Making An Upholstered Headboard

If you’ve looked around, the costs of an upholstered headboard for a king sized bed start at several hundred dollars. I built this beautiful faux suede upholstered headboard for under a hundred. 

The frame is plywood.  The big warehouse building supply stores will cut these for you which removes the need to have a truck to transport a 4x8 ft board home. I could get a 3 ft wide section into the back of a car (with some of it hanging out, but driveable) so I had the store make some of the cuts for me.

Plywood comes in multiple grades. I chose a mid-grade. It’s possible to cut the pieces for supporting the frame from the remainder of the 4x8 plywood, but I choose to purchase lumber. Again, not the premium grade, but I looked for pieces that were not warped.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 – 3 ft x 6 ft  plywood 
• 2 – 1 x 6, 6 ft long
• 2 – 2 x 2, 6 ft long
• 2 – 1 x 4, 5 ft long
• 2 – casters with a 1.5” faceplate. I used swivel hooded ball casters.
• 1.25” wood screws
• Wood glue
• Fabric 45” wide by 2.5 yards, this will provide a little extra for covering buttons
• 3’ x 6’ piece of foam (available in most fabric stores)
• 2 pkgs quilting batting – for additional padding and to wrap along the edges.
• Coverable buttons – I used  eight 1.5 inch diameter buttons.
• Spray adhesive (or an all-purpose glue)
• Very heavy upholstery thread
• Washers or pegs to anchor the buttons.
• Bolts and nuts for attaching the headboard to the bedframe.

Tools:

• Measuring tape
• Drill
• Screw driver attachment for drill or screwdriver.
• Staple gun
• Very long upholstery needle to attach buttons. (12” worked well. I had trouble with the smaller size)

1. Mark locations for the holes for upholstered buttons in the mid section of the 3x6 plywood. I opted for 3 rows in a diamond patter, 8 holes total. You can see the black marker markings in the photo. I centered the middle row (2 holes) vertically, separating them by 18 inches or 9 inches from the center.

2. Position the 1x4’s centered along the top and bottom edges. This provides support and makes the whole thing rigid.

3. Attach the 1x4’s using wood glue and wood screws.

4. Drill holes (I used a 3/8 inch bit) as marked.

5. Construct the legs.

5.1 Use wood glue and screws to attach a 2x2 to each of the 1x6’s, positioning the 2x2 along the edge.

5.2 Attach the wheels using wood screws.

6. Mark mounting holes in the 1x6 supports. The location of these will depend on your bed frame. You’ll want the casters to rest on the floor and roll. Measure by placing the support (legs) behind the bed and marking the holes using a pen or pencil through the holes in the frame. Determine how far from the edge by measuring the bedframe between the holes in the bedframe headboard mount and assuming the edges of the 1x6 will be 5 ft 10 inches apart. 

7. Drill the mounting holes as marked.

8. Upholster the headboard:

8.1 Attach the foam to the front of the headboard using spray adhesive or all-purpose glue.

8.2 Wrap the top and side edges of the headboard generously with quilt batting. Use glue or staple to hold in place temporarily. The fabric will hold this down tightly. 

8.3 Layer quilt batting over the foam to completely covering it.

8.4 Cut fabric to fit, leaving a generous amount to pull behind around the edges.

8.5 Start in the center: staple on top and then pull tightly at the bottom and staple taut. Staple on one side and the pull tightly and staple taut on the opposite side.

Staple about 2” from the top and pull tightly at the bottom, opposite and staple taut.

Continue working your way around, moving from the centers and toward the corners alternating the horizontal and the vertical edges. 

9. Attach the support legs to the headboard using wood glue and wood screws 1” from each edge. These will cover the edges of the fabric.

10. Use the scrap fabric to upholster the buttons, following the manufacturers instructions.

11. Attach the upholstered buttons.

            11.1 Stand the headboard up and brace it or lean it on something so you can walk around it.

11.2 Double the upholstery thread and thread the very long upholstery needle.

11.3 Working from the back of the headboard, pass the needle through the hole in the board through to the front, trying to stay a straight as possible. Pass the needle through the loop on the back of the button and then through the headboard again coming out the hole at the back. I tried with a 5” needle and missed the hole so frequently that I went back out in search of a longer one. The 12” was awesome. It is not necessary to come back and forth as you would when sewing on a button. If your thread is not heavy enough, use 4 or more strands at once.

11.4 On the back of the headboard, tie the two ends together and tie them around a washer or a wooden peg to keep the button from popping out.

Repeat for all your buttons.

12. Use heavy bolts to attach the headboard to the bedframe.

Make your bed. Sit back. read a book. Enjoy!

Treehouses!

I am faced with the 'what do I do with the rest of my life?' question by virtue of a layoff. It is a virtue too, because I have not been very content with the job and it pays too well for me to ever leave on my own. Last year I managed to injure myself and spent months on the couch or mostly on the couch. It was not a good time for housework but I did a lot more drawing!

While drawing and doodling, I stumbled into these fun and whimsical little worlds. I found these little treehouse villages so compelling. They started out in ink, then some with fine marker and then I painted a few.
Perhaps I can go live in a treehouse! Seems apropo as I am still in fantasy world - expecting the perfect job offer while I still haven't applied anywhere...nor have I updated my resume or even determined what I would like top go do!. For now, I have not yet been released from my job, so I still have work (and pay!!) and drawing treehouses keeps me sane.



I think I'll go plan a big party to be held in the pink gazebo! Ya'll c'mon down.

People who blog do so because they have something to say...something to share. I'm one of those people, but only sometimes and lately not very often. I decided some months ago that I needed to get some chores around the house done before I allowed myself the freedom to embark on other projects. No new 'messes' without cleaning up some of my 'findings' and 'treasures'.

My daughter found a stash of discarded slate roofing tiles. These are awesome and I've created some interesting wall hangings from them. A set of grapes, painted on a block of cream in acrylic hang in my sister-in-law's condo. And these graphic mono-color paintings of sea oats led me to try a full sized painting of sea oats silhouetted against a sunset. That was the last piece I did before holding my art for ransom in the hope that I would clear away some clutter.

There's no message here...except to say be careful what you sign up for. We need to say 'yes' to our inner voices more often and 'no' to the demands on our time that sap our creative juice. Whether those demands are from others or from inside ourselves.

Have a great day!

Ink on canvas

When my niece moved into a new house near the water, I wanted to give her a painting or drawing as a house warming gift. She has a view from her kitchen window and her balcony to the Intracoastal Waterway which widens into Wrightsville Sound a few miles North. I decided on a pair of seahorses and immediately started sketching. I was already planning a trip and I wanted something that I could carry on the plane, but I also wanted to take advantage of her high ceilings (something large). I decided to use canvas, so I could roll it for travel.

After trying a few things on the canvas, I pulled out a bottle of India Ink and a nib calligraphy pen (the thin line nib) and started drawing. The nobby surface of the canvas catches the tip and the effect is smooth with interruptions. Dotting (pointillism) looks great. Q-tips make larger, softer dots. My daughter (my greatest fan) urged me on, saying the style was both awesome and unique and that I should continue exploring this artform. I sketched on newsprint until I was happy with the size and shape and then lightly sketched an outlines onto long thin canvas and started inking, using brown ink.

I was very proud to present the completed pair of seahorse drawings to my niece. They were tall, but thin, so I was rolled the canvas and slipped them into a mailing tube, cut down to fit in a suitcase. I was prepared to take them to a framer and have them matted with a linen mat and framed for her, but she wanted them wrapped on stretcher frames like a painting. I didn't leave much extra canvas for wrapping, but a good framer can work magic. The result has lots of contrast and the varied line quality is interesting.

I've been drawing on canvas ever since and Cole's idea to wrap on stretcher frames has allowed me to present a completed product, ready for hanging and I have even sold a few drawings at a local coffee shop and on etsy.

Acrylics and watercolors seep into pieces as the mood strikes and I've switched to pens, Micron and then lately Koh-I-Noor Rapidiograph because the nib pen was just too inconsistent and after a while started trying my patience.

Displaying family keepsakes

After my mother died several years ago, I became the keeper of the family pictures. We are all grown now – with grown children – but these photos are from our childhood. I have vowed to scan these in and share them with my siblings for 5 years now but work and life never seem to present the time and energy required. I was cleaning out my closet recently (which in itself is an event) and found my sisters’ christening dresses. There were two identical dresses in the box, which helped to identify which of the five of us these belonged too as the youngest of us are twins.

I immediately stopped working on the closet and starting routing through boxes of family photos hoping to find a picture of the twins in their dresses. As I spread the tiny lace dresses out across my bed admiring the details, I thought it would be cool to frame both dresses with a picture of the girls wearing them. But I reconsidered. These dresses would have to be split up and framed so they could hang it in separate homes. Every time one of my sisters looked at it, she would know that the matching gown was also displayed in the home of her twin. Not that twins need a reminder, even 1800 miles apart, they remain close. And I never found a picture.

As most of my projects, this one didn’t come to fruition immediately, but I did finish. I chose black shadowbox frames. I didn't find the twins' christening pictures. Mom was a single mother of five and I am always impressed and amazed that we have photos. Life with five children had to be challenging. I used several family pictures, scanning them into photoshop and giving them a slight sepia tint. I added some appropriate phrases to make it look like a 3D scrapbook page: ‘Twins – mirrors and opposites’, ‘Chance made us sisters; Hearts made us friends’ and ‘Mmmm, mmmmm, jello’. That last one is an inside joke my sisters still share.

These lovely dresses are no longer hiding in my closet and I made some progress on my vow to share the family pictures. I am showing a picture of one of these, but I made two. My sisters love them.

What makes your spirit sing?

It's Sunday morning. Tomorrow starts another work week. Some weeks fill me with such melancholia that it borders on dread. Not because I hate my job. It's both challenging and compelling. Not because I hate the people I work with. I respect and admire most of my colleagues and consider quite a few my friends. Not because there is no value the work. I feel almost passionate about what I am trying to accomplish. I just feel so small and insignificant and the job is so big. Too big. Which means meetings and pleas for help. Without out going into boring details, suffice it to say that at this stage of the project, I need to be a salesman. I am learning this a little late, but having caught on, I am now onboard. Unfortunately, I am not a salesman. I would prefer to quietly work on something more creative. On something that feeds my soul.

Early in my career, I settled for a technical bent that provided a means to support my family. It was acceptable (to the soul-searching part of me) because my kids were young, life was busy, and software engineering offered some creative outlet. I don't write software anymore. Somewhere along the way, I took on the less desireable roles of software integration, which slowly morphed as the industry changed into software configuration management. And then, looking for something more, requirements development. And then requirements management. Process. Process development. Looking back, that's where I should have cried 'Stop!' Sigh. But as I said, important, even compelling in that I have exposure to portfolio management and decisions that affect the direction of the company. Exposure to, not involvement in...

As my children grew and found their own lives, I found new creative outlets. I draw. I paint. I tried metal sculpture (loved it, but access to equipment is a bit of a hardship). Now I find that I work about fifty hours a week, with occassional travel. I visit my family on the weekends. And I draw and paint in what free time I can find. Which doesn't leave much time for keeping house. I'm looking around this morning and finding that there are piles of clutter stuffed in every possible closet, corner and cupboard...my email inbox (work) is overflowing, I've promised to update a presentation for the project...and I want to paint. So naturally, the escapist in me starts a blog!

I've joined etsy. I love to browse the work of other artists. It makes me feel like a part of the community. I posted my Fence Post Fish, made from the top two feet of the pickets from the old fence we recently replaced. If even one had sold, today would be about more fish, but they are about to expire. This isn't depressing, it's just motivating me to venture out mentally, challenging me to come up with something better. Something that makes me happy to create and that will pay for my supplies. Something that will nurture my spirit.

And if it feeds my hope that one day I will find an opportunity that will allow me to make a living doing things that make my spirit sing.

--mary