Buy or DIY a Headboard: Here’s How to Do Both

Figure out what style headboard would work well with the rest of your room’s décor. Don’t be afraid to break from the norm and choose a complementary, but different color, pattern or style. To tie it in with the rest of the room, find a common element like color, shape or style that feels connected to the other large furniture pieces in the room.

A classic choice, upholstered headboards are not only stylish, but they also offer practical benefits. The padded surface makes it especially comfortable to read in bed at night. The softened back and edges tend to be kinder on your walls over time too. Like other fabric surfaces, the padding helps absorb and muffle more room-to-room noise. Great news for light sleepers. To keep an upholstered headboard modern, choose a style with clean lines and a neutral color. If your style is more traditional, try a tufted, winged or nail head-trimmed version.

The beauty of wood is its versatility. Available in a wide range of colors, from natural to rich stains to painted wood, it’s a great category to peruse if you’re unsure about what you might like. Options run from minimal styles that feature a single slab of wood to traditional wooden slats to more intricately designed mid-century style shelving. 

To choose the right finish for your space, look at the other wood finishes in the room. To keep the design looking streamlined, stick to two wood tones total throughout the room. If you’re mixing and matching pieces and not buying in a set, pull a wood tone out of an existing piece to use as a color guide.

Add a textural element to your bedroom with a woven headboard. Wicker, leather or rattan, a simple weave creates an interesting focal point in your bedroom. A few things to consider — woven headboards tend to be fragile. If your pets spend a lot of time in your bedroom or you want to use the headboard as a support when you’re sitting up in bed, it might not be for you. However, if you want something that’s design-focused and adds a real organic feel to the room, you’ll value this style. It works well in an eclectic room and mixes and matches with other wood finishes and design styles beautifully.

There’s no quicker way to add some vintage charm to a bedroom than a metal headboard. But there’s so much more to metal headboards than your standard bed knobs and rails. Think shapes and designs that feel reminiscent of art deco design that turn your bed into a major showstopper. 

Practical and sturdy, metal holds up well over time and its more minimal look always feels on trend. Choose your finish wisely, a brass or gold warms up your room and should play nicely with the other fixtures in the room. Black metal always works well with just about any furniture or finish, and it looks impressive in front of a white or neutral wall.

It’s easy to make your own headboard when just about anything can be transformed into one. You’re only limited by your own imagination for materials. Here are a few clever ideas that require minimal effort and tools. 

• Hang old window frames or shutters behind or above the bed. 
• Hang a decorative quilt at headboard height behind the bed. 
• Use a woven wall hanging in place of a headboard. 
• Paint a shape like a rectangle or circle behind the bed, or even paint the shape of your ideal headboard. 
• Cover a large piece of wood (that’s headboard sized) with quilt batting and then fabric to create a simplified upholstered headboard.

• Take a cue from Monica Mangin and The Weekender and create a hotel feel in your bedroom by covering the bottom half of a wall with upholstered headboards. It’s just a matter of spacing them for your wall dimensions and creating a framework to hang them. 
• Use some plywood and stain to create this woven wooden headboard using Lowe’s step-by-step directions. 
• Cut a sheet of plywood into your desired headboard shape, then cover with quilt batting and fabric to create your own upholstered headboard. 
• Another genius project from The Weekender, cut pine boards at a 45-degree angle to make this incredibly cool chevron wood headboard. 
• If you’re short on space and looking for more versatility, why not try this storage headboard DIY. It uses lumber and moulding pieces to create a custom look.