Yes, You Can DIY Instagram’s Hottest Headboard — and It’s Easier Than You Think!

Courn Ahn, who lives in this Portland, Oregon, home with her partner, Raymond Cruz, is a multi-disciplinary artist and graphic designer by trade. So it’s no wonder the couple’s home is filled with clever, poppy, and colorful design touches, from large-scale murals and pastel-hued furniture to tons of squiggles. One of the best squiggle applications — you know, aside from the painted-on-the-wall frames, squiggle mural, and set of three squiggle mirrors? The delightfully irregular headboard in the couple’s bedroom, which features squiggles all along its border.

If you’ve ever shopped for a headboard, you know this bedroom staple can be expensive. When you have a very specific style, it can be difficult to find one that’s unique enough, fits your specs, and doesn’t require a mortgage to finance. DIY comes to the rescue in this case, and in fact, Ahn counts the headboard you see here as the project she’s proudest of in her home. She found an inspo photo in a tutorial online and showed it to Cruz, who said they could definitely make one of their own. “I drew out the design on some wood, he cut it on the jigsaw, and I upholstered it in this bright pink fabric,” says Ahn. “It was seriously so easy, and I’m always getting so many compliments on it!”

If you’re as enamored by this headboard as I am (and, it seems, the rest of the internet is), I’ve broken down the supplies you’ll need for it and the instructions below, so you can have a squiggly, wiggly masterpiece yourself.

• Plywood or MDF (ideally between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch thick)
• Pencil
• Safety goggles and gloves
• Jigsaw
• Sandpaper (I’d go for 150 grit)
• Foam cushion (optional)
• Spray adhesive (optional)
• Batting
• Fabric of choice (though I’d recommend thick upholstery fabric)
• Staple gun

1. Start by cutting your piece of plywood roughly to the size of a headboard. You can also have it cut at a home improvement store, like The Home Depot, so you don’t have to make a major, large-scale cut yourself. This makes it easier to jump right into the squiggly portion of this project (aka the best part).
2. Draw out your squiggly border with a pencil so you’re satisfied with how it looks.
3. Suit up with safety goggles (and gloves, if you’d like!) before turning the jigsaw on. Jigsaws have a tendency to expel a good amount of debris as they cut, so protect your eyes and clothing from flying material.
4. Cut the squiggly shape out with the jigsaw. If you’re new to this power tool, try it first on a scrap piece of wood and take as much time as you need to cut out the full headboard — there’s no rush.
5. Once the shape is cut out, give the edges a good sand with sandpaper, so there are no rough bits.
6. If you’re using foam to cushion your headboard, you’ll want to keep it in place with some spray adhesive, then cut along your squiggle shape once it’s secure. If you’re not using foam, skip to the next step!
7. Cover the whole headboard in batting, which is a thick filling that comes in rolls and is used in quilting and upholstery. Stretch the batting taut and staple it to the back of the headboard around each of the squiggle’s curves, which will help you to maintain the shape.
8. Lastly, repeat the same process as you did with the batting with the fabric, pulling it as taut as possible around the squiggles and securing it on the back with staples.