DIY Bedframe-Part 1
In our new house we moved the beautiful four poster queen bed that was my grandmothers in our master bedroom and believe it or not--it looked so tiny. This bed looked GINORMOUS in every bedroom we have ever lived in, until now. We couldn't believe what we thought to be a monstrous bed could look so tiny. When we found out I was pregnant it did not take long for me to make my poor husbands sleeping arrangements quite awful (and non-existent). Our mattress was so old I could never get comfortable and we just knew it was only going to get worse. So, we sucked it up and instead of just replacing the mattress we figured it was time we upgraded to a king-sized bed and the four poster would make a good guest bed.
Great, we bought a new king-sized mattress, now we need a bed. If you have never had to buy a king sized bed, like us, you may not realize just how expensive they can be. We did what any good DIY lovers would do and said, "pssssh, we can make that." We bought a basic metal bed frame and got to work on the headboard first. I fell in love with a planked headboard with pegs to hide the screws. We were very excited to get started on babies first construction project (even if the picture is more bloat than baby)!
DIY Headboard
Supplies:
-2x4s
-1x4s
-1x3s
-Stain
-Wood Screws
-Peg Cutter
-Drill
-Large drill bit or spade bit
-Rubber hammer (or metal hammer with a spare piece of wood)
-Miter Saw (or circular saw with a miter ability)
-Sander (highly recommend an electric one)
Directions:
1. First things first. Similar to when we made our table you need to make the frame first. If it's not sturdy then it doesn't matter how pretty it looks. We made a basic square frame using our 2x4s with the middle of the frame laid perpendicular to the horizontal planks. This gave us a nice foundation that we can screw our planks into firmly.
2. We sank our screws to keep our screws tucked into the wood. This made it muck easier to attach our frame to the outside and hides the ugly metal screws. We used a spade bit, but you could use a large drill bit.
3. With the frame done and secure we now had the tedious job of measuring and cutting our planks to fit in a random patter on our frame. Use your spade bit (or large drill bit) to cut about halfway into your 1x4s. Line up your holes with the frame to allow them to be screwed in tightly. Screw everything together.
4. Cut your 1x3s with a mitered end to screw into the outside of your frame and planks. This allows your headboard to have a pretty finished look.
5. With everything else done, now is the worst part of this project. We do not have a drill stand to use our peg cutter. My husband said he could just muscle through it, but I don't think he'll be volunteering for that anymore. Cut out your pegs, about a million of them, and hammer them into your holes.
6. Sand everything down nice and smooth and clean up carefully.
7. Now stain it. We used MinWax English Chestnut to give it a nice warm color and it came out beautiful. I tested the color out on the back to see how many coats I wanted and how long I wanted to keep the stain on the wood before I wiped it off. We chose not to do the pegs in a darker color because we thought that was a little 80's-90's look and we wanted it to be subtle and rustic looking.
I was so pleased with how it came out being that I was about 7 weeks pregnant and sick to my stomach. My poor husband had to really do all of the work, but I am pleased to say I hammered in most of the pegs and did all of the staining. I am the staining master in our house because it's such an easy task and my husband usually has to do something harder like yard work.
We just bolted our new headboard to the metal frame. My husband is a little OCD and had to make the bed perfectly before I was allowed to take a picture. We are going to decorate the room with a light turquoise, grey, and purple accents. We both love how it came out and it makes me smile every time we come upstairs and walk into our room.
Total Cost:
Wood= $80
Stain= $10
Peg Cutter= $6
Spade Bits= $15
Total= $111
What do you think? Have you ever made a headboard and how did yours turn out?