Upholstered Headboard

So it only took me two years, but I finally have an upholstered headboard, all done for a cost of about $88, compared to my PB Inspiration of $899, I feel I did pretty good even though the finished product isn't exactly what I envisioned, but hey, that's DIY, you modify and adjust as needed :)

Inspiration from Pottery Barn

What you need:

• Sheet of Plywood: I would buy quality stuff so you don't end up with bowing. I bought 1/2 cabinet grade, and had it cut to 72" by 48"
• (3) 2x4s for legs, whatever length you desire for height, mine were 20" scrap pieces I had left over from another project
• Foam: available at JoAnn's, I had to buy two 2" thick rolls of 24" wide, which i had cut to 72" long
• Spray Adhesive...this stuff is awesome by the way
• Under fabric, i used a cream felt I had buried in the closet, this just wraps around the foam and board to give you a smooth surface for your finished project
• Finished fabric, I used burlap, but as you'll see below, ended up with linen
• Nail heads
• Hammer
• Power screw driver & screws
• Staple Gun

First set up your plywood on a workable station, i used two sawhorses. 

Spray an even layer over first half of board and lay down the first roll of foam, go around entire edge to make sure you don't have any hanging off

Repeat for the second roll

I used a base fabric because my burlap was very translucent, this was inexpensive  cream felt, if I had been able to find cream or white foam, I probably could have skipped this step. Drape over foam covered board, and make sure you have equal length around all sides.

Begin to staple fabric to the underside of the plywood. There is a little bit of a system to this, i start on the center point of each side and put in one staple and then move to the opposite side and do the same, and so on, make sure you pull and staple evenly, just make sure the fabric is taught, not overly stretched, you don't want bumpy edges. Continue until all fabric is attached.

Here's my top fabric, it looks all lovely and cream and full of texture, right? More on that later....

For the top fabric, I took my headboard inside and laid the fabric down on the carpet, Ironed it to remove and wrinkles or creases, and then laid the headboard, fabric side down on top of it, adjusting to make sure I had fabric on all side to attach. You will notice I don't have any fabric on the bottom, enter problem #01,  I didn't take into account the fabric width, solution, it will be behind the bed, no one will ever know! (except for anyone who reads this tutorial, lol)

In the same manner as before, attach fabric to all side, being sure to pull evenly. However, since I only had three sides to attach, I neatly stapled all along the top first, and then leaned the board against the wall and did the sides, so it was easier to feel how much I was pulling and to tuck the corners.

Folding in the corners, staple the top all the way to the edge, and then tuck in "middle" of fabric, and fold over side flab, hold tautly and secure with several staples

Once completed, I individually hammered in like 300 nail heads, it took FOREVER, and actually, once I got the headboard up, you couldn't even see them >:( You could however see the bruises on my fingers from holding those tacks and nailing my fingers a few times with the hammer! I forgot to take a pic, but for legs, i just placed three 2x4s on the bottom on the back of the plywood, and (both sides and middle) and attached with 2 1/4 screws, in about 8 locations.

Ta-da! Wait, it looks yellow, right? Enter PROBLEM #2. A). You can't see the nail heads, B). it looks dingy.

Slightly better in the morning light.....still not loving it though....

Solution, the next day I went and bought a linen, I simply pulled the bead and headboard forward, and wrapped the linen around and secured with staples as before, no, I did not redo the nails heads, you couldn't even see them in the first place.

I forgot to snap a completed pic, but here is a shot of it, when I was trying to see if I liked our joint monogram above the bed or not, trust me it is much more neutral and looks great against the tone of our walls. As for the monogram, after giving it a coat of satin white, the husband nixed it and said it was "too busy"...when did my husband become an interior decorator, lol :)