Monday, September 5, 2011

Design & Make Headboards

Design a headboard to accomodate your favorite bedtime activities.


Liven up your bedroom decor and design. Don't just settle for a ho-hum, off-the-rack headboard. Create a headboard that makes a statement as a design element in your bedroom. Design and make a headboard that's all about you. Use ideas to design and make a headboard with a "signature" style. Customize the look so that it includes all the comfort features you want around you when you tell the world "good night." Does this Spark an idea?


Instructions


1. Research options to fit your comfort needs in terms of back and head support, taking into consideration what you like to do in bed. Let that guide the framing for your headboard design.


2. Add a hefty degree of cushioning if you like to read in bed so you can stay up and turn pages of your favorite books or magazines or surf the Internet. Design the headboard to include at least 2 to 4 inches of foam cushioning for back support.


3. Select an upholstery fabric for the headboard that matches the main colors of your wall paint and linen color scheme to compliment your overall bedroom design and decor. Add covered tacks for a neo-classical or romantic look, or keep the upholstery free of tacks and adornments for a sleek and contemporary look.


4. Use "funky finds" from garage sales and vintage stores to make the headboard unique. Repurpose a wrought iron gate as a headboard to create a romantic, gothic-style look. Design a headboard around a picket fence or lattice panels to spruce-up a bedroom in a cottage or symbolize your love for gardening.


5. Make a simple box frame with 2 inch by 4 inch wood to create a modern look. Stain the wood in a dark finish such as walnut. Add a backboard of plywood and insert foam cushioning to make the headboard. Cover the cushioning with faux suede or a solid color velveteen fabric for a highly stylized contemporary treatment.


6. Consider unusual materials to make the headboard one-of-a-kind. Think about metal or sheets of copper to compliment and tie-in to an "industrial" look for a bedroom in a loft apartment or condo.


7. Design a headboard with drama. Instead of just making a standard-height headboard, think about making it go from the floor to the ceiling. Use 4 inch by 6 inch or larger panels of plywood, nailed to 2 inch by 4 inch planks of wood to form the headboard frame. Let the frame provide the "canvas" for the headboard. Use creativity in what you put on the headboard canvas. Consider ceramic or glass tiles, fabrics or even a mural to serve as the "backdrop" for the headboard. Think about using pre-cut panels of foam core board and using spray adhesives or glues to create a headboard mosaic with a combination of fabrics, tiles and mirrors.







Tags: make headboard, Design headboard, headboard that, inch inch, foam cushioning, headboard with, Think about