Headboard Made From Pallets

Pallet Headboard

Years ago I made my headboard out of pallets.  At first I just put them behind my bed leaned up against the wall.  They were extra long and sturdy.  This was the rustic bedroom look.  

Did you know you can get pallets for free?

I love free so much.  

I didn't take a picture of the original headboard but you
can see the remnants of it at the bottom of the current one.

After a while I wanted a change so I added some fun Chevron wrapping paper with Mod Podge.  Those were my "Chevron" days.  Skip ahead a few years and I decided I wanted the pallets covered in fabric.  

Many times when I start a Do It Yourself project the number one goal is to make something out of what I already have around my house.  I knew I wanted to have fabric and buttons.  I had some curtains that were in a bag destined for goodwill that I reclaimed.  This was my tan room phase.  Fabric covered buttons cost a pretty penny and it would be very hard to match with the curtains, so I made my own simply adding fabric to reclaimed buttons with glue.  I watched some DIY videos online of the correct way to upholster furniture to look like this, but it was a lot of steps and seemed like it was too much work.  

I knew my headboard's backside would never be seen so I just added some cotton meant for making quilts, laid the fabric across it and stapled it in the back.  Easy 5 minute solution.

I then measured off the areas I wanted buttons to indent into the headboard.  I stapled those areas down with the same heavy duty stapler.  It took longer to find the spots I wanted than the actual stapling.  

After the indention's have been established, make my buttons. Glue fabric with a tiny bit of cotton batting to the buttons gathering in the back.  Then glued them to the headboard.  Hot glue works great.  No sewing was needed for this entire project.  Just a heavy duty stapler and some glue.  The buttons were even salvaged from goodwill items so I didn't have to buy new buttons. 

(Tip, going to goodwill and looking at clothes just for their buttons is a lot cheaper than buying buttons at a fabric store).

I kept my headboard like this for a couple years, but then grew sick of the color.  I tried spray painting it white, but the fabric just sucked in the paint and really didn't give it the look I desired, so don't  make that mistake.  On my second try I used semi-gloss white paint.  This worked magnificently.  It was easy to apply and the coverage was instantaneous.

It did take two coats, but after it dries the results are fabulous.  I used a roller brush to paint with for everything  except around the buttons.  In order to get into the grooves, I needed to use a regular paint brush.

 Adding bling to the buttons is easy and just to give it one last bit of sparkle string lights across the top and sides.  Make sure they are LED lights that do not heat up!

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Pallet Headboard Makeover