Project:: Nailhead Trim Upholstered Headboard - West Elm Inspired

Since we got married we've talked about buying a king-size bed. I love my husband but I also love my sleep! Buying a king-size mattress is one feat but buying a beautiful bed frame costs as much as the mattress or more, especially for the West Elm nailhead upholstered headboard that inspired our own DIY creation. So, why not make our own?? We saved a ton of money and the headboard project went so well we built the frame too.

Here is how we made it:

1.  Build the frame. Take into consideration the height of your bed (frame and mattress) and how high you want the headboard to show above the bed. Our headboard is 60” tall above our 35” tall bed. The padded face of the headboard is 25”. To fit our king-size bed it measures 76.5” inches wide. Here is a similar photo of the frame structure for our headboard. 

2. Attach a 1/4” piece of plywood to the frame. We chose a simple rectangle for the shape measuring 76.5” x 24”.

4. Attach upholstery foam to the face of the frame with spray adhesive. You can find a precut 76.5” x 24” x 1.5” piece of foam at major craft stores. 

5. Cover with batting. Spread out a queen size bag of batting on floor and lay headboard frame with foam side down in center of batting. Pull taught around all sides and attach to back with staple gun. You will have to trip around the legs. 

6. Lay fabric of your choice, 3.5 yards for king-size, face down. Position headboard in center. Pull taught on each size and attach to back with staple gun. You will have to trim fabric and tuck and staple around the legs. Attach the top edge last as you will need to trim and fold the top edges to make a nice seam on the edge without it bunching.

7. If you like the nailhead look, attach nailheads by depressing the foam and using a rubber mallet or a hammer with a thin cloth attached so you don’t damage the decorative nailheads to nail them in pace. I lined mine up by sight and did a few over again when I messed up. As with any nailhead furniture, they aren’t perfectly straight but you can’t tell and they look great. It’s worth the difficulty. I used 6 or 7 boxes of 20 nailheads so buy extra. You can find them at major craft stores in the upholstery section.