WHY?), and mark where every stud is in the area where the headboard will be, because… Step 2: Use a stud finder, pray it works (I MEAN. I did not, though I thought about it, attach the panels to each other, and I’ll tell you why in a minute… I wanted the panels to sit above the baseboard so it wouldn’t be pushed out at the bottom, so I measured 41” from the floor to where I wanted the French cleat to attach to the wall and velvet panel. Step 1: Pick an arbitrary number (as long as it’s less than the height that you want the top of the headboard). It was somehow very easy and hard at the same time. In a SHOCKING twist, I did, in fact, put the panels up, all by myself (3 weeks later and probably ONLY because of this blog post). We all said at the same time that maybe it never needed to be attached to the wall after all? Probably just to make ourselves feel better about basically lollygagging through the day. We leaned the pieces of upholstered panels against the wall and shoved all the furniture against it and were V proud of ourselves. But you are all FINISHED (wine may be a factor). Comment on why can’t step 9 and 10 be combined? He tells you to shut up and to pour him more wine.Īt this point, you’ve all collectively done like 10 minutes of work and 3 hours of waiting for things at Home Depot and Joann’s. He stapled the velvet layer over the batting. Step 4: Watch Erik do the same to the velvet this time with wine in hand. Note: I invested in a plug-in stapler years ago and have NEVER regretted it. Step 3: Lay batting on floor, place plywood piece on top, roughly cut it 2-3 inches bigger than the plywood and watch Erik staple it around all the edges. Step 2: Contemplate doing something fancy with the edges, like rounding them, which your friends quickly talk you out of after seeing your jigsaw handywork. It’s not exactly the right tool for the job, but it works. Do an okay job with the jigsaw, cutting the plywood down to the correct-ish size. Step 1: Measure and mark plywood with a pencil. I believe we got about 20 yards of one-inch thick batting but then realized we only needed maybe six? We were not math majors guys… Assembly & Installation: WHY? You should have seen the math that was happening between two stylists, a designer and a v confused employee at the Joann’s counter trying to figure out how much was needed. Comment to friends at least 485 times on HOW EXPENSIVE IT IS. They were all 48-inches high and ¾-inches thick. I’m in France and couldn’t tell you off the top of my head what those exact measurements were but the important part is 4 the same (these are 26-inches wide), 2 smaller but the same as each other (I believe these are 12-inches wide). Step 5: I wanted four panels on the back, all the same size and then one on each side, both the size of the left wall. They look like this and come in all different sizes: Step 4: While you’re there and waiting, send one of your three friends to pick up some French cleats. You have him cut as close as possible and leave knowing this for sure just got way more complicated because you only have a table saw and a jigsaw that you’ve used *kinda* once. Wait 35 more minutes for the wood-cutter guy to have him let you know that they do not, in fact, make cuts that small. You have a nagging feeling they don’t make cuts as small as you want but you ask a guy and he says they do. Step 3: Go to Home Depot and spend entirely too long looking for someone to help you.

Especially if wine and goss’ is involved. You don’t need more than one person to do this and you definitely don’t need three, especially when you only own one staple gun but DIY with friends is more fun. But really though, even though I didn’t construct the bed for entirely too long, it’s helpful to have the fabric so you can start pulling other things together. I live in a small space and I like keeping it cohesive! (Tutorial on that maybe coming soon-how’s that for commitment?). I think it was $24/yard and I bought a lot because I wanted it to recover my burnt orange velvet chair in the living room. I bought mine from Mood Fabric and last I looked they were out of it (sorry!) It’s a burnt orange velvet and it was NOT cheap.

Step 1: A year before you actually do the job, buy the fabric. This is what I’m calling “A guide for the person who poses as a DIYer but whatever, it gets the job done.” Enjoy, and let me know if you need any clarity or have questions in the comments. Emily Bowser here with the DIY headboard how-to I promised in the reveal of my bedroom from earlier today.

Wraparound headboard