John and I recently upgraded our mattress from a queen to a king, and boy oh boy, it was a fabulous decision! Along with upgrading our mattress, we had to buy all new pillows (did you know there are pillows specific for a king? I had no idea!), new sheets, duvet, etc. All of the purchases added up quickly, so I thought I would try to save some cash by trying my hand at a DIY headboard.
I love the look of riveted headboards, but they are quite expensive... the upside? They are super easy to make! And I've got to be honest, a lot of my DIYs involve John doing a lot of the heavy labor, but despite how this DIY looks, it is quite simple, and I completed it on my own in a single evening!
All in all, this DIY can be completed for under $75 (depending on the fabric you choose, etc.), which is quite a savings considering what they retail for!

What you need:
- Plyboard
- Quilt batting
- Adhesive spray
- Fabric
- Staple gun
- Rivets
- 2 1x4s
How to:
1. Begin by cutting your plyboard to the correct width of the bed (a traditional king is 76 inches wide). If you purchase your wood from Home Depot or Lowes, they will cut it for you for free.
2. Cover the plyboard with the quilt batting (I used four layers of batting... which equaled 3 packages of queen sized batting). Between each layer of batting I used an adhesive spray to make sure the batting would not slide around and get bunchy once it is mounted.
3. After the quilt batting is covering the plyboard, flip the board over and tightly staple the batting to the back.
4. Once the batting is stapled, cover with your fabric and staple the fabric to the back. For my fabric, I used an IKEA curtain that matched the curtains that we have hanging in our room... it was the perfect size (and price)!
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5. Once all of the fabric is tight and secure, start riveting your headboard. I purchased my rivets from JoAnns and only needed one roll. The rivets I purchased only required every fifth stud to be hammered in which was pretty convenient, and still looked great.
6. Finish riveting the perimeter of the headboard. There will be a slight tuft where the rivets are secured to the board. Everyone asked me if this part was difficult, but actually it was my favorite part - it only took about an hour (maybe a bit longer) total.
7. After the rivets are finished, secure a 1x4 to each side of the headboard. My bed frame has mounting brackets for a headboard, so I had to measure the distance between my 1x4s, but if your bed does not have a mount, then you can simply put the 1x4s on either side of the headboard.
8. Finish the headboard by mounting it to your bed frame or securing between the wall and your bed.
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Ta da, it's that simple! I'm very happy with how it turned out... and especially for the price point!

Linking up with Jennie.
Beautiful job!!! Love that you went with the gold! xo, Biana - BlovedBoston
ReplyDeleteI really like it! You did a great job!
ReplyDeleteMy husband I really want to make our headboard, but we are waiting till we buy a house and see what the new space calls/allows for.
your headboard looks great!! i love your blue and white blanket too :) xo jillian - cornflake dreams
ReplyDeleteYou make this sound ridiculously easy!! I love how it turned out!!! I'm so impressed with your skills. I feel like mine would be a total mess, lol
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! You did such a good job on this! I love the beautiful blue printed linens and pillowcases too!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! The headboard looks fantastic. There is something so rewarding when a DIY comes out great! Winks and Eyerolls
ReplyDeleteLove this so much!!!
ReplyDeleteI love how your headboard came out!! I'm a huge fan of the nailhead trim! We used an IKEA curtain for our headboard fabric too :)
ReplyDeletegorgeous!! great job :)
ReplyDeleteLove how it turned out! Awesome DIY!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! We are lazy over here and would just buy a new one haha. I love your duvet and your pillows too. :-)
ReplyDeleteSo cute! Great job, Lisa!
ReplyDeleteThat looks like something straight out of a showroom floor!
ReplyDeleteOh my word!!! This is gorgeous!!!!! Great job, and what a great price!
ReplyDeleteWe are upgrading from a queen to a king this summer and I want to make a custom headboard. Thanks for the great step by step guide! It looks great!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Rock on, sista! xx
ReplyDeleteI love this! I was just saying recently that I'd love a new headboard, this might be a little 2015 project :) Gosh yes, king size is the way to go!
ReplyDeleteoh hey martha!
ReplyDeleteI was waiting for this tutorial - LOVE how your headboard turned out! I think I may do the same thing for our guest room :)
ReplyDeleteThe studs totally "made" this! I love how it turned out and you just saved oodles versus what Pottery Barn would charge. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis looks so amazing! We need one for our guest bedroom and I'm tempted to give this a try but a staple gun kind of scares me! And can you even rent one of those things?
ReplyDeleteWow, very impressive - you are truly the DIY queen!
ReplyDeleteOoh might have to do this! I found my dream headboard/bedframe at restoration hardware last week - $5250! I think $75 sounds a bit better ;)
ReplyDeletewe got our king delivered yesterday and makes a CRAZY difference! and thanks for the "king pillow tip" i had no idea either!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing DIY!
ReplyDeleteYou do not even know how perfect the timing of this post is! We got a king last year and are in need of a headboard but don't want to spend a ton. We are going to do this once we have the time!!! Thank you Lisa!
ReplyDeleteSo cool!! Looks amazing and seems so easy!
ReplyDeleteIt looks amazing! I'll have to save this for a day in the future. Where did you get your bedding from? We're going to have to update our bedding when we finally get a king size bed
ReplyDeleteGirl...you never cease to amaze me. This looks incredible!
ReplyDeleteLove this DIY! We have a DIY headboard as well. What a fun project!
ReplyDeletePlease visit our link up at http://theevolutionofmom.com/momma-told-me-link-party-5/
Jen
The Evolution of Mom
This is so pretty! Thanks for stopping by and linking up with me!
ReplyDeleteThis is gorgeous! It turned out so well!
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! I love it!!! I'm definitely pinning this!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I love it! What a great idea to use an Ikea curtain too, the fabric on their grommet panel curtains is so nice and sturdy, which is perfect for this! You did an amazing job!
ReplyDelete