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DIY Project: A ‘Reclaimed’ Wood Heaboard

Our new ‘reclaimed’ wood headboard
A proper, grown up bed in less than 24 hours!  I’ve always wanted a headboard, one of those really rustic ones, but for my whole adult life I’ve never had one.  Not even a crappy one.  I haven’t had a nice headboard during my years of uni, rental apartments and early married life!  That was when I told Luke I wanted to make our own headboard.  I really wanted to use reclaimed barn wood, but we couldn’t find any.  So here is what we came up with.
I was inspired by these headboards I found on Pinterest and we made a hybrid of them:
From AKA Design
From Design Sponge
From: Sugar & Charm

I love the look of the reclaimed wood, but we followed AKA Designs advice and got some pine from Home Depot.  They hung their’s on the wall, but we opted to bolt our’s to the bed just in case we wanted to move the room around, like the second headboard.

Here is what you need (this posts contains some affiliate links):
Wood.  We used pine from Home Depot 1″x6″x6′ (Luke cut this down to 5 ft. to coincide with the size we wanted)  We used 7 pieces ($7.12 ea).  3 lengths of 1″x4″x6′ for the back to act as legs and a brace ($4.87 ea).
Carriage Bolts (5/16th) with washers and nuts x 14 ($1.08 ea set) (we used these because we liked the look, but you can use screws or other bolts that are cheaper)
Hex Bolts (5/16th) with two washers and nuts x 4 ($0.55 ea set) to attach to bedframe.
Sandpaper (already had)
Old rag or t-shirt (already had)
Minwax Stain in Special Walnut (you can choose which stain you like the best) Small can which cost $4.58, but only used half.
Total Cost: $89.02 (not including tax)
Tools:
Circular Saw or table saw (preferable)
Drill
Square to make sure the headboard is square and not wonky
Step 1: Measure and cut the wood to desired length.  Home Depot can do this for you, but we decided to do our own.  It actually was good, because the cuts were a few millimeters different and gave the wood a more reclaimed look.
Daddy’s little helper
Step 2: Make sure everything is square and mark spots to drill holes for the bolts:

Step 3: Drill pilot holes and then 5/16 holes:

Step 4: Put the carriage bolts in:
Step 5: Cut and screw on brace making sure the whole thing is still square.  The headboard will still move until the brace is attached.  Sand the wood very well.  Don’t want to get splinters from your head board!
view of back with brace (make sure your screws aren’t too long)

Step 6: Measure exactly where you want the bottom of the headboard in your room and then cut the legs and drill holes to correspond to the location of the holes in the bedframe.

Step 7: Stain the wood.  We used one coat of Minwax Special Walnut.  You can use more if you want a deeper color or you can use a different stain.  I didn’t use gloves but would recommend them when applying the stain.
The stain went on nice and easy.  I loved how it brought out the knots and imperfections in the wood.  Make sure it is completely dry before bringing it into your bedroom.
Step 8: Attach to the bed frame with bolts, insert the bolts from headboard side to prevent damage to wall trim.  We also attached felt pads to the bolts to prevent wall damage:
And voila!  A cheap and cheerful head board por moi!
Starfish garland is optional 🙂
How to Make a Reclaimed Wood Headboard

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26 Comments
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Liz Walters
12 years ago

LOVE the new room!!! BTW- made your meatballs last night with help from the kids. Such a fun family project and EVERYONE liked them, especially Sophia. Thanks for the posting and keeping me motivated to do fun family projects amiss the hussle and bustle of life 🙂

Beth
12 years ago

I love how Conor helps Luke out, he’s going to be just as handy as daddy when he’s older!!

Danielle
12 years ago

Thanks, Liz and Beth! Glad you guys like it. We are so happy with it and it was very easy to do.

Brooke @ www.Getouttamyheadplease.com

its beautiful <3

Danielle
12 years ago

Thanks, Brooke!

Becca
12 years ago

Love this! I am a hug fan of these headboards and yours looks so gorgeous! Great job! {I also want those linen pillow cases from Ikea!}

Danielle
12 years ago

Thanks, Becca! The pillows from Ikea have worked great. You should get some.

The Haws House
12 years ago

Your headboard looks awesome! I would love to do a full wall of reclaimed wood in my master bedroom…just wondering how to convince the hubby to tackle my project,

Danielle
12 years ago

A full wall of reclaimed wood sounds beautiful! I love the look and texture.

Is
Is
12 years ago

Hi Danielle, stopping by from Tip Junkie’s Tip Me Tuesday, your headboard looks great, I think it was worth it to wait! I love rustic and I’d love to have one like yours but I’m afraid it goes beyond my skills! maybe someday…
I’m your newest follower!
It would be great if you could stop by my blog.
http://www.handmadebyizz.blogspot.com/
Greetings from Spain

SarahinSC
12 years ago

That is just so darn cool! I’d love to make one of these. I’d love to have you link this up to Project Pinterest on Thursday!

Sarah:)
http://randomthoughtsfromamomsperspective.blogspot.com

becauseithinkican
12 years ago

Beautiful!! I’m going to “pin” it to show it to my husband to inspire him! 🙂

Leanne @ Because (I think) I Can

Danielle
12 years ago

Hi Is, your blog has such great tips. Sarah, I’ll link up today 🙂 Leanne, so glad you like it. Looks harder than it is.

SarahinSC
12 years ago

Thanks so much for linking up to Project Pinterest! Love it even more the second time looking at it. I’m now following your blog.

Sarah:)

Danielle
12 years ago

Thanks, Sarah. I really love getting into bed each night. So happy how it came out.

Jamie @ Sew Rockin'
12 years ago

Looks great…I love the simplicity 🙂

Rhonda
12 years ago

This is so beautiful! I want the headboard and the garland :)~

Visiting from TT&J

Rhonda @ home.made.

Courtney
12 years ago

So gorgeous!! A big pat on both your backs!! It looks fantastic!
I’m so happy for you having a headboard now after a long wait! They’re pretty good aren’t they?!
Ours is our old shed’s timber door that we turned sideways and drilled to the wall after I painted it gloss black. That was 5 years ago and now I so wanna strip it back!!

Danielle
12 years ago

Thanks for the lovely comments!

itstwoam
12 years ago

Danielle! This is fantastic! I love how you added the string of seastars; they totally pop against the dark stain. Nice to see that everyone joined in on the fun. Beautiful!

Becca
12 years ago

This looks so amazing Danielle! I love it! The carriage bolts are the perfect industrial detail!
xo,Becca

Mandy Hank
10 years ago

Loving your headboard! It’s so clean and has a ton of character. I have been wanting to do something like this in our room. Thanks for the inspirations!

Mandy @ The Hankful House

WhineNRoses
10 years ago

I love your headboard!! I made mine from pallets!!

Danielle
10 years ago
Reply to  WhineNRoses

Thank you! I just stopped by your blog and your pallet heaboard looks wonderful. x

Angie Barnes
10 years ago

What size headboard did make? Want to make one for my sons full size bed. Thanks!

Danielle
10 years ago
Reply to  Angie Barnes

Angie, we did this for a queen size bed, but you could modify for a double. Hope that helps!