Supplies:
-Fabric, $70 (I ordered mine on sale from JoAnn's, and got 4 yards. Way more than enough for a queen bed, plus a have some leftover for probably 2 medium sized pillows/shams)
-Particle Board, $18 (Got a big sheet at Home Depot--4x6 size I believe)
-Quilt Batting, $20 (Bought a large roll of medium thickness batting at Walmart)
-Staples, staple gun, tacks ($3), hammer and a power saw (John already had all the tools, but you could easily purchase an inexpensive staple gun at any craft or home improvement store, and rent the saw)
Total cost: about $115
Step 1: Cut the particle board in your desired shape. I did a slight curve in the middle, as you can see in the photos. We did this out in the drive way, and it took maybe 10 or 15 minutes to sketch the shape and do the cutting. Very easy!
Step 2: Set up shop in a large area of floor in your house. Lay the batting out flat on the floor, put the particle board on top and pull all the edges tight. Cut off excess batting (I left about 2 inches around the perimeter for stapling.
Step 3: Staple, staple, staple. I put my staples about 1.5 inches apart, and they held up well. Particle board it a very hard material, so I hammered my staples in to make sure they were secure. Put extra staples in the corners, because the folded fabric is extra thick.
Step 4: Pick up the headboard with batting secured to it, and lay out fabric cut to your headboard's size. Pull tightly around the edges, and cut away any excess (the same way you did in step 2). I left a little more fabric around the perimeter (maybe 3 inches).
Step 5: Staple or tack the fabric. Since my upholstry fabric was very thick, especially with the battling underneath, I used plain gold, round-top tacks. I positioned each one (about 2 inches apart) and hammered them all in to make sure the fabric was secure. Remember to constantly pull the fabric tight to ensure that it will be even (especially if you are using a patterned fabric like I was).
Voila, you are finished! You can take it a step further, and actually attach the headboard to the bedframe or to the wall, but for now mine is just on the floor behind the bed and its working out fine. I may bolt it to the frame in the future to add some extra height, but just having it against the wall definitely works in a pinch (and my pinch, of course, is getting the room ready for bachelorette weekend on Friday!). This project was easy, inexpensive and not very time consuming. I love the outcome, and am so glad I didn't pay the hundreds of dollars I've seen similar headboards go for online!
Sorry for the blackberry photos, as usual!
