DIY Upholstered Headboard.

And the winner is...

HORIZONTAL!

Thanks for all your input I though long and hard but for me horizontal won out. It was easier on my eye and flowed better with the pitched ceiling. The vertical seemed to stop the movement of the stripes while the horizontal keeps your eye flowing around the room.

So now let's talk details.

We roughly followed two plans and mixed them together to make a headboard that best suited us.

One being Ana White's plans for the "low modern cutout headboard"

And the other Big Box Detox's "upholstered bed"

The frame is made out of inexpensive 1x3's and a sheet of plywood which we had Lowe's cut down to size at the store for easier transport.

We added in the vertical pieces of 1x3 for extra support. The frame seemed a little unsteady to us and since we had scrap 1x3's it was easy to cut them down and add them in.

Here is the frame completed without the plywood.

Once the plywood was attached I used spray adhesive to lay down the 2" foam. This stuff is expensive so I used a 50% coupon to Jo-Ann Fabrics to get mine. 

You'll notice the foam doesn't cover all of the plywood (it's 2 feet wide). That is for two reasons. The price and the mattress height.

After that was set we covered the foam in batting. Not this batting though after I opened it I decided it was too thin even doubled up so I exchanged it for a more heavy duty one.

At this point we brought the headboard up to our empty "dining room" to staple on the fabric. I got the fabric online through Buyfabrics.com it was $7.75/yard!

Obviously since my fabric is a stripe it was crucial to make sure they were straight and not waving like a flag.

We started at the top of the headboard and I would pull the fabric tight and keep it in line while Jeff stapled. Once the top was attached we flipped it up to double check. Pretty much right on...Phew!

From there we went to the bottom, same routine. I did cut out little pieces of fabric so it would lay better around our frame supports.

To do the sides we ended up standing the headboard up and leaning it against the wall. I would pull it tight and make sure the striped stayed straight as I pulled it around the sides and Jeff stapled.

The corners were last. I played around with a few different folds. I ended up cutting off some excess fabric and doing almost a gift wrap fold to get a nice tailored look.

I love the beefiness of the sides and top.

Ok it was the moment of truth. Bringing the headboard up to our room. We measured a few times to make sure our frame would fit our headboard legs but I was still sweating it out just a little bit.

The frame of our headboard fit the metal bed frame perfectly...double phew. We attached the two with a few screws.

So here is a good shot so you can see where the foam ends. I did run a line of staples right below the foam to hold it and the fabric in place. 

Boxsprings back on the bed frame. Then the mattress which again fit perfectly right to where the foam starts.

Maybe I should have ironed the fabric before all this but I didn't. Once everything was set I took the steamer to it and the creases and wrinkles came right out.

I left off all the pillows so you could get a good view of the headboard. And because we don't have any official bedding yet.

Which leads me to my next question for all you king bed owners out there. How many pillows do you have and how are the arranged? 

I didn't get the king pillows. I'm thinking I may just get two more regular pillows for a total of six and then a few throw pillows.

So there you have it our DIY Upholstered headboard. Hope you like it! Now stick with me while I work on completing the rest of the room!