Our DIY Headboard

Last month I decided that I was ready to tackle re-decorating our master bedroom, and one of the major pieces had to be the headboard. All of our bedroom furniture is pretty much secondhand. The headboard we were using had belonged to my parents, my dresser passed on from my grandparents, Brad's dresser formerly my brother's (and the matching one to Riley's which we will eventually be moving in the boys room for the baby...anyone have a small-ish dresser they want to pass on to us for Brad?). Our nightstands were the big "splurge" from Big Lots when we first got married. I think we paid about $20 bucks apiece for them.

We have had big dreams of purchasing a really beautiful bedroom set with a sleigh bed and a gorgeous wood finish...*sigh* but realistically that dream isn't going to be a reality for a long time. So I set out to create a beautiful room for us with a small budget and the pieces of furniture we already own. I've mentioned it before, but one of our favorite stores around here is Mr. 2nds where we purchased a lot of the supplies for our kitchen makeover back in January. After a visit there, pricing out something for a completely different project, my wheels started turning with an idea for a headboard and that set things in motion.

With my idea and design, and the handiwork of Brad and my dad, who can build pretty much anything with all the tools and skills he has, we have a headboard that we love that only cost us $40. *grin!*

Here's basically how we did it. We purchased two doors about $15 apiece and cut the bottoms so they were the height we wanted.

My dad helped glue and cut slots so the doors locked together side by side.

We also purchased some decorative trim that we nailed and glued to the edges to give it some character and a more finished look.

While that was all setting, we worked on building a mantle for the top. We bought another piece of decorative molding and built a box behind it to make it nice and chunky :).

Once the mantle was nailed and secured, we took it home with us and started painting it black. I used an eggshell finish in Behr paint, Black Suede. It took 1, 2, 3 coats to get a nice, smooth coverage.

Here's the comparison -

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The room is sooo close to being finished. It was "done enough" that I showed to some friends last weekend, so I think I'm ready to share here. Stay tuned for my budget-friendly makeover post soon!