It was 6pm on a Sunday evening and I said to my husband, “I really want to do a DIY plank headboard.” I showed him a blog post of an plank entryway I had pinned on pinterest. He was like, “Bring it!” And came upstairs with a Sawzall and cut off our current headboard. By 7pm we were leaving the hardware store with stain and enough planks to finish the project!
You’ll need:
- One 1/2” 4×8 piece of plywood. We used birch and it was lovely!
- Stain. We used 3 different stain colors in the Varathane brand – Dark Walnut, American Walnut, and Carrington.
- Chop saw
- Measuring tape
- Pencil
- Pennies
- Level
- Nail gun
1. Have the hardware store cut your plywood. (It’s free!)
Have them do 6 cuts of 4” and 4 cuts of 6” across the long side of the board.
2. Stain your wood. We did 2 of the 4” planks in each stain color. And one in each of the 6” planks. That left us with one extra and we did that in the lighter color because the other two were darker.
3. While the stain dries, measure the length you want your headboard. With our queen size bed, 54” looked great.
4. Once the stain is dry you can start cutting! The Varathane dries in about an hour. Cut one 6” board the full length of your headboard. Level it out and nail it in. This will give you a nice level base for the rest of the headboard. 
5. Use pennies to add a little space between the boards. If you need more info on that, check out the blog post… which I referenced about 50 times during this project.
6. We alternated 6” and 4” lines all the way up. We eyeballed the whole thing, making sure there wasn’t the same colors too close together, for too much of the length.
We had 4 lines of the 6” boards and 3 lines of the 4” boards. I might add another 4” layer to the top. You’ll have extra wood so you can really go as high as you want. Wouldn’t it look cool with the whole wall done!
You can do this! I can’t even tell you how happy I am every time I walk into our bedroom!
Part of that is our new bedspread and the art I have finally hung up… after sitting next to the bed for about a year. Yes, the frames were just sitting there. For a year.
The center poster is from Eikon in the Orange Circle. It was less than $5!
The large frame and the two coral pictures are from IKEA.
The hangers are from Target. $5 for 4!
The bedspread, pillows and throw are all from the Target Threshold collection. We have had the same bedspread since our wedding… almost 10 years ago. That thing had seem more than it’s share of baby poop and spit up. It was time.
We didn’t stop with the headboard that night! We did our whole entry as well.
Now as soon as I figure out what I’m putting on that wall, I’ll share that too!
By 1:15 am we had finished the headboard and the entry. And we were all tucked into bed.
We are crazy. But I sure do love having a spouse who hears my dreams and helps make them happen.
How can you make your love’s dreams come true today?
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Tabitha says
I have a headboard similar to the one you cut off. Can you share where you cut from and is the bed still durable?
KylA says
Can I borrow Brad and his skills? 😂😂 Love it!
Kristina carter says
I love this! Amazing job!!!