Hello, friends and colleagues. As those-of-you-who-follow-me-on-Instagram already know, I’ve been semi-working on a DIY headboard for what feels like a really long time. I’ve been taking it very, very slowly, because it’s probably going to be the most expensive project I’ve taken on thus far, and I really don’t want to screw it up.
But before I even started semi-working on the headboard, I wanted to be absolutely sure about what I wanted to do. And that’s why the process of choosing fabric, size and shape has taken so long!
We knew pretty early in the process that we wanted to use a teal/turquoise velvet. I mean, look at these photos.
Ballard Designs’ Camden Tufted Headboard upholstered in Queens Velvet – Teal
DIY by Jamie Antonioli / via Schue Love
Design by Tobi Fairley
The famous Mad Men headboard via The Decorologist
Emily Henderson’s bedroom (not a headboard, but look at that fabric!)
As it turns out, though, teal/turquoise velvet is much harder to find than you’d think. It needed to be saturated, but not too bright. We didn’t want a pastel, but it couldn’t be so dark that it’d show a lot of pet fur. It needed to be durable, but also soft. I bought so. many. samples.
If any of these catch your eye, I can tell you what they are and where to buy them! They’re almost all labeled.
See the two smallest rectangles in the center? The darker one on the right is The One. The fabric is Como velvet by JB Martin, and the color is called Cyan. I paid $30.99 a yard, which is certainly not cheap, but it’s actually a lot cheaper than some others I found, and it’s 100% cotton, which isn’t super common! It’s worth every penny, too – check out this sofa upholstered in the fabric from Room Service.
I ordered five yards from The Fabric Co, and I can’t say enough how wonderful they were to work with. Both the samples and the full order came really quickly, with a handwritten note included. The packaging was secure, and the shipping costs are reasonable. Love ’em.
Once I had my fabric, I had to figure out the size, shape and tufting style before I could start sourcing other supplies. I knew I didn’t want to complicate an already difficult project with a fancy shape, so I was pretty sure I’d go rectangular. As for height and tufting, these were my inspiration:
Photo from Domino / via Little Green Notebook
DIY by Involving the Senses
Based on those and the specifics of our bedroom, we decided that the headboard should be 27 inches tall, with 7-inch diamond tufts. Don’t get me started on the math. I’ll explain that when I post the final tutorial!
So, I’ve created 62 velvet-covered buttons, and Brad has made the basic wood frame. We’ve purchased all our supplies except for two expensive items: the upholstery foam and an air compressor for our staple gun. (We have a hand-powered one, but we learned our lesson on the tufted bench. Stapling 10 tufts on that was difficult enough. Stapling 62 on the headboard would have been murder.)
I don’t think we’ll have room in the budget for those items until after Christmas, so until then, we’ll be finishing up the frame and doing as much prep work as possible. I can’t wait for it to be done!
Which headboard size/shape/style is your favorite? Got any tufting tips for me?