Make your own headboard

Photographs Ed O'Riley

You will need

• 18mm plywood, cut to: fifteen 1 200 x 130mm pieces (planks to be upholstered)

• medium-density sponge, cut to: fifteen 1 200 x 130 x 50mm pieces

• 5 x 2m (200g) batting

• 6m velvet fabric (1.4m wide)

• spray adhesive

• four planed pine planks (22 x 69 x 2 400mm)

• one packet 6mm x 40mm chipboard screws

• four 6mm x 75mm nail-in anchors

TOOLS

• staple gun

• scissors

• ruler

• cordless drill and 3mm drill bit

• masonry drill and 6mm drill bit

• saw

• pencil

• tape measure

Project notes

• Ask your timber merchant to cut the long side of two of the pine planks at a 45° angle.

• Measure and mark carefully.

• Remember to drill pilot holes.

Make the headboard

1 Apply spray adhesive on one side of the 15 pieces of plywood and stick the sponge to the timber.

2 Cut the batting into 15 pieces of 300mm x 1.35m. Position the timber and sponge pieces on the batting with the sponge facing down. Fold the batting over and staple in place, as close to the edge of the timber as possible. Trim the corners and excess batting on the edges.

3 Cut the velvet into strips of 400mm across the width. Position the planks with the sponge and batting in the centre of each velvet strip - ensure that the right side of the velvet is facing down.

4 Secure the fabric with staples Start in the middle of the long edges and work your way to the short ends. Fold a seam in the velvet, then fold it over the edge of the timber, pulling the fabric tight as you go; staple in place. Do the same on the opposite side.

5 To do the short sides, you will need to cut away a bit of the corners of the fabric. Fold the corners as you would when wrapping a gift. The fabric is quite forgiving, so you can manoeuvre it until the fold is nice and neat; staple it in place. Do the same with the other corner. Add a few extra staples in-between.

Tip

Pretreat the individual upholstered planks with a quality fabric protector before you assemble the headboard.

Mount the headboard

6 Place the upholstered planks side by side with the ends flush. Tip Move your workbench near to a wall so that you can push the planks against the wall to keep them aligned. Measure the combined width of the upholstered planks and cut the planed pine planks 50mm shorter.

7 Measure and mark 100mm from the top and bottom of the upholstered planks. Place the one plank that was cut at 45° below the top mark and screw it to the upholstered planks. Use 2 screws per upholstered plank in a zig-zag pattern; this helps to keep the headboard at a right angle. Also screw one of the pine planks not cut at an angle above the bottom mark in the same way. Measure the centre point between these two planks and attach the remaining plank that wasn't cut at an angle at this mark.

8 Determine how high you want to mount the headboard on the wall and make a mark with your pencil. Measure and mark 145mm below this mark on the wall.Drill a hole for the nail-in anchors through the last angled plank into the wall below this second mark (use your spirit level to ensure it's straight); tap the anchors into place. Position the headboard by hooking the two angled planks together.

Cover your bed base

If you have an old, upholstered bed base you want to spruce up, cover it with fabric of your choice.

SHOPPING LIST

• 2.5m fabric of your choice (1.4m wide)

TOOLS

• scissors

• ruler

• staple gun

1 Cut 350mm-wide strips across the length of the fabric. (Adjust the width according to the height of your bed base.)

2 Position the strips of fabric so they overlap at the top of the bed base and staple in place. When you add the next strip, fold a seam first and let it overlap the previous piece. When you get to the corners, fold a mitre and staple in position. Turn the base over and do the same at the bottom.

Timber supplied by Timbercity (timbercity.co.za)