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Confession time....... Andi and I used an old queen sized headboard behind our king sized bed for almost 10 years. Therefore.... when we finally moved into the new house, I knew a headboard was on the list of things to buy. After some searching, Andi found one that she liked and I was shocked at the price. As much as I believe in investing in good furniture, I could not bring myself to spend $300 on a headboard. So, I took some of the elements from headboards we liked, and put my own spin on it. I used ship lap for the back because I like the texture and the look of it. If you are not a Fixer Upper fan, and don't like the ship lap, you can reverse it and use the smooth side. I use 2 x 8's on my headboard to give it a more impressive feel. This headboard is the first project I used Minwax's Light Grey finish on, and I fell in love with the way it looks (the table was my second project). You will need a couple of coats to make it really come to life. Of course, check out the "how to" below and customize this easy to build project any way you like
Tools required:
Material required:
2X8 Pine Board - Length 144" (12') - qty 2
1X6 Ship Lap Board - Length 96" (8') - qty of 4
Stain/Finish (pick your color and type)
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GOT WOOD? Go to the lumber store and pick out your wood. Be sure to pick some wood with character because it does make a difference. I found some that marks from the mill and also had some inclusions and when I was done staining it, it looked AWESOME
Step 1 - Measure your Material, Drill for Dowels and Pocket Holes
Cut your material. This is the easy part and it just gets repetitive when you cut the ship lap because there are 16 of them. The longest part is drilling your pocket holes and also your dowels. Be sure to note what is the backside and the front side so that you place all the pocket holes on the back. Drill for the dowels shown on the cut list parts and then we will match the location when assembling the headboard. The dowel kit is nice because it ensures that the dowels line up with the next piece. The pocket holes are easy to drill if you have the Kregs Jig Ki, so be sure to get one. One more tip, you will want to lightly sand the ship lap so that it is not to rough against your pillows. Do not sand it to much because you want to have the textured look to make the slats stand out more.
Step 2 - Sand Splintered Edges and Any Major Defects
I used to skip this step until I finally grew tired of all the slivers and extra work that I had to do at the end of the project to get to the hard to reach areas. I only make this a separate step because I have found this to be a time saver. Also if you have not sanded the ship lap yet, please do so, it will save you getting in trouble for the head board snagging pillows or unwanted slivers at night
Step 3 - Dowel Punch and Glue
You will match punch your dowels on your uprights. Be sure to measure up from the bottom and mark 22-3/4" up. This lines up with the bottom of the cross piece. After you drill for the dowels glue the pieces and slide together.
Step 4 - Clamp and Screw
Clamp and screw the uprights to the cross piece. You will need to use a temporary piece to help attach the clamp to pull the parts tight. When it is clamped, use your Kreg screws to hold the wood tight to put the top piece on.
Step 5 - Match punch and Glue
Same thing you did above but to the top piece. You will want to measure for each end so that you can ensure it is centered. Check with a speed Square to ensure that you are close before drilling the dowels. Now that you have ensured that it is pretty close to being square and centered, drill your dowel holes. Next glue and pull the pieces together.
Step 6 - Clamp and Screw
Clamp and screw the top to the uprights. Again use that speed square to make sure that you are close, because you are getting to a point where it will be locked in. You will need to put some temporary pieces on again unless you have a long clamp and can clamp to the cross piece. When it is clamped use your Kreg screws to hold these tight to the top piece.
Step 7 - Square and Nail in first slat
You need to make sure that you are square and measure across the headboard. To check for square, measure and compare your readings. Which ever one is longer is the corner you want to push towards the center until your measurements are within 1/16" of each other, you can go longer but this should be easy to get to and we strive for almost perfect. Once perfection is achieved, glue and nail in the first slat. This is your Keystone because it will lock in the movement of the headboard.
Step 8 - Nail the slats
Glue and slide in all remaining slats and make sure to push tightly on them when sliding under the the already nailed slat. One direction will be easy and the other will be tougher because of the way the ship lap is overlapped. Don't forget to glue and nail as you go to make sure they stay tight. When you get to the end make sure to fill your pocket holes for a finishing touch.
Step 9 - Clean up and stain away
This is the part I enjoy the most because you see the wood start to take shape. I chose the grey for my headboard, but really any color of stain will work. Be sure to sand off the sharp corners on the top and evenly across the wood. The stain is the ingredient that will make this headboard amazing. I used about 3 coats of grey and I would recommend about the same for any color you chose. Make sure to use a good top coat and also I would go with 3 coats of top coat with a light sand between applications. This will take about a day or two to get all these coats in but trust me, it is worth it. Now I am a broken record.. but, hopefully you are using gloves when staining because it does make a mess and is a good dye for skin for a couple of days. One other thing that I have added is I put little clear rubber pads on the back to prevent damage to the wall and I also upgraded the 2 x 4 to a 2 x 8 on the plans from the original to give it more height for pillows and varying mattress heights
Plans:
If you have any questions or comments please let us know. We are always striving to be better and supply you with the best content to make projects easy and affordable. If you have any project ideas or something you would love to build or have built and want to share please contact us and we will do what ever we can to accommodate. Stay tuned and Lets Keep Improving! Jeff
#DIY #EasytoBuild #BedUpgrade #FarmhouseHeadboard #Under50 #Freeplans