to corner, and from back of padded corner of headboard to back corner of walls. This will give you your shelf dimensions, I found it easier to draw out a triangle and write the measurements down on each side. Cut your shelf, again I stained it to match the dressers, set in place, if you set every thing down 3/4 of an inch your shelf should be flush with the top of the padded part of your headboard. We drilled a hole in the shelf towards the back corner before setting in place, because there was a electrical outlet behind the bed. We plugged in a multiple outlet surge protector under the bed and ran the cords for lamps and alarm clocks back down through the hole and plugged in. Hope this helps.

Great job on the headboard!
Upholstered Headboards are such the rave now and easy to make yourself.
The wall mounted ones are great for condos because they save space.
To save some trouble in finding all the parts you need to make it yourself there is a company I know who sells Headboard Kits. They are called Wall Huggers the their website is www.upholsteredwallhuggers.com. They even have the hard to find hanging clips that are special made for their wall panels.
You can order ready made panels for the wall or make them yourself.
Good luck with it!

omg mounting brackets! the one thing holding me back from making my own headboard already was being stuck on how to nail the thing to the wall without the nails showing through.

thanks for the instructions! now - finding scrap plywood!

hi there
for anyone in the SF bay area... i got all the materials to make a full-sized headboard a while back and never got around to it. now my BF will be moving in and we will have a queen size bed, so i have all the stuff and i am hoping to find someone who can use it: wood frame w/ legs (scored on craigslist from someone who never got around to their project, much like myself!), foam, and batting. all you would need to do is to pick up the fabric of your choice and a staple gun.
let me know if you are interested.

wallmount headboards!!! You gotta be kidding me! They are above $400! This post is all about DIY! go advertise somewhere else!