Wood & Cloth –Update– Wood Headboard

This past weekend was a 3 day weekend for Wood & Cloth.  That meant we went full crazy on the headboard project.

The wood portion of the headboard went together with relatively few issues.  The same cannot be said for the tufted panel (more on that tomorrow.)

First the plywood for the back was cut to size and additional plywood pieces were placed along the edges to create the basic frame for the tufted panel.  This step is to give the frame a bit more chunk/depth but keep the costs low by using cheaper wood. 

Next step was to miter and cut out popular pieces (prettier than the plywood) to create the outside “visible to the eye” part of the frame.   As the husband has figured out it is always a good idea to spend a little time on the miters so they line up nicely but you can always do a bit of “fill” work with wood filler if they are not perfect. 

TIP:  If you plan on staining your frame it has been our experience that wood filler (even the stainable kind) never looks quite right.  If you are painting no problem…paint hides a multitude of sins!

Next the molding was mitered and attached to create the front part of the frame.  The picture is not the best to show the detail on the molding (as the wood shop/garage door had to be closed due to the hurricane strength wind gusts we were having) but we selected a bulbous design....again we were trying to get a “beefy” frame to really contrast with the tufted panel.



To make the legs for the headboard poplar was used on the outside edge (for look) and a 2x2 was notched into the inner side for additional support.  Because this headboard will be attached to the wall for stability we didn't need the legs to be able to support the headboard as a free-standing item.  If you are not planning on attaching your headboard to the wall you will most likely need to build chunkier legs with a bigger footprint or plan on attaching rails for stability. 

One final piece of poplar was attached to the front of the legs to hid the 2x2.  This addition also brings the leg flush up to the molding on the frame piece.

On to painting!

We used our favorite black (Black (Forever) from Behr) to paint all of the parts of the headboard that would not be covered by the tufted panel in our "paint room."  This is the only room in the house that the pugs and sawdust are not allowed.  Nothing messes up your painting like dog hair!

At this point in the project we were feeling pretty good about how things were coming together.  

Then we started on the tufted panel....