Once the snow melted, about mid May for us, I decided I needed to finish this crazy DIY project that was hanging over my head, literally. I inherited this great solid wood door when my parents replaced the door to their shed. I knew I wanted to turn the door into a headboard, but it was in rough shape- I guess being exposed to the elements for 40 years does that to a girl.
We started by scraping off all the loose paint, if you do this at home be sure to wear a mask in case you are dealing with lead paint. Step two was cutting off the bottom of the door. It was about 4 inches longer than the rest of the frame, and once it was cut, it would be the perfect size for a king-sized bed. Keep in mind for a headboard you want about 2-4 inches larger than your actual mattress, a lot of it comes down to personal preference- but once your bedding is on you don't want the headboard to look like it shrunk. I ended up making mine 2" wider than the mattress.
Once the door was cut down to the proper size John left me alone to do the rest by myself. Apparently no one thought I could use the circular saw unsupervised... Probably for the best. I went to town filling the cracks and dents with wood filler. When it was dry I sanded it down with an electric circular sander. Then I refilled any holes that persisted, and repeated sanding.
Because I was dealing with raw wood I went ahead and used KILZ latex primer. I painted it on with a foam brush. But for efficiency's sake, and because I am the most impatient DIYer ever, I sprayed on the second coat of primer, which, saved me about an hour of work time and an hour of drying time. I painted it with Benjamin Moore's Misted Green, it took two coats to cover the head board and the legs.
Once everything had cured I screwed on the legs with metal plates. (On the back I put 2 screws in the leg and 2 screws on the headboard) On the front I put one screw into the headboard, and 3 in the leg. The mattress and pillows cover these up- but I did paint them so they blended in better.
I made mine with 3 legs so the middle was well supported, and I made the legs 3" higher than the top of my mattress. I have 12' ceilings, so I had to make up for that with a tall headboard. If you don't have any antique doors laying around, I'm sure with some careful mitering you could also make this style of headboard with a sheet of plywood and some 2x4s!
If you like the fern botanicals above my headboard you can print them here. Have you tried to make your own headboards? I'd love to see.
(Update: We got new bedding I love how simple and fresh the white feels. The Euro Shams are from West Elm, the rest of the pieces are from Sferra Linens, Grant Blanket and Grande Hotel duvet and shams.)
