Many of you know that this post is long-past-due! I made a headboard for Jase over a year ago, for his big-boy room. I posted about his “old-made-new with Annie Sloan paint” dresser, and his Navy blue wall stripes. I left out a post on his new headboard, as my old computer hard drive crashed and I was hoping that I would be able to recover my photos at some point. All hope is lost that I will ever get those photos back! I’m really sad about the photos that will be missing from our family photo albums. I am way less, but still bummed that this post will be lacking some good “how to” photos. But, I still think the finished project is worth a little attention!
As many of you know by now, I don’t like to spend a lot of money on making our kids’ rooms cute – but I don’t believe that means they need to lack style! My husband is a long-time Chicago Bears fan, and has great stories of growing up watching the Bears with his dad. He also has a story about him and his friends doing the Super Bowl Shuffle at school – something I really wish I could have witnessed! I digress…
With the Chicago Bears history and all of his great memorablia I decided that a Bears room would be great for our youngest son. Our oldest has a Cubs room – another of Jason’s favorite teams; and I am from Colorado so an orange and blue football themed room could also be considered a nod to my home state! – I keep that on the down-low though. 🙂
With the strong blue and orange colors I had used for Jase’s walls and bedding I wanted to tie the more neutral gray tone back into the color scheme with his headboard. I found a great chevron fabric on a girl’s weekend trip to Dallas and was super excited to get to work on the headboard.
I did however, as always, search the internet for some inspiration photos. Addison also has an upholstered headboard in a pretty pink and purple striped fabric that I love. I really wanted to do something with Jase’s headboard that would make it unique and a little more masculine.
I found some great photos of headboards in boys’ rooms with nail head trim to accomplish both of those goals!
I decided nail head trim was exactly what I needed. I love the metallic detail that it adds, as well as the tufting effect it gives the fabric and batting.
Now, this is where my loss of photos makes me sad… I can’t show you all of the steps I went through to create the headboard. However, I do have the link to a great post from The Chronicles of Home. This is the post I used to make Jase’s headboard. She does a great job of walking you through each step and giving important pointers.
Since I lost my “process of DIY” photos, I’ll do the big reveal now! 🙂
I’m totally happy with the result!
Here is a photo from The Chronicles of Home that demonstrates the key step in making this headboard different from most DIY upholstered headboards. I created a frame with 1×4’s, plywood and high density foam.
The plywood face is the size of the entire headboard. I then screwed 1×4 legs to each side of the plywood, and a horizontal piece across the top. (as pictured above) The green in the photo then shows the batting that is attached inside the 1×4 frame. This allows the batting to be slightly taller than the wood frame, and as you will see adds an important opportunity for detail.
Once the entire headboard was wrapped in a layer of batting and fabric, I added nail head trim around the very edge of the frame – just outside of the foam middle. Here you can see the nail head trim, and the way the foam middle pops out a bit – I love those little details!
The nail head trim added some metallic, and the “structured frame” around the soft middle gives the overall headboard a more masculine look, while maintaining it’s comfy side for my little man.
I also wrapped the legs of the frame in batting and fabric, so that the legs don’t have to be hidden.
I was really happy with the navy stripes and overall look of his room before I finished his headboard. However, the headboard seems to finish the space. I love that the headboard looks classy, masculine and not at all like the cheap DIY project is was!
I also bought a couple of different denim fabrics to make him a decorative euro throw pillow.
Here is the before and after of the headboard… not super dramatic, but nonetheless a great finishing touch!
Overall, I’m really happy with my little guys blue and orange room. I really wanted to create a room around the Chicago Bears, without sacrificing style. I would call it a success!
I have also added a few other finishing touches… the vintage suitcases (above)… and this rustic framed old-school Chicago Bears poster. I think Jason likes that there is a little reminder in the room that the Bears have one a Super Bowl victory in his lifetime – even if it was a long time ago!
Again, for detailed instructions on creating a headboard for your home, check out this great tutorial in a post from The Chronicles of Home.
