sprinkles on toast: #housetohome {TUTORIAL} $35 rustic headboard

Ya'll - headboards are expensive!! I love the way they can bring a whole bedroom together and make such a big statement. Most of the time, that big statement comes with a bigger price tag. I looked at Ikea and even there a bedframe and headboard combination is over $400!! I had a budget of less than $100 for the frame and the headboard combined and I wanted something that would go well with my color scheme (grey, white, gold, and turquoise). But anyone that knows me knows I change my mind on colors (and life) every 5 minutes so I needed this to go with a lot. I am so proud of the way it turned out - it couldn't have been any easier or inexpensive!! And like with the other projects, I love walking into my bedroom knowing I made that...by myself!

I found this tutorial and I modified it to fit what I needed my headboard to look like. I ended up mounting mine straight to the metal frame that I bought. This felt sturdier to me than hanging it on the wall...I can just see myself knocking it off on many occasions. The basic outline on her blog is great, and so easy to follow the steps.

Here is what you need to build this headboard:

8 pieces of 1x4's 60 inches long (60 inches is the standard size of a queen bed) - $23.36

2 pieces of 1x3's 40 inches long - $3.64

wood screws

a tiny can of Minwax Dark Walnut stain (LOVE this stuff) - $4.78

Step 1:

Head to Home Depot and have the wonderful guys there cut your pieces of wood. This is the nice part - they do all the hard work for you! I took home the left over pieces since the 1x4's were 8 feet long (using that to hopefully make a coffee table). I bought common board - basically a composite of many types of wood. It was $2.92 per 8 feet for the 1x4's and $3.64 for the 1x3's.

Step 2:

Lay your 60 inch pieces out - make sure to put it ugly side up. There will be scuffs and/or lettering on the wood, and you want to make sure that this is on the back of your headboard. Put all the pretty sides down so you can lay the 40 inch piece on top of that. Mine aren't all straight and flush with one another, I didn't want it too even.

Step 3:

Attach your 1x3's to the headboard. Make sure it is as close to the edge of your pieces of 1x4's without showing. Screw the woodscrews in - I bought the wrong size and ended up putting screws in the front too after some boards let go while I was carrying the contraption outside to stain. I bought 1 inch screws and they were too short, I would recommend buying 1.5 inch screws!

Step 4:

Lightly sand the boards before you stain them. I say lightly because I literally just sanded the ends of my boards where they were sawed and sharp and that's all I did. I use an all-purpose sand sponge because they were cheap at Walmart :)

Step 5:

Its time to sand your boards! I used a rubber dishwashing glove (you know, the ones that come to your elbows!) and a sock over that. Make sure you go with the grain of the wood - I had a minor mishap with a splinter and it is no fun!

Make sure you give the stain time to dry completely. Fun fact: its 8pm here and 106 with a humidity of 11% - this headboard was dry in no time. It might take a few hours to dry completely depending on where you are.

Step 6:

Its time to screw in 2 screws per leg to attach to your metal frame. I put mine 3 inches from the bottom of the leg. Don't screw them all the way in, leave some room so you can get them through the holes in your frame.

Step 7:

This was the step that took by far the longest to figure out. I spent an hour and a half figuring out how to get the headboard onto the frame...not as easy as it looks. If you have access to a second person, I would recommend getting them to help. At this point, your headboard is pretty heavy and hard to maneuver. I ended up taking the metal frame apart, and attaching the headboard to it, and building it back up.