simple and few

Flashback to college and my first ever DIY project. The year was 2013, I was moving into my first apartment, and I had a staple gun that I was itching to use. So I embarked on the headboard project - and it has served me well now for four full years.

// S U P P L I E S //

- basic (read: cheap) piece of plywood or pressboard cut to the width of your bed // mine is 60" x

- quilt batting // minimum 70" or 2 yards

- staple gun // with staples....hopefully

- fabric // minimum 70" or 2 yards

That's literally it, folks. So stop making excuses and scoot your little butt to the store so you can make your own headboard!

// S T E P S //

After getting the wood cut to size and toting it home - with the help of a friend of course - your steps are simple and few. Cut a layer of quilt batting to size, with about 6" to spare on each side of the wood so you can fold the batting over the sides of the wood and staple into the backside of the headboard. (Repeat a second time if you want a deeper, more luxurious cushion effect on your upholstery.) Then just lay your fabric out and align the headboard on the fabric so you can fold it over and staple it the same way you did with the batting. And guys - THAT'S IT.

You just made a headboard.

I have since re-created the headboard twice during moves from apartment to apartment. That's just how simple (and affordable) it is - that I would be willing to break it down and do it all again. And while yes, I have been Craigslist hunting for a true, adult headboard as of late, I am still highly connected to my own! It holds a special place for me as one of my first decorative pieces and certainly my first DIY.

I personally classify headboards right along with curtains as signs that your space has matured out of makeshift college living. It's only in college when you can really get by with just a cheap metal bedframe and no actual structure. A headboard puts a finishing touch on your room, and as 20-somethings we don't realize how much it can do for a bedroom until we have it. So if you are still dragging your feet about getting a headboard because you think it's non-essential, cough up the $40 bucks and go make one for yourself.

This is your cue from me - your cost-effective digital design consultant - telling you that a headboard will pull your bedroom together and thus, make you feel like you have yourself pulled together as well.

I truly said the steps would be simple and few, didn't I? Minimal effort, maximum impact - that's my kind of project!