Headboard and Curtains

 

 

This is a picture of one of the main floor bedrooms in our house. I love the yellow walls. They are a little brighter than the color shown in this photo. This room is almost complete. We still need to refinish the original hardwood floor or carpet. We vacillate back and forth over this decision. We also need to retexture the ceiling and put a better color on it. (I don't know why we chose baby poo yellow for that ceiling. ugh. It is too ugly to show.)

 

The walls have random textured stencils that I was supposed to glaze so that they would show up better, but I really love the subtle look without it. (I will post that another time.)

 

The bed is king sized so it needed a large headboard to go with it. The ceilings are 9 1/2, ' tall, so we hung it high using a ledger board.

 

Terry cut the shape out from a sheet of chip board. (He used 2 of these 4X8' chip boards and made a huge outdoor card for me for my 50th birthday! 65 friends and family came over to celebrate with us. They wrote on the 'card' with a sharpie. The greetings and love expressed mean so much to me.

 

After the party we didn't know what to do with the 'card'. I suggested we make some projects from the sheets of chipboard. However, the stipulation was that we wouldn't cover up the handwritten messages with paint. I needed to be able to read it again.

 

We made shelves in the pantry, dividers for my cookie sheets, and this headboard.

 

 

 

I really like the colors in this fabric. I could pick out green, blue, pink, or burgundy to be the color for the bedspread. I chose burgundy because I had my mother's bedspread and it is still in good condition. It is good to have options in case I need a change.

 

 

To make this headboard: 1) Cut the chipboard or mdf or plywood to the shape and size you want.

2) Drill holes in the board for as many buttons as you want to add to the finished headboard. Measure and space carefully.

3) Put spray adhesive on the board.

4) Lay a sheet of foam rubber on top of the adhesive. (I used one of those bumpy things people use on beds to make them more comfortable. I put the bumpy part facing down so that the smooth part faced out. (Did I mention I do everything on a shoestring budget? I use what I have at hand if possible.) The foam rubber doesn't have to be very thick unless you want the tufts made by the buttons deep.

5) Spread quilt batting over the foam rubber to soften any rough edges.

6) Spread fabric over the surface of the quilt batting. Flip the board where the fabric and batting is face down and the back of the board is showing. Pull the fabric tight. Staple all around the edge on he back of the board.

7)Now for the buttons to create the tufts. I used pretty shank buttons in heart shapes. You could use covered buttons in a complementary color or match the headboard. (The granddaughters love the hearts.)

8) Put thick wire (coat hanger size) through the shank and push through from the front to the back. Use pliers and twist together (think bread tie) and spread out the ends so that it doesn't pull back through.

9) Now you can either lean it against the wall, attach it to the bed frame with bolts, or use a ledger board. You are done.

These are the curtains I made from the complementary fabric to the headboard. I love to watch Candice Olsen on HGTV. She always has pretty edging on the curtains she does. I found this edging on sale at Walmart. It was perfect for this project. And yes, the granddaughters love this as well.

This is a long shot of the curtains. And yes, the grands love the dollhouse. It has random miniatures and toys and is not a bit fancy on the other side, but I love it that they can play with it and enjoy it.
I painted the shelves Terry and my dad made to match the walls. Now they look built-in.