DIY Twin Headboard, Part 2

I finished the headboard! And I love it. Immensely. Here are the details. (And here is Part 1 if you need to go back.)

Materials for the rest of the headboard:

2 wooden planks that measure 39" x 4" x 3/4"

Deck Mate screws (from Home Depot); they each measure 1 1/4"

Power drill

Staple gun

To figure out where to put the legs, I very unscientifically held the headboard up on the bed and put one wooden leg behind it. I marked a line with a pencil and measured down so I could mark the other leg the same. It was 16 inches from the top.

I made marks on the headboards with pencil signifying top and bottom and the 16" mark. Then I covered them both with fabric and stapled them on the back.

I could have covered them all the way but I still wanted to see the 16" mark and also not have to screw through more fabric than needed.

These are the Deck Mate screws that the Home Depot guy recommended. They intimidated me so much I put off opening the box until I just couldn't stand it any more. I was really worried that they wouldn't work and I'd have to make a trip back to Home Depot. Shuddddder. But they worked perfectly! And they come with a drill bit to screw them in. I couldn't figure that out either until I messed around with the power drill.


I laid the legs down close to the edge to keep the line of the headboard somewhat continuous when viewed from the side. You'll see what I mean.

I placed my screws and put the drill bit in the drill (see how that works?) and drilled baby drilled (love you Sarah Palin, miss you!) (Not.)

It went pretty fast after that. I drilled two on each leg and held it up behind the bed just to make sure everything looked right. Then I added two more screws on each leg. Four on each side!

Here she is standing up all on her own. Isn't she lovely? The legs are a bit scrawny to be carrying that weight but I figure if it doesn't seem to be working, I can always add a leg (even an non-upholstered leg) in the middle.

Here's the side view. I was also worried that the legs would stick out too much in the back and make it not so flush against the wall. But it ended up being fine.

You can attach the headboard to the bed frame right here (who knew? I didn't until my mom told me) if you want. I just left it standing on its own and it's fine so far.

 

Tah-dah! I absolutely love it.

 

My daughter doesn't care about it so much, but I love it. I will take advantage of these years when she doesn't care about decor! And here she is now, playing the way she plays in my dreams, with minimal mess and reading a book aloud to herself.

Here's the side view, you can see the leg making a continuous line of color all the way down even though the headboard stops just below the top of the mattress.