Ballard Designs Headboard-Knock-Off

I am so happy with how the headboard turned out.  It is so comfy!  After taking it apart three times, I think I finally finished it just the way I wanted it, tight and tailored.

Autumn suggested that I knock off the Ballard Designs Stevenson Headboard for my bedroom.  A king size headboard is around $800 dollars!  Autumn had me upholster with Tommy Bahama Indoor/Outdoor fabric.  I can't say enough about this fabric, it is beautiful and durable. 

Stevenson Headboard (Ballard Designs)

First, I had Home Depot slice a 4x8 ft piece of 3/4 inch plywood to 4 ft x 80 inches for a king size bed....and then asked my dad to bring a trailer so I could get it home!

I used a jigsaw to notch out two curves similar to the Stevenson Headboard.

After so many failed attempts at building this headboard, I had a light bulb moment.  I remembered how they upholster nail head chairs! I wanted the hard edges to give the headboard a crisp look, but wanted it nice and cushy to sit up against.  I have seen nail head chairs that have a wood rim underneath.  So, I took 1x2's and lined the edge of the plywood, and cut out of pine the arch with my scroll saw. 

This is a really blurry picture below of the headboard, but it shows how the entire board is framed with 1x2's. 

 I sanded away any wood overhang with a heavy sander for a smooth edge. 

I used 1 inch foam, found in rolls at Wal-Mart, to line the inside of the headboard. 

A strong spray adhesive helps to hold the foam in place .

I used more of the spray adhesive to piece thin batting to soften the edges.  I debated whether or not to bat over all of the foam  This seemed to work and it helped keep the crisp lines I was looking for. The foam does sit higher than the wood edge, but after I placed the nail head on, it was no problem.

For the upholstery..

I knew that I wanted to have the same tailored look that Ballard Designs has on their headboard. So, I cut 5 inch strips that would wrap around the edge of the headboard. Then I cut the fabric to fit the front of the headboard, basically following the shape. 

Next, I pinned the 5 inch edge fabric to the front fabric, inside out, like you would when you make a slipcover. There were 5 separate 5" pieces, one for each side, one for the top and then one separate piece for each curve, basically leaving a "seam" of sorts at each corner.  Then I sewed it together, flipped it over and started stapling.  I had to do some fine tuning, and lots of unpicking to get the curves just right.

I left the corners of the curves unsewn to get the lines straight,

 it was much easier for me to tuck and staple.

Autumn had me use nail head trim on a roll.  It is around $20.00 and is really easy to work with.

If you make a mistake the nail head pulls out easily with a flat edge.

Mom suggested that I make a template to help with a straight line...so smart!

I measured about 1/4 inch in from the edge of the framed 1x2 to mark the template.

In my bedroom plans, Autumn designed wall to wall curtains to hang behind the bed.  So hanging the headboard flush on the wall was not an option.  I didn't want the headboard attached to the bed.  My dad came over to help me drill a couple of 2x4's into the studs of my wall. 

We attached a French cleat by OOK, you can find them in the picture hanging section of Home Depot.  It is such a clever way to hang a large headboard, and it holds up to 200 pounds.  I did attach wood legs to the base to take some weight off on the French cleat since the headboard is a king and hanging from 2x4's. 
 

Finally, I gave the headboard several coats of Scotch guard to protect the fabric.

I am so happy with how the headboard turned out. We have been sleeping against a cold wall for so long, this is such a nice change. We love having the headboard to prop our heads against, it's so cushy!

Next post.. I will show you the room! Yeah! :)



**I forgot to give you the rundown on prices.  The foam made the headboard more expensive than I planned, but it was well worth it. Using a less expensive fabric and heavy batting would make the cost much less.**

3/4 inch 4x8 ft plywood -$35.00
5 yds of fabric-$50.00
foam-$45.00
nailhead-$20.00
French Cleat-$15.00
1x2's-$6.00
__________
total = $171.00  ( a lot of money, but much better than $800!)

 

IKEA Rast Dresser Makeover

We are excited to finally show you our IKEA Rast dresser makeover. I say "our" because it involves the design of Autumn, and the wood skills of Nicole. We have given you a couple glimpses of the unfinished dressers over the year, but we really wanted to wait until the room was finished to give you a good look. 

Autumn, Nicole's Sister In- Law, helped me design my bedroom and the dressers into night stands.

She wanted us to knock off the night stand above...she describes the plans over at her blog,  Design Dump.

So, we started with a pair of Ikea Rast dressers.  I ordered them online for about 30 dollars a piece.

Nicole and I sketched out the curve pattern on paper, by alternating a paper arch.

In order to add our decorative legs, we had to brace the bottom with 2x4's and 2x2's.

The curved legs were also cut from mdf and nailed in on each side with a mitered corner.

We added a fake drawer to the bottom with a piece of mdf cut to size.

Here is one of the dressers ready to be finished with the wood veneer curves that Nicole cut out of 1/4 inch mdf with a scroll saw. We also added a piece of mdf to each dresser top, Nicole routered the front edge to give the night stands a finished look.

My sister has some serious wood skills to cut these curves out! I owe her...BIG time...like one of my children...(just kidding).. for all the effort she put into these dressers.  She was able to match up the lines with each drawer and they still have the ability to open.

Nicole brought over her paint sprayer and helped me paint the dressers with Benjamin Moore's Dartsmouth Green.  The finish is so nice because of the paint sprayer. Another trick to a great finish is lightly sanding between coats. For protection, we finished the dressers with a Polyurethane spray.

I just love them in my room!  They are the perfect little night stands. We haven't quite figured out what to do for knobs.  Do you have any ideas? I'm tempted to leave them as is.

Thanks Autumn and Nicole for all your hard work! I will be back to share the headboard, it was a little tricky hanging the thing.  Thank goodness for wall spackle!

A Smaller Sunburst Mirror

So, I learned a thing or two about scale this week....

I realized that the sunburst mirror I made last year and put hours of work into- is seriously too huge to hang above our bed.  My hubby might be a little irritated if he had to sleep with golden spikes poking down near his head!

Good thing I spotted a similar (and smaller) version of the mirror at Hobby Lobby. 

It only comes in brown, but hallelujah..the mirrors are already in place and it was 50% off. 

The only thing I had to do was spray it gold and embellish with plastic rhinestones.

Don't worry...I left out the hearts, butterflies, and flowers.

I used E6000 to glue the rhinestones to the metal.

Then I gave the mirror a couple coats of Rust-Oleum gold spray paint  

Thank goodness the little mirrors each had a little plastic film

 to protect them from the spray paint. 

I wish I would have gone this route the first time, it took me about an hour to finish.

Next time, I will be sure to use a measuring tape before starting a project!

Spring Boutiques

I quickly snapped a photo with my phone camera

of the cute little boy's Easter basket I finished up today

before I mailed it off.

I just loved the colors and personalizing it with his name!

While Candace enlisted our Dad to help her

attach her gorgeous Head Board to the wall

I have been busy preparing for a Spring Boutique 

that starts this Thursday.

I absolutely love working with Emily & Monica

who put on the Holiday House Boutique.

I was even more tickled that they had 

our great friend Krystal from Sassy Sanctuary

give their blog a makeover.

Make sure to go over and check out her nice work!

Plus for those of you local~make sure to enter their drawing for

boutique bucks to spend this weekend!

Meanwhile....I just got to keep working!

Happy Monday!!!

promises, promises...

I bet by now you are beginning to think I am a BIG flake when it comes to finishing my bedroom. 

 I have great news though...it is almost done! I tackled the headboard this week and I am so pleased with the finished results!  The headboard and I have been through a lot together.  The idea was there...but needed some refining.  I disassembled it three times before getting it just right....my poor children have had to jump over plywood, 1x2's, foam, and a sewing machine to get to their favorite toys in the play room.

  It's no wonder that my three year old resorted to stamping himself with an "EASY" stamper from Staples while Mom was distracted building headboards....

Nice.... 

He sure thought it was funny.  Yes, he is another reason why it has taken a year to finish the room!

Be sure to come back - because after a little hanging, ironing...believe it or NOT...the room will be done! :)

Wooden Silhouettes

We couldn't resist!

After working on the fun Bunny Silhouettes
for Wood You Like To Craft,

we had to make some more!

Candace has been wanting to make some of her boys

and I couldn't wait to follow suit!

There is a really great (and easy!) tutorial for creating

a great silhouette picture to use from Design Dazzle.

They are so fun on paper but you know us and our love

of using wood~we thought it would give the silhouettes some great dimension!

After we took some pictures

we printed them off and cut them out with scissors

to make our pattern.

Candace traced her silhouettes directly from the computer screen,
sizing them to an 8x10 image.
Next, we traced directly to the wood.
 You can use pine, mdf, or whatever scraps you may have on hand.
We found that a scroll saw works best to cut out the fine detail in the face.
Be sure to wear a mask and eye protectors!

We ended up just spray painting them with a glossy finish.

Candace sprayed hers in a dark brown

hanging them with ribbon from 

cute decorative drawer knobs from Target.

I sprayed my daughter's silhouette in a glossy black

and adhered the ribbon with a really hot glue gun.

I found some really cute knobs from Hobby Lobby

but I'm still deciding on where to hang it.

I have to say how special this project was!

I've seen a ton of silhouettes around and yes, they look cool and all,

but there is something about seeing the details of your own child

the pout of their lips, their cowlicky rooster tails and their little chins....

They just make us smile!

Definitely a project to put on your list to do!

Our Wood You Like To Craft Linky party starts tomorrow

so make sure to head over and link up your great Silhouette projects!

Bunny Silhouettes WYLTC

This month we are hosting Wood You Like To Craft

and of course we had to do something Easter/Spring related!

We drew our inspiration from some fun 

weather vane type accessories we've seen from Target and Pottery Barn.

We found this great rabbit graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

It was the perfect shape for what we had in mind.
We blew it up to be about 21" wide
and cut it out of 1" pine.

We then gathered our other supplies:
1 7" section of 3/8" dowel
1 chunky table leg from Home Depot
1 cedar fence cap

1 2 3/4" square cut from 1" pine scraps

You can really use anything to build up your base.

Candace used some scraps from her garage and

a ball finial from her son's bunk beds~it's been used

as a weapon being thrown around for a while

so she figured this was a better use for it!;)

After drilling the holes into the bunny and the table leg,
we glued everything together with Gorilla wood glue.
Once dry we stained everything with a coat of stain.
I used Min wax Dark Mahogany Wood Stain,

 and Candace used watered down, dark burnt umber acrylic paint.

When it had dried we tried 2 different paint approaches.

I used some cream acrylic paint that was watered down

to a 50/50 consistency, applying a generous coat.
After letting it sit for a few minutes, it was wiped away with paper towel.
This made the grain of the wood pop through and gave the bunny
a nice translucent weathered warm grey look.

Candace applied some furniture wax to her bunny before

she coated it with a thick coat of cream paint.
The wax allowed the brown stain to peek through quite nicely
when she lightly sanded it.

We always love playing around with paint and trying new things out!
Most of all we love playing around with silhouettes!
We're thinking we might have a whole week dedicated to
all things Silhouette.....
We'll see!
Can't wait to see what Krystal, Melinda and Wendy have
coming up in the next few days!