Recent Projects, Part 2: Upholstered Headboard

In the course of redecorating Espen's room, I decided to reuse the decades-old headboard instead of simply throwing it out as I was tempted. Christian helped me reupholster it, and I'm quite happy with the transformation.

I started off by buying a few yards of cheap cotton duck cloth at Walmart, and a quarter yard of duck cloth in a contrasting color for the buttons. I also purchased a package of queen-size quilt batting there, and some button-making sets (here are some sold at Joann's). At Joann's, I purchased some florist's wire (I think around 22 gauge) to attach the buttons. We tried to use jewelry wire (also from Walmart) at first, but it was too thin and kept snapping. We already owned a heavy-duty stapler and staples.

We stapled two layers of quilt batting over the headboard, pulling it tight (but not too tight) all around. We experimented with just one layer at first, but it wasn't fluffy enough. Then, we stapled the duck cloth over. It took some trial and error to get it to lie mostly right, as the headboard has a lot of curves on top that cause the fabric to wrinkle when it's pulled over. We covered the buttons with fabric, which was very easy to do, then attached them with florist's wire to staples we put on the front of the headboard.

In all, this project cost about $20. It could cost more or less depending on the quality of the fabric you use and how many buttons (if any) you decide to make. If you don't have an old headboard to start with, you can cut a shape out of plywood, attach legs, and cover that.