Simple Fabric DIY Headboard Tutorial for Under $30

What type of wood should I use when making a headboard?

These 16 Headboard Ideas Look So Chic, You’ll Never Guess They’re DIYed

Your bed is a special place. A place to recharge, a place to rest, and a place to relax. It’s likely the first thing you see when you walk into your bedroom, and you want it to make a statement. But you don’t have to spend $1,000 to get a chic-to-death headboard. You can DIY a gorgeous headboard all by yourself.

Get out your staple gun and get inspired with these 16 chic DIY headboard ideas.

Just Begin

Rachel Valente says this was the first big DIY project she ever attempted, and, honestly, wow. One thing that was holding her back from beginning was not having enough space to construct a big project.

“I have a small apartment with no garage space, so I shoved everything out of my dining room to make room to do this,” she says. “But, it showed me there is always somewhere you can start, and we’re all capable of doing something new we’ve never done before.”

Add a Calming Color

“I wanted a low-budget headboard, but at the same time, I wanted a chic one,” Jonali from All That I Home says. “As most of us know, if you can’t buy it, DIY it!”

We feel that. Jonali said she first planned out her design with a handwoven mat that she knew she wanted to incorporate into the bed frame. She just needed to build the basic frame.

Next, she took measurements and purchased laminated commercial plywood for around $30. She said she chose laminated for a smoother look, but if you use MDF board, it’s already smooth, so you don’t have to take that into account. Then, she pulled together materials from past DIY projects to complete the look.

This calming shade of blue-green painted around the frame really ups the chic factor. Don’t be afraid to use a bold color—it’s sure to give a luxe look.

Use YouTube Tutorials

“DIY not only can be more cost-effective, but it can boost your creative side and affirm your DIY abilities,” Weronika Sokalska from WS Interiors says.

She adds that if you’re just beginning, YouTube is your best friend. Not only did she DIY this lovely headboard, but she also DIYed the stencil wall behind it. Her full tutorial on that is here.

“Have patience, and anything you make is a unique masterpiece, so don’t be afraid to go outside of the box,” she adds.

Bring the Fun

Another impressive headboard and painted wall situation is shown here by Hannah Sellers Terry. By pairing a plain wooden headboard with a brightly colored original piece of art and a unique wall, the overall look is not only a chic DIY headboard but also a fun look overall.

Go Minimalist

Perhaps one of the most popular DIY headboard trends is the minimalist horizontal slat headboard like Riley from Campbell House’s shown above. She details the entire process of building her guest bedroom DIY headboard here.

Add a Slat Wall

Riley from Campbell House originally DIYed this headboard for her bedroom but is getting ready to take it down and DIY a new one. “I think my style has just changed since then, so I’ll be taking it down and starting fresh,” she says.

That’s the beauty of DIYing with affordable materials: you can change it up as often as you like.

DIY an Upholstered Headboard

Ever since Sumner upholstered a headboard on Netflix’s Get Organized With The Home Edit, DIY hopefuls around the world have been trying it for themselves. Upholstering a headboard is an affordable way to grab this chic look, especially if you’re working with nice fabric.

“I knew I wanted a linen upholstered headboard in this space,” Renee Rintoul says. She said she was surprised by the price tags once she began her search, so she decided to do it her own way. “The look I was going for seemed simple enough to tackle on my own.”

We’re so glad she did. The final product is super chic and didn’t break the bank.

Get Playful

Lee Talbot from mavenHOME does so many things right in this DIY headboard situation.

“Have fun with the shape, keep it playful and always extend it beyond the width of the bed, even if just a little, to give it more presence and better proportion in the room and on the wall,” she says.

“Be as textured as possible with your fabric selection when going with an organic shape. It’s more forgiving when you are DIYing and it also adds a nice contrast to your wall and linens,” Talbot says.

Opt for Birch

Anu from Rautaj Anu used birch veneer to create this peaceful, trendy DIY headboard, and we are here for it. The cream and ivory linens combined with the ivory wall make for a beautiful neutral backdrop so that her floral accessories can really pop.

Go for Contrast

This dark DIY upholstered headboard from Megan of Copper and Gold Project really takes your breath away when paired with the super white accent wall behind it. Megan’s tip? Wash and pull.

“It is important to wash your fabric first and pull it super tight as you are stapling it to the back of your frame because it will stretch over time, and you don’t want it to lose its form and structure,” she says.

Keep it Simple

“Headboards can be very pricey, and styles are constantly changing (or mine does daily anyway),” Whitney Parks says. “I love this look because it is timeless, simple, and no matter what style I’m “into,” I can incorporate it to work.”

Parks made this simple headboard for under $30. The simple style means she can paint it or stain it later if she’s in the mood to change it up.

Extend the Headboard

Henna Hiltunen’s headboard is visible all the way down to the floor, and it just looks gorgeous. She used wood and small panels to create this trendy look.

Show Off Your Woodworking Skills

DIY headboards don’t have to be simple, as Sam Raimondi from DIY Huntress shows here. Her woodworking skills are top-notch, so if you’re a DIYer with skills like this, by all means, go for a more complicated headboard design.

Think Outside the Box

“For your upholstery, don’t feel like you have to pick out something at the fabric store—we used some sherpa blankets as upholstery to make the headboard extra cozy,” Magda Rauscher from My Modern Dom says.

Her other tip? “Invest in a nail gun,” she says. “It’ll cost you $40 but will make this project so easy!”

Add Some DIY Magic to a Plain Frame

While you can absolutely DIY a headboard from scratch, Jenna at From House to Home shows how she jazzed up an ordinary bed frame into this chic farmhouse bed frame in this reel. It’s impressive.

Tap Into Your Inner Artist

Fia Pal says she made this bed frame out of MDF and spray-painted it white, then simply drew the black lines on it with a marker. The final result is a DIY masterpiece.

So, whether you’re staple gunning your favorite fabric or drawing lines on your MDF, give yourself the freedom to think outside the box when you’re ready to DIY your own chic headboard.

Simple Fabric DIY Headboard Tutorial for Under $30

Learn how to make a DIY headboard on a shoestring budget. A padded headboard can really improve your nightly reading session and also add interest to your space. This upholstered headboard tutorial is perfect for beginners, so grab some tools and let’s make a simple headboard!

A reader needs a padded headboard

As I’ve been sourcing and planning for the cabin renovation, I’ve been thinking about doing a DIY padded headboard in the main bedroom. I’m a reader in bed, so I really like having a plush headboard to sit back against. The trick in the cabin bedroom is that the bed frame is going to go up against a window. So, I’ve been thinking about king headboard ideas that are lower to the ground. I don’t want to block much of the window, but still would like a plush bed frame that feels good when you want to sit back and read.

Anyways, in thinking about headboard plans for the cabin, it reminded me of this simple foam headboard that I made years ago for our main bedroom at home.

Can you believe our main bedroom used to look like that? I revealed that space in 2014 and since then my style has definitely changed. The paint color was Rainwashed by Sherwin Williams and it was gorgeous. The bed frame we still have in our guest bedroom, which makes me feel good!

Anyways, I scored a great queen bed frame without a headboard but then was stumped on headboard ideas. This was quite a few years ago, before you started seeing floating headboards or other hanging headboards with wood, pipe, etc.

A small budget makes you creative

With a very small budget, I knew that we weren’t going to be able to afford to buy a tall upholstered headboard, so making a cheap DIY headboard was our plan.

Homemade headboards have been popular for quite some time. There are tons of gorgeous padded headboard tutorials. I recently rounded up some of my favorites in my headboard ideas post.

To be honest, when thinking about making our headboard, we just went with what we had on hand and didn’t follow a tutorial. I’ve upholstered a chair and reupholstered a bench. I figured that making a DIY queen headboard would be pretty similar to both of those projects and just winged it. I get winging projects isn’t always the best idea though. I’ll share a little tutorial for how to build a headboard so you feel more confident!

*Affiliate links below. Thanks for supporting this blog. Click to read my privacy and disclosure statement.

How to Make a DIY Headboard

*This do it yourself headboard tutorial is for a queen sized headboard. You can make this fabric headboard for any size bed, you’ll just need to adjust your dimensions to fit your bed size. Also, if you want to print instructions for this project, find those at the bottom of DIY upholstered headboard post.

DIY Upholstered Headboard Supplies

Tools Needed to Make Your Own Headboard

• Manual Stapler or Pancake air compressor with Nailer
• Utility Knife
• Fabric Scissors
• Circular Saw or Table Saw

How to Make a Headboard

1. Decide on headboard size (twin, full, queen or king). We chose to make our queen headboard 62″ wide.
2. Cut a piece of plywood to headboard size (we had our plywood cut at the hardware store but you could cut your wood at home).
3. Staple foam on to plywood. If you are using thin foam, you can double the foam for a soft headboard.
4. Upholster fabric to headboard.
5. Carry the handmade headboard inside and place on floor between bed frame and wall. Or, if you want, attach cleats to the back of the headboard and then you can do a wall-mounted headboard.

If you are new to upholstery projects, I like to start in the top middle of the headboard. Pull fabric tight (but not so tight that seems appear) and put in a few staples a few inches apart. Next, go to the opposite side and repeat. I flip back and forth on the long sides until I have finished them. I repeat the process on the shorter sides of the piece that I’m upholstering.

When you get to the corner, it’s a combination of folds to make the corners look nice. Once you get going on it, you’ll understand what to do. Just make sure to check the front of your fabric as you are upholstering the headboard to make sure the fabric is not pulling too tightly.

My cheap DIY headboard uses bed foam

Before I started this project, my grandparents were getting rid of extra foam that they had on hand. It wasn’t the perfect depth to make a padded headboard, but I decided to use it to save money. I doubled the foam, placing the egg carton shapes facing each other so that I didn’t have any ridges in my simple headboard.

Since making this DIY queen headboard, I have found some great options for cheap upholstery foam and did a blog post on it.

Backside of soft headboard

Save money by not buying cleat attachments for the wall

You could easily reupholster a headboard if you had one that you don’t like. It would be the same steps and would be such an easy project.

Luke and I were so proud of this DIY upholstery project. There are so many fancy fabric headboards out there and this definitely isn’t one of those, but this project felt really rewarding.

We both remember thinking that we waited way too long to try to make this soft headboard. We were used to having just a wall to lean against at night with no headboard. For under 1 hr and less than $30, this fabric headboard should have been a no-brainer to start a long time ago.

How much does it cost to make a DIY headboard?

Total cost for this this DIY bed headboard was $26.99 ($23 for plywood and $3.99 for fabric).

• Our “fabric” which is actually a Target Threshold window curtain was snagged at the Goodwill for $3.99.
• We didn’t use any hardware to attach the headboard to the wall. We had bought hardware to do this, but realized that because of the size of the headboard it fit on the ground between the wall and the bed frame perfectly. This was actually a mistake on our part (headboard size is too big), but a good mistake to make because it saved us money.
• We were able to get our foam for free. Check out my tips for affordable foam to find a good deal yourself!

Let’s chat about a few questions that you might have before you get started with your DIY headboard.

What are king size headboard dimensions or other bed sizes?

King headboard sizes are usually around 80″ but can vary just a bit. Here’s a good guide to get you started on headboard sizes.

What type of wood should I use when making a headboard?

If you are planning to upholster a headboard, then using plywood is a very good option to make your headboard. Plywood is cheap and, like us, you can have it cut at the hardware store.

Ready for a before/after of the room? Remember this is from quite a few years back, but I’m still so proud of how our fabric headboard turned out.

Bedroom without a fabric headboard:

Bedroom with a cheap DIY headboard:

Hope you all feel inspired to get creative with resources, time and energy in your bedroom. Even though we don’t have this headboard any longer (we passed it on to my sister), I can still feel good about this project and be inspired to tackle something similar for the cabin!

And, if you are curious on how our bedroom looks today.

Steal my secrets on how to style your home.

Learn the three essential things to do in every single space to get a cohesive and beautiful home.

Thank you!

Check your email! The styling guide is on the way!