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DIY headboard tutorial with individual brass nails

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Ok y’all I promised you the details for my daughter’s headboard after Monday’s post. (click HERE if you missed the reveal and all the photos) I’m really trying to get better at tutorial writing. What always gets me is the photos along the way. I don’t have a friendly helper that snaps gorgeous photos along the way. I have to actually set up my tripod, put on the timer and run. It gets kind of difficult when I’m trying to get a project done and yes, I do forget to document a step along the way here and there. Sorry in advance. And the photos are a little off and dark since the only space I had to take the photos was in our basement on the wrestling mat. When I decided that I wanted to make our daughter a massive headboard, I originally wanted a curved and stepped down design. But with my decision to actually try individual brass upholstery nails instead of a nail trim kit, I chickened out. Yup, it’s the honest truth. I wanted to start somewhat simpler.

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DIY headboards tutorial with individual brass upholstery nails

DIY headboard tutorial with individual brass nails

Here is the list of items and tools that I used:

• MDF board
• fabric (1 set of Ikea Sanela fabric for $40)
• staples for your staple gun
• two 2x4s
• long wood screws to attach the legs
Tools needed:
• pliers
• 1/2″ Cardboard Upholstery Tack Strip
• Quick Nailer Spacer (loved this thing)
thin_line
turquoise velvet headboard in little girls room

See a room update by clicking HERE:

turquoise, mint and pink little girls room with moravian star chandelier
You can download my daughter’s vintage paint-by-numbers in my Etsy shop by clicking HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
And I get asked about her dotted baby blanket all the time which isn’t available anymore but you can find a similar throw HERE.
If I wouldn’t have chickened out then the headboard would have had a shape similar to this:
dark blue velvet Jonathan Adler bed
{image Jonathan Adler for JCP}
So here is what I did:
I bought MDF board from Lowes and had them cut it down to 64″ wide. I kept the heighth which is 49″. I used the rest of the MDF board to double up the shape of the headboard.
I glued the MDF scraps to the perimeter of the large MDF piece with liquid nails and then drew the corner curves to it. After that I cut out the corner round shapes. And I have to admit that the hubby had to help for that step because it took a lot of strength to cut through the 2 thick layers of MDF layers with the jig saw.
This is  what it looked like after these steps:
MDF headboard shape
For the legs of the of headboard I used 2x4s which I also doubled up. I off set the taller back layer of the legs though so they wouldn’t be visible from the sides as you can see in the photos.
DIY headboard legs

One shorter piece of 2×4 is there to support the weight under the headboard and the taller 2×4 is offset behind it to stabilize the construction. I attached them all with liquid nails and screws.

building the MDF bead frame
After that I cut and glued the foam to the front of the MDF with spray adhesive. I was lucky enough to have some 2″ foam left in our attic and I only had to buy half of the amount needed. This is where I missed a photo step. Must have been my sticky hands! I left a 1.5″ gap between the foam and the edge of the MDF so I could have room for my upholstery nails.
After that I wrapped the headboard and legs in batting and stapled it to the back:
applying foam and batting to the headboard
The next step was the fabric. I decided to use a set of Ikea Sanela curtains for my headboard and tailored bedskirt (I will explain that later) you can’t beat the price of $40 for the quality of the fabric. And the amount worked out perfectly. At the end only a few scraps were left.
I bought an electric stapler (like THIS one) just for this purpose and I was pretty happy with it. My heavy duty air compressor stapler was way to loud to use inside for this longer amount of time which is why I used my hand stapler.
stapling the fabric to the headboard
The transitions between the headboard and legs were solved with cardboard upholstery Upholstery Tack Strip. This works really really well. You put down the fabric, lay the cardboard Upholstery Tack Strip down over it, staple it all in place (arrow 1)  and then fold the fabric over (arrow 2)
 Easy and professional looking upholstery edges with cardboard tack strips
 This is just demonstrated on a smaller piece of fabric in a better lighting situation. (Not an actual part of the headboard)
upholstery tack strips
finished upholstery edges
After that it was time for the upholstery nails and I’m so glad that I went with the larger individual brass nails. I like the tight and neat look they give the edge. it’s not lumpy the way it sometimes looks with the nail kits. My trick to this application was this little tool, a Quick Nailer Spacer:
applying brass upholstery nails with a handy tool
I put the nails into the spacers of the tool, tapped them deeper in place with the mallet and then removed the spacer and finished hammering them all the way in with the mallet. That’s it! It really wasn’t that hard. I just needed a couple of practice runs.
This is why I left the 1.5″ gap between the edge of the MDF and the foam, so I would have room for the nails.
using a rubber mallet to apply brass upholstery nails
hammering in brass upholstery nails
My last and final step was to use another layer of cardboard tack strip and fabric along the edge of the MDF that was stapled to the back of the headboard to give it a tailored, professional and finished look. At least that’s what I went for. You be the judge of the finished product 😉
turquoise velvet headboard with brass nails
velvet headboard with individual brass nails
brass nails used for velvet headboard
perfect upholstery edges of velvet headboard
So this is how I made the headboard. And I almost didn’t get it up the stairs with a friend, that’s how huge it is. Looking back, I think I could have totally handled the Jonathan Adler headboard shape. The hardest part of making this headboard was lifting and turning it around during the process. My back was killing me.

AGAIN here is the list of items and tools that I used:

• MDF board
• fabric (1 set of Ikea Sanela fabric for $40)
• staples for your staple gun
• two 2x4s
• long wood screws to attach the legs
Tools needed:
• pliers
• 1/2″ Cardboard Upholstery Tack Strip
• Quick Nailer Spacer (loved this thing)
The room’s paint color is Behr W-B-100 Billowy Clouds by the way and the comforter set is the Emmie Ruta set from Ikea. I really really love it.
Back to the bed skirt. I actually sewed panels and attached them (just like last time) with velcro. The one side of the velcro strip is hot glued to her box spring. This eliminates having to remove a mattress to be able to wash the bed skirt. It’s seriously so much easier.
light pink girls bedroom with turquoise velvet headboard
DIY headboard tutorial with individual brass nails
DIY headboard tutorial with individual brass nails

If you aren’t a fan of DIYing then you can get a similar look with the headboard below (click HERE)
 

What a long post and lots of work but I think it was worth it. I had sold my daughter’s previous bedroom items on Craigslist and used that money to redo her room. I ended up staying pretty much within budget.
Talk to you on Friday.

Tschüß

(Youleeya)

UPDATE: Come see what the room looks like now by clicking HERE.
How to upholster a piece of furniture with individual brass nail trim | DIY headboard tutorial | how to make a bed out of Ikea curtains | DIY velvet upholstered headboard | upholstering a bed | perfect upholstery edges
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Comments

  1. This is one of my favorite projects of yours Julia! Everything looks so neat and professional. I never knew they made a spacer, that makes perfect sense! I’ll be pinning this for future reference for sure. Thanks for the great tips and tutorial!

  2. It’s beautiful! I can’t figure out how you got the seam to run along the curve of the headboard so perfectly, but you did a fantastic job. It really does look like it was professionally upholstered. I love it!

  7. Woah, Julia! That is gorgeous! I was wondering how you got the nail heads so perfectly in line. I’m going to have to get one of those spacers…never knew it existed! The bed looks amazing!

  10. It’s perfect — a “professional” could not do better. I am so impressed!!! Gorgeous room! I noticed the faux chandelier in your post earlier this week and found something similar on eBay for my daughter’s room.

  11. I love the idea of using Ikea Sanela curtains! They truly are the best deal for the quality! And that blue is one of my favorites, paired with brass nail heads – perfection!

  12. I LOVE how this headboard came out!!! This is exactly how I want mine to look, except a little shorter. I don’t quite understand the cardboard tack strip, but I guess I can google it to find out more about it. About how many tacks did you use? I have a king-size board I want to do and would be great to have a frame of reference of how many tacks I will need.

  13. This is beautiful! What a lucky little girl. The Ikea curtain idea is genius because fabric is always what drives the price up. I love all your creative ideas! Thanks for sharing.

    Dee@delolovesdesign

  16. It truly turned out so good, Julia! I love how you used the same fabric for the skirt, it looks more like an entire upholstered bed. Thanks for sharing your resources, too! I need some of that cardboard tack strip and the spacer tool looks like a lifesaver!

  17. Wowzers!! Look at you go! amazing. I am in love with it, and it looks professionally upholstered. I was actually looking at those same curtains to make cushions for my benches out of – you can’t find velvet for a better price anywhere else.

  18. Want to come down to San Diego? wink. wink. A headboard for my 6 yr old girl is on my ever-expanding “Amy-Do-It” list, but I lack all motivation right now. You sure have one lucky little girl! 🙂 Tschüß

  20. Although I will never attempt this, you have made it so simple to follow all the steps….Maybe someday, because I love that headboard!

  24. oh! my it’s a lot, a lot of work and I’m sure your back must hurt very much but it was worth it, you did a beautiful job Julia 🙂 I had to read your steps a few times because I didn’t know that some of these things existed and I’m really impressed how you managed to do everything 🙂
    I really love your daughter’s headboard, I wish I had something like that when I was growing up or even now (ours is too simple) 🙂
    thanks for sharing all these steps with us too (great tutorial)

  27. The headboard is gorgeous and so professional looking! I love that Jonathan Adler bed too. I think you went with the right shape though. Good call.

  28. Soooo, I’ve had 2 headboards that I had my boyfriend cut out of MDF (in the same EXACT pattern as yours), the fabric, and the nail head(kit) for hmmm… 2 years now? lol I’m so afraid to start them! Especially since I spent so much on the fabric. Yours turned out super professional looking. I love the cardboard tackstrip idea! When I eventually build up the courage, I think I’m going to try that method. 🙂

  29. Das ist großartig geworden, superschön, Julia! Auch die Vorhänge sind so hübsch.
    Und die Ikea Vorhänge werde ich ab jetzt nochmal mit anderen Augen sehen, prima Tipp. Habe sie in pilzfarbig in der dunklen Jahreszeit an den Fenstern, dieses aqua ist aber viel schöner…
    LG, Katrin

  30. Wow this headboard is gorgeous. I love how straight your brass pins are. This looks flawless. I didn’t quite understand the step with the cardboard strips. Somewhat, but I didn’t get how you got the fabric to be taught once you flipped it over and how you got the corners by the circles so sharp and flat. I would love to know more about that 🙂

  32. This tutorial is awesome. Seriously! I am crazy about the color of the velvet with the gold nailheads, and insanely impressed that you were able to keep them so perfect, especially around the curves!

  33. Julia, great job on this tutorial. The headboard turned out wonderful. I really need to get up the courage to try this project myself. We have a guest bed still with no headboard!

  35. I was wondering if you used the cardboard strips when I first saw the headboard! I have used those in the past and it really does give you a nice finished edge. I still am in awe of your individual nail head skills. I have that tool and I still couldn’t get them straight! Kudos to you my friend, it is just a spectacular headboard, I love it!

  43. Why does the tutorial pic have a smooth wrapped edge and the finished project had a sewn seamed edge like a cushion cover?

  46. Love it! I’ve been looking at many DIY bedheads (since we don’t have any at the moment). But this made me kick it off tonight. I bought the MDF and timber at 8:45pm (just before the hardware shop closed).

    Thank you for all the details (much needed, and inspiring).

    I’m going shopping tomorrow to get the rest of the upholstery stuff!

  47. Beautifully made headboard. Excellent tutorial. I’m plotting to recreate my own right now, but I have a few questions:

    1) what thickness MDF did you use?

    2) why did you double up on the thickness of the MDF around the edges?

    3) to make the clean fabric covered edges at the end, how is the fabric adhered to the side? I know it is stapled from the back, but is it glued with something along the edge?

    – Andrea

    • It’s about 1/2″ thick and I doubled it to make the edges look thicker so I could finish them with the cardboard tack strip. I just like the look better.
      And the cardboard tack strip is only stapled the way I’m showing in the photos not glued. Hope that helps and good luck with your project.

    • I used a ruler and the curved parts where mostly freehand but you can use anything large that is curved like a large bucket to trace for example.

    • I don’t mind at all if it’s only photo with a link back. Thanks for letting me know!

  50. Hi Julia!

    LOVE the headboard! I’m inspired to make my own this weekend for my bedroom! Then I get what I want, for WAY less money! I just had 3 questions! I’m motivated to make mine look as beautiful as yours!

    1.) When you put the foam on the front, did it overlap onto where you “doubled” up the MDF? I just wasn’t sure if it would look funny mostly covering the less thick part, and the edges of it on the thicker part (if the front would look uneven with it being thicker at the edges). Or was all of the foam “inside” of the doubled up edge?

    2.) On the “offset” on the back of the legs, when you upholstered that part, did you just put a staple in the “inside corner”, or was that somehow done with that uphostery strip? I didn’t see a staple visible in the picture, but wasn’t sure how that particular area would be done with the strip.

    3.) Do you have any idea how many tacks you used? I see they come in sets of 100, but I’m not sure how many I’ll need!

    Thanks!

    Awesome work!

    • Ooops….disregard my “foam placment” question! I see now that that “double up” is on the back, so the front is a smooth surface! Makes more sense! Just a blonde moment!

      Amy

    • I’m so sorry that I missed your comment.
      Hope a late response still works for you 😉
      to 2. Yes I just stapled in the back and then used the upholster strip.
      3. I’m sorry but I have no idea how many tacks I used. I remember having to buy more and now I have some left over.

    • Hi there Denise and thank you. Her window curtains I made myself, the curtains used for the headboard are from Ikea.