Make An Upholstered Headboard, step by step

Adding a headboard to your bed is one of the best ways to add polish and coziness to your bedroom. And, lucky for you, making your own Hands-on upholstered headboard is especially straightforward and affordable (ours only cost $66!). This means you can customize the fabric, size, and design to get exactly the look you want. Believe us, we have done A LOT of them over the years!

Today we are going to take you through the step-by-step process to create the first headboard in the grid above (top left). It is our go-to, classic headboard walkthrough. But you can check out more headboard ideas below:

• How to make a channel-tufted headboard (top right)
• How to make a daybed-style headboard (bottom left)
• How to make a wall cleat to hang a headboard (bottom right)

Materials & Tools

Your exact supply list may vary from ours, but generally, this is what you will need to make your own upholstered headboard for your bed:

• Fabric of your choosing (we used 2 yards)
• Extra loft batting (we used 4 yards)
• 5/8″ plywood or MDF
• Two or three 1×3″ whitewood boards
• Miter, table, or circular saw to cut your wood (optional)
• Heavy-duty staple gun & staples
• Screwdriver and screws

Why Add A Fabric Headboard?

We hoped to add a headboard because fell out of enjoy with our 4-poster bed (so we cut off the posts!) and hoped something cozier instead. You know, something plush we could lean up against at night. And the short wood headboard that we right now had was not cutting it.

But generally, headboards can add a lot of personality and polish to a bedroom. Bedrooms without proper headboards can scream “college dorm” or “first apartment,” so adding one is a no-brainer upgrade. Plus, depending on the fabric you choose, it can add some bold color and pattern to a room OR add to the restful, zen space you are trying to create.

Step 1: Build Your Wood Frame

There are a few ways to create the wood frame for your headboard (including this especially lightweight option) but for this particular bed, we constructed a sturdy plywood frame. If you want a plain rectangular design, this step can be as plain as cutting your plywood sheet to size (or having them cut it for you at the home improvement store). For our queen-size bed, we ultimately chose on 65″ wide and 31″ tall. But you can easily customize your dimensions depending on the location or width of your bed.

Ours looked a little more complicated, and I will tell you why…

First of all, we were planning to place our Hands-on headboard around the existing headboard/posts leftover on our Ikea Edland bed. We concocted a plan that would sort of “wrap around” the existing posts, which we mocked up in Photoshop below. But this concept would also work if you hoped to create a popular “winged” headboard look as well.

To add these small side pieces, we attached two 1×3 whiteboard boards to each edge using screws drilled into pocket holes we drill using our Kreg Jig. Alternatively we could’ve secured them with wood glue and nails.

The other reason ours was more complicated than a solid sheet of plywood was that we could not fit it in our little car (ha!). So at Home Depot we had them rip it in half, and we reconnected the two halves at home with scrap pieces of whitewood boards. We are fancy like that!

Before proceeding we upholstery, we brought our frame in to make sure it fit around the existing bed frame like we planned. Phew – it did!

You can also now see what that wrap-around piece looks like, and how it hides the existing bedpost. And since we’d soon be upholstering it with fabric, it did not matter that the edges were a little raw looking.

Step 2: Add Your Batting Layer

If the carpenter in you trembles at the idea of upholstery, simply remember: if you can wrap a present, you can upholster a headboard!

Before adding our fabric, we hoped to first add some padding in the form of extra loft batting. We chose to do two layers so it’d be plenty plush, but still not lose its shape. Sherry trimmed a 2-yard section of batting using regular scissors, laid it on the floor, and we placed our frame on top of it. You will want about a 2-3″ overhang on all sides.

Then we used our staple gun to begin attaching the batting. We simply wrapped the batting tightly around the edge and stapled it every few inches.

When we came to a corner, it was simply like wrapping a present. You simply fold it back and staple it so it all looks smooth from the front. Try to pull the batting tight so your corners do not get too bulky. Bam, bam, bam – it is done.

We simply worked our way around the back of the headboard, stapling away. At some point John made me pose for this awkward photo too. Winning.

Eventually the whole thing was stapled pleasant and tightly around the back.

We chose to do a second layer of batting, simply repeating this process. Here’ what it looked like with the double-thick batting!

Note: Another option is to use upholstery foam that you attach to your plywood with spray adhesive. We prefer the batting method since it is easier to wrap around the edges. But if you are looking for a much thicker, cushier feel – it may be faster to use foam, rather than wrap 4 or 5 layers of batting. Too many layers of batting can also make it difficult to staple into the wood.

Step 3: Staple On Your Fabric

Here is where the lively truly begins. Now you can repeat that process, but with your selected fabric! Simply give it a good ironing first to make sure it is free of creases or wrinkles before you start.

Simply like with the batting, we laid it flat on the floor and placed our (now batting-covered) frame on top, making sure it was pulled taut underneath to avoid any wrinkles. Then I trimmed offthe excess fabric around the perimeter, leaving a few inches for it to be wrapped and stapled around the back, simply as I had with the batting.

We began by stapling each side, being sure to pull it extra tight so it will not end up all loose and baggy over time. I began with one side, pulling it all quite tightly, then stapled along the opposite side, again pulling it pleasant and tight.

Once it was secured on those two sides, I did the same thing to keep it secured vertically, by pulling tightly and stapling the top side and pulling it tightly and stapling the bottom side as well.

Then we flipped the headboard up to see it in all of it is plush, tightly upholstered glory. Bing, bam, boom. The whole upholstery step took less than forty five minutes to complete. Is it weird to call it one of my go-to fabric projects to date? I simply enjoy enjoy enjoy the pattern.

It is hard to tell above, but in this angle you can get a sense of how plush it is. It is cushy, but still tight – so we will not worry about it getting baggy with everyday lounging against it.

Step 4: Hang Your New Headboard

Now you are ready to attach your headboard to your bed. This can be done in a few ways, depending on your bedframe. When typically like to install a headboard directly into the wall, since it is frequently sturdier than attaching it to the bedframe. To do that, typically a french cleat works strong. We cover how to Hands-on a french cleat in this post.

In fact, the headboard pictured above is the same one constructed during this walkthrough – a few years later we simply updated it for our new home with new fabric and a new top piece (simply like we had brought in the sides pieces in this post). You can see the french cleat below, which is essentially two 2×4″ cut at an angle. One goes on the wall, the other on your headboard. You can also purchase pre-made metal cleats for simply a few dollars.

Pointer: Try to hang your headboard so it hits the top edge or slightly below the top edge of your mattress, that way there is no gap between the two.

But in the case of our postless-four-poster bed, we chose to screw the new fabric headboard into old wooden one that was part of the existing bedframe, simply careful to use screws that would not poke through the other side.

Here is John putting the final screws in on the backside, pushing the new fabric headboard tight to the bedrame for a snug, secure fit.

Step 5: Enjoy Your Handiwork

Once it was attached, we simply pushed the bed back into place and beamed at it. If only it had been bedtime already that so we could immediately enjoy it is plushness!

We enjoyed how the fabric is sort of like the bridge between the yellow ginko pillows (since there are greeny-yellow flowers in the headboard fabric) and the turquoise in the rug (thanks to those subtle leafy sprigs of turquoise in the headboard).

I even think Burger looks especially dapper in front of this new backdrop.

Hands-on Upholstered Headboard Cost

As for a budget breakdown here we go:

• Wood frame (plywood and some bracing boards from Home Depot): $22
• Two layers of extra loft batting (from JoAnn thanks to a 50% off coupon): $4
• Discount designer fabric (from a local fabric outlet called U-Fab): already owned – but it was originally $20/yard ($40 total)
• Total spent: $66 (if you add in the fabric we previously picked up for a book project and reused for this)

Sixty six bucks is not pennies, but compared to upholstered headboards that are sold at places like Overstock, it is at least $100-200 cheaper than even the most basic types. And considering places like Ballard Designs charge around $400-$700 for custom headboards (where you get to pick the fabric) it was excellent to get to choose the fabric and whip this up ourselves.

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