A Little Decorating at Chateau Gahan

I've been wanting an upholstered headboard for quite some time. Do you know how expensive they are to buy? Expensive enough that I took matters into my own hands. And here's how I did it. Now keep in mind that an equally inexpensive way to do it would have been to buy and cut plywood, but there are two obstacles there for this single mom: 1) too doggone heavy to work with, and 2) I would have had to put it up using hardware. Two things I knew I could work around. AND, the most important reason to tackle it as I did is that I want to have some flexibility with the shape of it.

I'm starting with a rectangular shape but think ultimately I'd like a curved shape like the Cleveland below.

So here's how I created my headboard . . . I bought an inexpensive piece of foamcore. Gatorboard would have been better, but it was not in my budget. Gatorboard doesn't bow like foamcore does. So to alleviate the bowing, I stabilized the single thickness of cheap foamcore by duct-taping smaller pieces of used and ready-to-be-thrown-out foamcore onto it. Not pretty to look at, but it achieved the rigidness.

The foam. Expensive expensive expensive by the yard. Even with the 40% Jo-Ann coupon, it was still going to be costing me more than I wanted to spend. Right next to the by-the-yard foam was a display of eggcrate mattress toppers. I purchased a full-size-bed one, which after the coupon came to around $20. The foam, even with the coupon, would have been close to $60. The eggcrate side of the topper goes against the foamcore, so what is exposed is flat foam. Perfect. (Although I did have to cut the topper to cover the foamcore in its entirety and have enough to fold under the edges; not a bigee, though).

The fabric was a find at Hancock Fabrics. I so wanted an eggshell blue or dove grey velvet, but . . . someday. In the meantime, this pretty floral was on sale for $4 a yard (and it's 54" decorator fabric). A steal.

I pulled the fabric over the edges of the foamcore, pulling enough mattress topper with it to give the edges a  soft rounded feel. And I secured the fabric with T-pins. Yes, T-pins. If you put them in at the perfect angle, they ain't goin' anywhere. They push right through the foamcore.

And when it was done, I put it against the wall, resting the base within the metal bedframe. As you can see, I need to pull the fabric a little tighter to get rid of some wrinkles. And I'm debating whether to add buttons to give it a tufted look. How easy would that be??? Simply pull the thread through the foamcore and tie it tightly on the back so that the button sinks nicely into the topper foam.

So, I'm going to live with this a bit, then cut it to make the curved shape I think I'll be happiest with.

And here is a painting a friend gave to me (along with some other true treasures). She's moving and purging, and some of her items now have a home here at Chateau Gahan.