So the first one I made is beautiful, if I do say so myself, but I decided it wasn't tufted enough for my taste. Tutorial via http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2013/07/diy-tufted-headboard-tutorial.html - thank you!
You can't see in this picture (I may post better ones later), but I put nailhead trim along the border and it's really beautiful. Also, a lighter grey than this photo reflects. So I had this up for a few days, but really, since the beginning of my craft days, my heart had been set on this guy: http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-tufted-headboard.html. I first saw this project on one of my favorite "lifestyle blogs," A Cup of Jo (http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2013/11/home-makeover-master-bedroom.html), and have been dreaming about it ever since. LGN's is king-sized, and my bed is full-sized, so I decided to do a few less tufts to compensate for the difference in width. LGN did 5 rows of 9-8-9-8-9 buttons, and I did 7-6-7-6-7.
So... I went back to my favorite hardware store (Proctor ACE in Neptune Beach - Rocky is the man!), got some pegboard, used Liquid Nail to attach the .5x4-foot piece to the 4x4 and was covered in Liquid Nail for two days, made a bunch of buttons, and got to tufting!
I originally had a gorgeous linen with very subtle metallic streaks, but they only had 1.5 yards left of it, and it turned out to not be enough. I almost solved the problem by cutting from the bottom and sewing it on the main fabric, creating two side panels (best part of this is that I don't have a desk right now so I had to use my sewing machine standing up and on an ironing board), but it still wasn't enough. Frustration nation!
I went to another Joann to find the same fabric because I had already created the buttons, but they were out of the fabric, so I decided on gray linen upholstery fabric because, you know, it's timeless. Back home I went, and here's basically what happened: I spent an hour measuring where the tufts would go, covered my hands in magic marker ink, spray-adhered the foam, put on a layer of light fleece batting, and set down my fabric. I went mostly by the book/blog with this one, using the tutorial all the way through (as well as the foam from Joann).
My main two problems were that the Liquid Nail didn't work so well this time, and the smaller piece barely stayed on (I think the spray adhesive between the foam and that part of the pegboard saved it). Also, my upholstery stapler isn't the best, so I had to hammer down every. single. staple. But point is, it was an overall success! I hung it with two picture hangers into the wall (http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1419467), which hold the D-rings I had screwed into the back.
What do you guys think?
And a view of my awesome mirror that I found on Craigslist:
The biggest adjustment I made to Jenny's version is that I used the waxed button thread suggested for the first headboard I made. It seems stronger than upholstery thread, and I only had to double-knot the buttons, and it sticks better to the back.
Room is still in progress, but let's just say, I slept like a rock last night :) Thanks again to Jenny of Little Green Notebook and Sarah of Thrifty Decor Chic for your awesome tutorials and inspiration!
More to come as my roommate moves in next weekend and we DIY, well, everything.
ashley
