Sunday, November 14, 2010

The Birth Of A Headboard

The other day, my Blushing Bride had the idea we needed a new headboard for the bed. So, out with the old and get ready for the new. The last headboard we had was one she modified and screwed to the wall.

This one, she was going to build from scratch. We had a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the shed from a never completed project years ago. Out of the shed it came, no small feat there. However we did it without injuries (that came later).

The first step is a plan or a pattern if you will. The pattern was made out of flyers from the Sunday paper.

Next the hand drawn pattern had to be transferred to the actual sheet of plywood for cutting. This is the part of the project set aside for me to hang myself. Here we have the language clashes and the do exactly as I say problems.

A close look (above) will show there are two lines, one followed the paper pattern and the other I used a paint stirrer to draw an arc that I can duplicate on the other end of the plywood sheet.

As you can see the two parts removed are fairly equal and match. Therefore, for the time being, I was allowed to live.

Having now extricated myself from the process you can see Blushing Bride cutting and fitting the first of two layers of foam to the headboard.

Here she is using a hot glue gun to secure the first layer of foam in place.

At this point, there are two layers of foam, a layer of polyester batting and a layer of cloth being mounted to the base with a heavy duty stapler.

At this point, the two layers of foam, the polyester batting and initial cloth covering are in place and all tacked down with heavy duty staples.

The headboard will again be mounted to the wall. This time using a cleat. A cleat in this case is a 1x6 cut in half lengthwise with the table saw blade set at a 45 degree angle. The cleat will be screwed to the 2x4 studs in the wall but allow left - right adjustment of the headboard.

A better look at the end of the cleat showing the 45 degree cut.

The other half of the cleat is mounted on the backside of the headboard. I mounted it on a line I drew parallel with the bottom edge of the 4x8 sheet of plywood. I also drew some vertical lines parallel with the sides of the 4x8 plywood sheet to use as reference points.

The cleat was placed just above the center line of the headboard so the majority of the weight would be below the cleat. I also added two other blocks near the bottom to keep the headboard parallel to the wall.

The cleat on the wall.

The headboard on the wall for a test fit. It is not finished at this point as it does not yet have the final layer.

At this point, Blushing Bride says "I can handle the rest of this...Lets put the bed back".

The bed is a king size Tempur-Pedic and the mattress weighs about a thousand pounds. Blushing Bride grabs one side and I the other. The next thing I hear is Oh-Oh I hurt my back. The injury I spoke of earlier. Not bad but that bed will stay in the middle of the room for some more days. The Blushing Bride spoke with the Doc and has plenty of meds to see her through.
A couple days later the outer covering arrived. It is a beige suede type cloth. Here it is draped over the headboard to view.

A closer view of the suede cloth.

Finally a finished headboard covered in suede cloth and hung on the wall.

No, a not finished headboard. Blushing Bride has determined the headboard need something to spiff it up. It has been decided by a higher power that the headboard needs tufting to set it off.

Putting the buttons in place. These buttons have the same cloth installed over them by Blushing Bride before they are mounted on the headboard.

Here she is putting a needle though the headboard, using a hole she drilled through the wood from the back. The planning is done from the backside, the hole is drilled from the back and the button is tied on from the back.

The needle has gone through the eyelet on the back of the button and she is trimming the thread. The thread used was heavy dental floss.

The thread is tied off to a small screw on the backside to keep from prevent pull through.

A finished, tufted , suede covered headboard mounted on the wall.

The headboard is finished and the bed is back in place.