Creating an Easy, Elegant Headboard

I can't believe how many homes I go in to where I see no headboard on the bed. Headboards have a solid purpose and that's not only to anchor the bed in the room, but to allow pillow to have a resting surface. They can be simple or ornate, the choice is yours but here's an easy way to create one.
For more great Do it yourself projects, ideas and information, visit the Victoria Larsen Website.

Use a door! A door you say? Yes! Choose a closet sized door rather than a standard wall door. Plain or fancy, either will work but I prefer the solid doors with recessed panels to give more architectural detail to the piece I'm about to create. You will find that closet doors also tend to be less expensive allowing for more quality in the piece for the same money.

Get measurements for the legs by measuring from the floor to the top of where you want your headboard to come up to on the wall. Measure the distance between the rails on your bed frame.
Divide the measurement of your bed rail frame distance by two.
Find the center on the top of your door/headboard and mark it with a pencil.
Measure outward from that mark, the 1/2 distance measurement you just took for the rails and place a mark. This will be the exact place the center of your legs will go.
Cut legs out of 2x4's 2" shorter than the measurement you took of your wall. sand, prime and paint the same color as your door.

Prime and paint the door a neutral color and allow to dry.

Now the creative brain can kick in and really have some fun! Try these fun and easy ways to decorate them.

Stenciling: Border the outside edges of the door with a vine border then add floral designs to the recesses.
I especially love doing this to a headboard that is painted deep brown or black as the design shows up so beautifully and it set off by the rich background.

Faux Finishing: Paint the door then create granite or marble effects in the recesses. Even blended sponge painting can be gorgeous, then paint the outside edge a contrasting color.

Raised Plaster Stenciling: Once again, add a border design to the outside edges then a Raised Plaster Frieze Stencil design to the insets. Let the plaster dry for 48 hours before applying paint over the surface so you are assured not to loose any of that beautiful raised detail. Using the same color paint as you did for the door surface, paint over the design and allow it to dry to seal it completely. Do a color wash of glaze mixed with a darker, coordinating color over the design and wipe away the excess  to reveal a much more detailed version of the design.

Cast Plaster: I found this design in the March 2005 issue of Traditional Homes magazine and fell in love with the concept. I clipped it and saved it as my own map to creating the headboard for our Idaho Master Suite. It not only is elegant, but highly ornamental and detailed.
Any mold designs combined can create the most elegant and unique headboard.
Simply prime and paint your door and let dry. Cast and arrange your molded pieces in the pattern desired then attach to the door with joint compound as we instruct on the website. Let dry then paint and color wash as described above in the Raised Plaster Stenciling paragraph and you can create the same general look inexpensively and easily!

To finish your headboard, seal your design with a clear, non-yellowing sealer.
To attach the legs: Screw the legs to the back side of the door, centered over the top of the measurement lines you made for your rail distance, again, placing the top of them, two inches below the top of your door. Use a level to make sure you have them straight.
Stand the headboard up against the bed and mark a hole for each hole in the bed frame mounting bracket (standard with all metal bed frames).
Use a heavy duty metal screw and purchase matching wing nuts.
Drill pilot holes for each screw hole you marked the same diameter as the screw and drill all the way through the leg.
Attach the headboard legs to the bed frame by inserting the screws all the way through the back of the legs and the bed frame then attach a wing nut and secure tightly.

Helpful, instructional web pages:
How to stencil like a pro
How to stencil with plaster
How to cast plaster from a mold
Create Granite Effects easily with our new stencil