DIY Head Board

This post is very overdue, and pretty much everyone I know/have met has seen these pictures already; but, I finally have everything put together and have taken all the needed pictures to show you all!  This has been my baby since I moved to Arizona and into our new place. It's taken a lot of time and patience, but I love the outcome!!  Be prepared to spend quality time putting this all together, but it's worth it.

I purchased two large sheets of 1/2 inch wood from Home Depot.  Between the nice man who cut a few slices for free, and C's help, I cut them into 1' x 1' squares.

As you can see it was quite a production.  I was lucky to have C and his talents and tools helping me out.  If you're lacking in that department, Home Depot will do all this for you with a smile :)  

Finished squares.  These need to be as accurate as possibly as they'll all be fitting together like a puzzle and you want everything to be even and aligned.

I wrapped the individual squares in two steps.  First, with foam, which is pretty expensive if you buy it from a fabric store or Michael's, which I learned the hard way.  A better route is to buy mattress foam and cut that up.  I bought two single bed foam mattress pads and they worked great.  

Using a staple gun, fold over the foam and staple to the back side.  After the fact I learned of a glue that would have been applied to the front and the foam would have stuck to that.  If you choose to undergo this project I would recommend going that route.  One less round of stapling and then you could cut the foam to cover just the front.

Second I wrapped the squares in fabric.  I choose a white/off white stripe fabric because I wanted to be able to change the colors of my room and still be able to use the headboard.  

Wrap the fabric around the foam square and staple to the back.  By this point your hand will not like the staple gun.

Ta-da!  Only 20 more to go!

Here is where you can kind of decide how you'll be hanging the headboard.  I bought a hollow core door, without a hole for a door knob, from Home Depot.  The door is resting on two metal brackets with are screwed into the studs in the wall.  We also put two more screws into the wall at the top to prevent it from tipping forward. 

Looks good so far!

Because the squares come together and left a little hole I decided to add some buttons.  Again, this is your judgement call on how you want the headboard to look.  I ordered a bunch of these 2 1/2' cover buttons.

I covered them with the same fabric as the squares. 

Then glued them, again using hot glue or liquid nails, to where the squares met.

They turned out working perfectly.

I LOVE it!  One of the best things is it's like a piece of art, we really don't have much else hanging on our bedroom walls because the headboard is such an eye attraction.  I especially love that it will go with any  remodeling we do to our bedroom.  If you have any questions of the process or want any further advice let me know, I would be glad to help!