DIY Headboard

There are few pieces of furniture that make you look like an adult more than a headboard. Mattresses on the frame (or worse, on the floor!) scream college to me and since we moved into the Behemoth I've been dying to turn our bedroom into an "adult" room.

I knew that my best option would be to DIY a headboard and thanks to Pinterest I found many wonderful options. I loved the look of an upholstered headboard and set about making one.


I measured the bed and cut a piece of craft paper to the length. I folded the craft paper in half and drew half of the design on the paper.

I cut the template out of paper & traced it on a sheet of 3/4" plywood.

Jus then cut the shape out with his jigsaw. (Apparently the kind people at Lowe's & Home Depot will do this for you as well)

After the headboard was cut out I used spray adhesive to attach a double layer of batting to the headboard.

The process slowed for a bit as I searched for a fabric I loved for the headboard. At first I was leaning towards an olive velvet but the fabric I found wasn't large enough for our very large headboard. I continued my search, but the price of fabric plus the limited options left me wishing for more.

I started thinking about other options and realized that a shower curtain would be enough fabric to completely cover the headboard and would give me a wider variety of colors & fabric options. Finally I found a yellow ombre shower curtain at Target that I adored. I washed & ironed the shower curtain.

After the adhesive dried I laid the headboard face down on the back of the shower curtain. I started at the top, pulling the fabric very tight and stapling the fabric to the board. (I wanted to start at the top in case there was a big issue I figured the bottom would be more forgiving since it would be behind the mattress.)

After the headboard was upholstered Jus added two 2x4s to the bottom and screwed them into the bed frame. 

And just like that (for less than $40) our bedroom feels 100x more grown up!

If you need better directions you can follow this video from Design*Sponge, but when it comes to choosing fabric I highly recommend looking for a cute shower curtain instead of spending the money expensive fabric.

Renovation Lesson #111

Eventually the hunt will be over and little details will make the room feel better.

We found this Amy Butler comforter at Bed, Bath & Beyond this weekend. Clearance plus wedding gift cards meant that we walked away with this baby for $30.

Now all we need is a headboard...

We need a duvet.

Ours is ripped and dirty, actually so bad that when I thought to take a picture and show you I immediately decided that I was out of my mind and there was no way I would post a picture of our nasty duvet.

I think we're going to buy a quilt for summer & hold off on a new duvet until winter so this beaut from Anthropologie is making me drool a little.

Rivulets Quilt

What's on your bed?

Renovation Lesson #104

When your husband tells you to go and buy the kind of caulk that's flexible don't buy silicone caulk, even though it sounds like it's extremely flexible.

Silicone isn't paintable and in the week since I bought silicone caulk we're still trying to scrape it out.

How I Spent My Monday

This could probably be a reoccurring post since I don't work on Mondays and I usually spend the whole day enjoying myself.

Lately I've been really hating our "headboard" I love DIY projects and I liked the concept of our headboard I just didn't like the way it looked.

Need a reminder?

I had been thinking about finding some old windows to use as a headboard so I headed to my favorite local thrift/consignment/vintage shop and this is what I ended up with.

What do you think? Jus has requested a garland to hang on the windows so I'll be working on one.

While I was at the store I found this original scratchboard of a promethea moth. It is signed "Philip A. Reddel 1/19/72" and I really love this little beaut.

After my thrifiting adventure I went to Target and was beyond happy to see that they were thinking along the same lines as I have been and were stocking $1 pinwheels!

Wouldn't a bouquet of pinwheels be awesome for a bright, summer wedding?!

I was also totally smitten with all of the gorgeous Liberty of London line at Target, have you checked it out yet?

I kept loading Liberty of London things in my cart and then taking them out when I found something else I loved. Here are the three things I got, but I might be heading back later in the week to pick up the things I passed by.

I also got Edie a little treat, she was feeling a little naked at our party Saturday so I got her this adorable little dress.

Yes, we I dress Edie up, but in my defense she actually likes wearing clothes.

Do you ever spend a day splurging on fun goodies?

PS Don't forget to sign up/pass the word along for the Brown Paper Packages exchange! I'm so excited!!!

Roundup: Quilts

The other night Jus and I traded in our down comforter for a light quilt. I know it might be premature but with the warmer weather we hadn't been sleeping as well. We still have our down comforter on the end of our bed but getting into a bed with just a sheet and a quilt really makes it start to feel like spring.

So I thought I'd celebrate the weather and roundup some cute quilts just in case you need a change.

Sometimes I wish I lived alone so I could fill my house with the girliest of colors.

Home Velvet Quilt Bing Cherry from Target $59.99

I love that this looks modern, vintage, and tribal all at the same time.

Kaleidoscope Patchwork Quilt from Urban Outfitters $128.00

I've loved this quilt for a long time.

Rosette Quilt from Anthropologie $248.00

If you're in the mood for something a little less feminine.

Magenta Quilt from John Robshaw $440.00

A little chicer than your grandma's floral quilt.

Simply Shabby Chic Quilt-Lady Rose from Target $79.99

I think "Little House on the Prairie" is responsible for my love of patchwork quilts.

Fleur Patchwork Quilt from Urban Outfitters $128.00

I love the modern feel of this one.

Honeycomb Quilt from John Robshaw $440.00

I'm a sucker for a good pattern

Home Classics Kacy Geometric Quilt from Kohl's $69.99

Would it be ok to fill our registry with John Robshaw quilts?

Kashmir Quilt from John Robshaw $440.00

I love the rich color and scroll pattern on this quilt.

Genevieve Espresso Quilt from Overstock.com $29.99

Have I mentioned I like this color?

Aris Pansy Purple Coverlet from Kmart $71.99

A beautiful elegance

Matelasse Coventry Wisteria Quilt Set from Bed, Bath and Beyond $79.99

I love the modern stripes of this set.

Unison Wideband Charcoal Quilt from PillowsandThrows.com $198.00

I keep coming back to this cute quilt.

Reversible Leaves Quilt from Urban Outfitters $98.00

This bright color will certainly liven up your bedroom

Amy Butler Quilted Kyoto Coverlet from Designer Linen Outlets $149.99

Sometimes I just want something clean, white and bright.

Court of Versailles Caprice Quilt from Amazon.com $199.99

Looking for a little more structure?

Nautica Southport Quilt from Designer Linen Outlets $139.99

I kinda love the fact that this quilt reminds me of lollipops and flowers at the same time.

Inkwell Red 3 Piece Quilt Set from Overstock.com $64.99

I love the color & the pattern, this set is just plain cute!

Decca Sea Mist Coverlet from Kmart $62.99

I'm not quite sure how Jus would feel if he came home to this but wouldn't it be fun to show your wild side?

Dreamy Linens Zebra Quilt from Target $109.99

What do you have on your bed?

PS If you ever have an idea for a roundup let me know!

Happy Friday!

Are you as excited for the weekend as I am?

For some reason yesterday just really wore me down. I think it's that time of the year. I am so tired of winter. I want sunshine, and more importantly warmth, 40 is not warm, 80 is warm.

I'm also itching to do something fun around our house, lately, all I've been working on is wedding stuff, and while that's fun we haven't had any big projects in so long that I'm starting to get bored.

The first project we need to do is our back hall which still looks like it did two months ago.

If I had my druthers we'd wallpaper it will cork board. I think it would be tons of fun to have a place to stick all of the bits and pieces of our life. Unfortunately this stuff costs about a dollar and a half a square food and we need approximately 80 square feet. This is something I feel we need to correct ASAP.

The second project I'm dying to work on is a new headboard.

I'm not crazy about the wood paneling in our bedroom and tried to make a cool, graphic headboard but I'm really not crazy about the pipe cleaner flowers we have now. I'd love to have a sweet headboard made from plumbing pipes. Kind of a modern take on an iron headboard.

Lastly, something I've wanted to do for a long time is to paint the front hall with chevron stripes.

I am dying to paint the wooden panel doors white and think it would be awesome to add some pattern to the walls.

In reality, this weekend is pretty busy for us, we're moving a friend's home store, going to a wedding and trying to crank out some save the dates. Alas, maybe we can squeeze some home remodeling in in the down time.

What project are you dying to do?

A ehhhheadboard

I know I haven't shown you our bedroom yet but before I do I'd like to you to use your imagination.

Picture that the entire second floor of the house is our bedroom, 300 square feet is big for a bedroom; there are three dormers, two in the front and one in the back; the ceiling is pitched but there is a crawl space.

Not too bad, right?

Oh, shoot, I forgot a part...The entire room is paneled.

Yup, our entire bedroom is wood paneling, and not even the nice knotty pine kind, it's seriously varnished plywood, and all of that wood makes for a very dark bedroom.

Initially I thought the best way to decorate would be to have everything else be white in order to break up the dark wood but the changes have been coming veeeeeeery slooooooowly.

When I saw this ReadyMade cover that had an elevator screen as a headboard I was inspired.

Via

I thought a graphic metal headboard (especially a white one) would be a nice contrast to the dark wood and I've been looking for something for a while without avail.

So when I saw this project on design*sponge I was incredibly excited.

Via

This pipe cleaner screen looked like it would be perfect for our bedroom, it would be light, white and graphic, exactly what I wanted.

So after 300 pipe cleaners and a couple of nights I ended up with this...

It's been up for a week now and I'm really not loving it. The more I look at it, the more I look at these pictures, the more embarrassed I am to even show you our bedroom.

I'm not sure if all white is the way to go, maybe we should decorate comfy cozy like a cabin or paint the walls (perhaps grey!) or just suck it up and spend as little time as possible in the bedroom.

As you can tell I'm feeling a little helpless at the moment, I'm toying with writing to "Dear Design*Sponge" but that sort of feels like giving up.

So that's where it stands now, what do you think?