DIY Hollywood Regency Upholstered Headboard

Yay!!!  I have been dying to make this for our master bedroom and I just finished it.  The best part about it was that it was super easy!

Step 1 - I went down to the hardware store and bought a piece of plywood and had them cut it to the size I wanted the headboard to be (most hardware stores do this for free!).  I opted to have the headboard very tall so the dimensions were 64"X40" (we have a queen size mattress).

Step 2 - If you want your headboard to be tufted (like mine is) you will need to drill holes in your plywood.

I LOVE my drill...It's not very powerful but perfect for all of my little projects.  The best part was that it was on clearance for on $17 and it came with a stud finder!  SCORE!  OK, back to the project...Mark on your board where you want your buttons to go and start drilling.  Of course, I had to take ANOTHER trip to the store because the Mr. failed to tell me that all of his drill bits were dull (another story on why I couldn't use his drill) and after trying to drill the same hole for about 20 minutes (really it was probably about 1 or 2 minutes but it seemed like 20) he then shared that information with me...Ugh.

Step 3 - Once you have your wholes drilled, you are ready to glue the foam down.  I decided to use 1" foam and I bought it 50% off almost a month ago (Thank you Joanns!).

I sprayed the whole board with spray adhesive and then laid the foam on top. You will need to trim the foam around the edges.  The best (and easiest) way to do this is to use an electric knife.

Ahhh...Finally found it! Seriously, I spent more time digging around in my kitchen trying to find the electric knife than it took to complete the entire headboard! I have since then decided to store the knife with all of my DIY tools instead of in the kitchen.  Next time I won't need to spend an hour looking for it...Problem solved :)

Step 4 - Once all the foam is trimmed, you will need to lay your fabric out on the floor, lay the batten on top, then lay your foam covered plywood on top (foam side down).  Now you are ready to start stapling.  Start in the middle of one of the sides and put in your first staple.

Continue stapling all across the first side.  Once complete, switch and begin stapling (starting in the middle) of the adjacent side.  Add more staples to your staple gun and continue stapling a bazillion staples along the other sides.  **Important Note** - Make sure you don't pull your fabric too tight or it will pucker, you want it to be taught, not tight.

Step 5 - Now here comes the best part of the project...Tufting! OK, well it's best part because it gives the headboard a really expensive look, but this is by far the most time consuming part. If you choose not to do it, congrats, your now done!  But if you do decide to do it, take a deep breath and realize that you are almost done!

You will need a needle, embroidery thread, your buttons (that you will sew on your headboard) and some random buttons (to hold the knot and keep your "decorative" buttons tight since now you want so show the puckering).

Luckily, I had this giant box of buttons on hand because the Diva needed A LOT of buttons for a 100 day of school project a few years ago :)  Start by pushing your threaded needle throw the hole that you previously drilled into the board.  Once through to the other side, attach your decorative button, and stick the needle back through to the other side....This is where it got really time consuming...No matter how big you drill the hole, it seems impossible to find with going back through the other direction.  Thread your "random" button, and pull it REALLY tight before knotting it.  NOTE ** When trying to tighten your thread/button, have your 6 year old princess push the button "in" to take the pressure off of the thread or it will snap. (Yes, this happened at least twice!)

If done correctly (pulling really tight to get the puckered look), the back will look like the above, and the other side will look like the below.

Isn't the fabric beautiful!!! (Also, 50% off at Joanns!)

Add some wall hanging brackets too the back and All Done!!!  It's perfect!  The exact look I wanted for my Hollywood Regency themed bedroom!!!

Ready for the sneak peak.....

Psst....Don't tell the Mr., but now I'm starting to re-think my bedding too....SHHH!

Jennifer :)

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