Red Barnboard
Repurpose old barnboards into a custom headboard for your bedroom with a few simple steps. Barnboards are available online and at local architectural salvage yards. You can create any type of design that suits your room's décor. These step by step instructions are for making a simple headboard spanning the width of your bed. The boards are joined together, yet separated, by decorative wrought iron brackets. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Saturate the barnboards with the non-toxic borate insect treatment and wrap them completely with tarps or heavy plastic. Let the boards sit for three days, then remove the plastic wrap and saturate them again with the borate spray. Wrap the boards securely back in the tarp and leave them alone for 12 to 14 days. This method of extermination will force the borate insect treatment into the wood, eliminating any insects that may be munching beneath the surface of the old wood. Applying the borate onto the board surface only will not affect the insects living inside.
2. Cut the barnboards to fit the desired length of your headboard. A typical headboard may extend two inches on either side of the mattress. You could also extend the boards long enough to encompass side tables if you'd like to create a larger focal point for your room.
3. Lay the boards face down. Attach one of the wrought iron brackets to the backside of the board on the top, six inches from the side edge. Attach another bracket six inches from the opposite edge of the same board. Center a third bracket between the first two brackets. The decorative brackets will join the boards together, leaving an open space that is equal to the length of the brackets. The wall behind your headboard will be visible between the boards. Make sure that each of the brackets is placed evenly along the backside of the barnboard. Repeat this process on a separate board.
4. Lay another barnboard beside one of the bracketed boards so that the ends are even and flush. Attach the two boards together where the wrought iron brackets meet the wood. Make sure that the space between the two boards is equal. Repeat this process with the other bracketed board and a separate barnboard. You now have two sets of two barnboards joined together by decorative wrought iron brackets.
5. Attach the two sets of boards together with the remaining two wrought iron brackets. Place one bracket in each center space created by the three brackets. For example, your headboard may measure 58 inches for a full size mattress with two extra inches on either side. You have decorative brackets placed six inches from each end and one in the center, or 23 inches from each end bracket. Place the last two wrought iron brackets 11-½ inches from each end bracket.
6. Attach decorative wrought iron wall hanging brackets to the studs in the wall above your bed and hang your headboard.
Tags: wrought iron, iron brackets, wrought iron brackets, inches from, your headboard, boards together, decorative wrought
