• 1, 2: These headboards were created by simply hanging a fabricpanel from a curtain rod over the bed. Ebay is flooded with designer fabrics in small increments. Depending on the size of your bed, you may not need more than 2-5 yards.
• 3, 4.: These variations were made by stretching fabric over a frame in the same way that you would stretch a painting. You can find all sizes of canvas stretchers at craft stores. For detailed instructions check out Young House Love's DIY headboard (picture 4) here.
(Images: 1: Homes and Gardens, 2: Martha Stewart, 3: Time out Chicago, 4: Young House Love)





Nomade Express Slee...
Haha, that's shockingly simple. I feel like, "why haven't I thought of this before?"
very pretty and practical but it can be an additional dust-catcher.
For something more temporary (and cheaper), I hung strips of wallpaper. Roll the top a bit to make it look like a scroll.
2 strips are about the width of a full size bed (with some space between the strips). I think I saw the idea on a Sunset Magazine repost on AT.
Also, I hung the strips with 3M "tape," the type that comes with the easily removable hooks, so I can remove them really easily when I move out.
I have 2 yards of fabric stretched over a handmade wood frame as my headboard. It's been there almost a year now and I love it. When I'm tired of the pattern I can change it or go with something else totally. I only spent 16 dollars for the fabric (and used wood scraps for the frame)but you can do the entire thing for under 40 bucks from scratch if you wanted to....
I'm with Martha on this one. Two white shelves, long but not deep at all and from Ikea (don't know whether they are sold still), for picture frames have already been attached above the bed, as well as two white reading lamps, model Viktor by LampGustaf (Swedish manufacturer), surprisingly reasonably priced.
The headboard itself is still under construction. I have a fabric that was bought years ago on sale, white and kind of boring, so I'll sew a "structure" on it before hanging it on a wood or shower curtain rod (depends on which is cheaper and will produce the most correct length; should be as wide as the bed with bedspread). The rod will have metal endings as a finishing touch to match the lamps.
When I want to switch the fabric, it's done "in a jiffy", and it doesn't have to be a huge expense either. I think wallpaper or the solid wood board would be a lot more work as well, so I'm quite content with this solution.
I would rather have no headboard at all then this, sorry...it just don't look right.
I totally had this idea six months ago! We put our bed at an angle in the corner, and simply hung a single 7.99 curtain panel. I liked the idea of it
being really high, and our pale room needed a focal point. It isn't a curtain rod either, just a leftover piece of dark
bamboo from another project, cut to fit.
http://moorethanfine.blogspot.com/2010/01/for-love-of-thrifting.html
We did this in our first (no painting allowed) apartment before we had a headboard, and it worked well for a while. I used a fun tablecloth, and threw it in the dryer on tumble every couple weeks to cut down on dust. It worked really well for us- simple and cheap, too.
It LOOKS pretty, but can you lean against it without ripping the fabric down? Until I got my headboard, my bed was against half a wall, and half a window, and anytime I sat up in bed, I felt like I was about to rip the curtains down, or pull the curtain rod out of the wall.
It may be easy, but I (personally) am not crazy about it. Feels too much like an after thought to me....