I've been wanting a headboard for a while now. Since Andrew got a circular saw for Christmas and a cordless drill when we moved, I thought we could make one. I had been doing research on Pinterest how to make one and I got some great ideas, but we ended up making this up to fit our own needs.
We looked for about a month for some free pallets, but they would be gone when we would go to pick one up. One morning when I was looking a Craigslist, I found a gentleman getting rid of some scrap wood. The picture made them look small, but they ended up being 2x6's. I knew that we could still make a headboard out of it, but it would be HEAVY!!
Supplies:
2x6 boards (or you can use pallets)
3 2x4's for the support in back
2.5" wood screws
Wood Stain and polyurethane
wood putty
foam brush
old cloth for staining
circular saw
drill with a drill bit
sander
Cost:
$9 for 50 wood screws (we used them all)
$9 for 3---2x4's
$4 wood putty (used 1/8 of it)
$8 wood stain (used 1/2 of it)
$8 polyurethane (barely used any)
$100 multi-tool
$0.50 foam brush
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Total = $138.50/ $24 = project
The wood had at least 3 nails each that we had to take out. I wasn't strong enough so Andrew had to take care of this step. We did this immediately because we had to keep the wood in the backyard and we didn't want Kyrie to step on them and hurt herself. Of course, Kyrie thought she could help too! Every time Andrew took a nail out, she went crazy and thought she would get to play with it.
We were originally going to do this project on President's Day because Andrew had off from work, but it was super rainy and cold that day so we had wait :(
Once the wood had dried, I laid the pieces out to make sure we had enough to make our headboard. Our boards were either 60" or 42" long. We needed the headboard to be 60" wide to fit our queen bed. We decided that we didn't want all the boards the same length, but decided to do the typical pallet wall look.
I wasn't comfortable using the circular saw, so one day when Andrew got home early from work we got started!
We used a square to make sure our cuts were straight and measured everything like 3 times.
We used the porch as our workspace as it is about a foot from the ground. Andrew did all the cutting and I helped hold the wood steady.
Once all the boards were cut, we went to the 2x4's. We made these be 57" long and cut 3 of them. We then used the left overs to make 2 boards that were 30" long each to use as the base. Andrew wanted to make sure the force was distributed evenly on the floor.
Here they are all lined up ready to be attached.
We then used the 2x4s to level up the boards on the top and side. We then laid a 57" 2x4 on top of the boards flush with the ends.
We used a 3/8ths drill bit and pre-drilled 2 holes for each 2x6 board. We did this so that the screws would go in straight and our boards wouldn't move so much when putting the screws in. I don't think this step is 100% necessary, but it was easy and only took an extra 5 minutes.
Once we pre-drilled one 2x4 board, we drilled in the 2.5" wood screws. We did the two outsides and then put one down the middle for extra support. We wouldn't have had to do this if we used the same length boards, but we needed to support the middle boards. Also, it is really heavy so all the extra support was good.
We had a couple of boards that needed to be attached together. So, we used some of the scrap wood and attached them. I didn't take a picture of this step because it was dark and the porch light wasn't good. I then forgot to take a picture of the back so when I get a chance to move the bed I'll take a picture. Sorry!
This is what it looked like at the end of the first day. At this point we have put about 1.5 hours of work into the project.
The next day while Andrew was at work, I tackled the staining.
I first sanded it down using Andrew's new oscillating multi-tool with a 60 grit sanding pad.
It started raining so I had to move the project to the garage so it wouldn't get wet and I could stain it.
I laid down my old plastic drop cloth and put the headboard on top. I mentioned before that there were nails in every piece of wood when we received it. I tested the stain on the holes and decided I didn't like the look so I made a quick trip to Home Depot and bought some wood filler. I got the stuff that changed colors (you know like the glue sticks) so that I would know when it was dry.
It took about 3 hours to dry. I'm glad it changed colors, otherwise I probably wouldn't have let it dry enough. I sanded it down real quick and was now ready to stain!
I brushed it off with a microfiber cloth to make sure all the saw dust was gone!
Andrew picked the stain. Minwax Jacobean. It actually ended up being darker than we both anticipated, so I only did 2 coats of stain with 3 coats on the green boards(I think they were treated?).
I used a foam brush to apply it and then wiped it off with an old undershirt. MAKE SURE TO WEAR GLOVES! It's not necessary to apply, but definitely good when wiping off--this is the messy part. I applied the stain one board at a time about 1/3 of the length before wiping off the excess and moving on.
Make sure you have good ventilation, because this stain is pretty strong! I let it dry for 9 hours before applying the polyurethane. We used Minwax fast drying satin polyurethane. You can buy the 2-in-1 stuff, but I didn't know how many coats we were going to do with the stain so went the non-quick way. I used another foam brush and did 2 coats.
We let it dry over night with the garage door slightly cracked. We actually went out of town so it sat in the garage for the weekend and still felt a little sticky when we got back. We decided it wasn't wet and we were done--almost!
We took it upstairs which was a challenge it's pretty durn heavy! Our screws were too long so we couldn't attach the headboard to the bed frame. We will buy some screws and bolts and drill into the 2x4 supports.
I hope you like this as much as we do! We are so proud of our work. Our plan is to make a kitchen island with the rest of the scrap wood we acquired so stay tuned for that.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
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