3 ideas for making a bed headboard from wood

Apart from being practical, bed headboards add visual interest to bed frames and interiors. If you don’t have a headboard but would like to, you can make one at little cost from scrap wooden pallets or old wood. We are going to present three ideas of varying difficulty.

Wooden pallets are a grateful and very useful material which can be transformed into various pieces of furniture such as coffee tables, cabinets, shelves, beds, a sofa and so on. Moreover, they are suitable both for beginners’ DIY projects and for genuine masterpieces, which explains their wide popularity.

Bed headboard made of scrap pallets

Pallets can be used to make a very simple headboard that requires little skill or experience with handiwork.

To make a bed headboard from scrap pallets you will need:

  • a pallet (or several, depending on headboard width),
  • a power drill and a bit with the required attachments,
  • screws,
  • sandpaper,
  • a paintbrush,
  • Belinka Interier wood stain.

Method:

First assess the condition of the pallet. It must be firm enough and, most importantly, dry. Clean the pallet of all dirt and rub it with sandpaper until smooth and free of any splinters.

Once the pallet is clean, it is ready for the next step. Using a paintbrush, apply Belinka Interier wood stain, which has no unpleasant smell and protects the wood from fats, cleaning agents and other harmful factors. It should normally be dry in a few hours, but we recommend three days of drying to allow the coat to set and prevent it from getting damaged from any contact with the wall or bedframe.

Now, all you need to do is to mount the headboard either to on wall (with an adhesive sealant) or on the bedframe (with screws).

Use old wooden boards

Have you found several long wooden boards in the attic but can’t think of a way to use them? They could make a beautiful bed headboard.

To make a bed headboard from wooden boards you will need:

  • long wooden boards (how many depends on the headboard height),
  • a large wooden or OSB panel,
  • a power drill and a bit with the required attachments,
  • screws,
  • saw,
  • sandpaper,
  • a paintbrush,
  • Belinka Interier wood stain.

Method:

Select a large wooden panel that will be used a base on which to fasten the wooden boards. The panel width will determine the width of the headboard, which can be wider than the bedframe according to the latest trends, or just as wide as the bed.

Next, prepare the wooden boards. If necessary, sand them down to remove any splinters and dirt, making sure the surface is smooth.

Now, it is time to protect the wood. Using a paintbrush, coat the wooden boards with Belinka Interier wood stain in your preferred hue, which can be selected from 11 basic tones and a natural translucent (colourless) tone.

As soon as the stain, which accentuates the wood grain with a silky sheen, is dry, move on to the next step. Inspect the boards to decide which side looks better – that should be the front-facing side. Then screw them next to each other to the panel with a power drill. Their arrangement depends on the finished look of the headboard you would like to achieve. To create a pattern, you can arrange them in an uneven way or slide alternating boards to the left and right all along the headboard. A more striking pattern is the re-discovered attractive fishbone. To create your pattern, you will need a saw to cut the wooden boards to the required size.

Once the headboard is finished, mount it on the bed frame or the wall. You can reinforce the headboard by screwing some longer wooden boards to the back side of the panel, serving as legs. Now you can relax without worry, knowing that the headboard is properly and firmly fixed.

Bed headboard made of wooden shutters

If you want your headboard to look different and out of the ordinary, you can (re)use some old wood by making it from old wooden window shutters.

To make a headboard from wooden shutters you will need:

  • 4 or more wooden shutters (depending on the bed size and the planned arrangement),
  • sandpaper or an orbital sander,
  • a wiping cloth for dirt,
  • a power drill/screwdriver,
  • screws,
  • a paintbrush,
  • Belinka Interier wood stain.

Method:

First, remove the metal hinges from the shutters. Then examine the condition of the wood, which should be firm and dry.

Now work the wooden surface with sandpaper until the wood is clean and ready for further treatment. Sanding leaves in a layer of dust particles on the wooden surface; remove them with a cloth. Before applying the wood stain, thoroughly clean the wooden surface and remove any dirt.

Now it is time to apply a coat of colourless wood stain to the surface to accentuate the wood grain. We recommend using Belinka Interier wood stain, which protects and enhances the wood without leaving an unpleasant odour.

When the stain is dry, drill some holes in the top and bottom side of the shutters. Then fasten the screws or nails and hang the wooden shutters on the wall above the bed.