Make your own headboard

So my wife and I decided to build our own headboard after spending quite a bit of time searching for one and not finding what we wanted. As someone who doesn't do a lot of building and home improvement projects I was a bit skeptical about building a headboard that would be the centerpiece of our bedroom. How wrong was I.

Supplies:

Plywood (Lowes or Home Depot will cut to size for you)

Two 2x6's

4 bolts, washers, & nuts

Your choice of fabric

batting

Drill

Circular saw

Staple gun
Spray paint

Step one is deciding between mounting the headboard to the wall or to the bed frame. I chose to mount to the frame. First measure how tall the headboard needs to be and cut the 2x6's with the circular saw. Now it's time to drill the holes to mount the plywood to the legs. What I did was drill holes through the plywood three inches from the top and three inches from the bottom. Then I laid the plywood over the legs in the position they needed to be and just drilled straight through both. Repeat for the other holes.

Step two is painting the legs.  I chose black as it matched the bedroom furniture and wouldn't stand out.  Simply spray the legs in a well ventilated area and let dry.

Step three is attaching the legs to the plywood with the bolts. I chose bolts that had no screw slot, in hindsight I would probably choose differently. However they worked well enough. To have enough room for the nut I used a hole saw bit to enlarge one side of the holes on each leg. Then just screw the legs to the plywood.

Step four is adding the batting and fabric. I just stretched it across the plywood and staple it to the back of the legs. Remember to be very careful with the staple gun. Cut off any excess batting. Next, stretch out the fabric and staple it to the back of the legs as well. Again cut off any excess.

Your final product should look something like this.

Finally, position it behind the bed, you can now attach the headboard to the frame, or simply squeeze it between the wall and bed.  Enjoy your new headboard.