Fabric 72" length x 54" width
1" foam
Quilt Batting
3/4" plywood cut to 60x44" for Queen size
Sharpie fine point marker
Sharp scissors
Double sided tape
Staple gun & 3/8" staples
Jigsaw
Decorative upholstery nails (Lee Valley)
Rubber Mallet
Bristol Board
Instructions:
1-Draw the curve onto bristol board as a template & transfer to plywood. Template should be half the width of the plywood so you can flip it as a mirror image and trace onto the other side to get a symmetrical curve.
2- Use jigsaw to cut out the curve. You can start in the middle and work you way to the first edge. Use the cut off piece as a guide to see if the other side is symmetrical.
3- Lay foam on a flat surface (we used the floor) and then place cut plywood on top to trace the outside with sharpie marker. Then use scissors to cut out. Depending on the thickness of the foam you might want to use an electric knife. Because our foam was only 2 feet wide we had to use double side tape (one sticky side exposed only for now) to attach 2- 2 foot pieces to get the desired height of 44". We then attached the foam to the plywood with the tape so that it wouldn't shift while we were working with it.
4- Lay fabric on the floor- right side down. Then lay batting on top of the fabric. Then foam & plywood on top of that.
5- Time to staple. Start with 2 staples at the center point of each side. Then 2 staples at the center point of both the top & bottom- pulling the fabric taught while stapling. It helps to have 2 people at this stage to keep the fabric taught from both sides so that it doesn't shift. Cut any excess battling & fabric around the corners in order to get a nice tight tucked corner.
6- Flip over to the front & start nailing the upholstery nails around the edge of the headboard
Voila.......
Wow! Fantastic job K Dot. The headboard looks very high end...from the fabric to the nail-head detailing...excellent job.
ReplyDeletethe result looks great!!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I can't beleive you did this!! And I JUST got Collette. I wish I had seen this before. I bow down to you (and your good taste!)
ReplyDeleteLindsay
Great job! I love it. It looks professionally made.
ReplyDeleteWow! That looks incredible! What type of fabric did you use?
ReplyDeleteYou are very talented!! love it so much :)
ReplyDeleteThis headboard is awesome!! I also love the Crate & Barrel bed but cannot afford it's price tag. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteWow, looks great! Does the 44" allow the headboard to sit on the floor, or is it mounted on the wall somehow? Could you post where you found the fabric? Fabricland didn't seem to have anything too similar.
ReplyDeleteHi Christine
ReplyDeleteWe built a big platform base out of plywood for the mattress. The headboard stands on the platform sandwiched between the wall & the mattress. You can also buy interlocking brackets from Lee Valley to hang it off the wall. I bought the fabric from designer fabrics on Queen street.
K.
Okay, I think I'm going forward with your plans. Any more ideas / pictures you can send my way to help make it work?
ReplyDeleteTotal cost for your project?
Lessons learned?
mrchrishill[at]gmail[dot]com
Are the upholstery nails 1/2 inch long?
ReplyDeleteYes- the nails are roughly 1/2 an inch long which means the foam cannot be thicker than 1 inch otherwise the nails won't hold and there will be lumps showing through the fabric.
ReplyDeleteGreat job - how many nails does it take?
ReplyDeleteHI there, I know you purchased the fabric from Designer Fabrics but I was just wondering what type of fabric it is?
ReplyDeleteIt was a woven linen type fabric. Crate & Barrel has sample swatches for the Colette that you can get to compare to when fabric shopping. The nails come on 1m stripes from Lee Valley and we used 4 but buy an extra strip just in case. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteHi there! Do you have an idea of your total cost for the project, and total project time? GREAT PROJECT! Wow! :)
ReplyDeleteIs there any chance you can send me some more pictures of this bed? Thanks.
ReplyDeletemrchrishill(at)gmail(dot)com
Hi there - how did you do the template curve and dimensions? I tried a similar project and the template curve does not look quite right. I went to crate and barrel and the curve seems to be 3.5 inches high and starts 6 inches in from each side. Did you free hand it after that? fiebelkorn (at) gmail (dot) com.
ReplyDeleteThanks SO much for posting these fantastic instructions and for recommending Designer Fabrics. What a find!
ReplyDeleteHey!! This is awesome!! I just started to researching information on the internet so my husband and I could do exactly this! I love the Colette Bed - but don't want to pay the $1800 price tag. Can I ask how much this bed cost you to make, and where you got the fabric?
ReplyDeleteCheers;
Lori
Hi there, I love your project and bed. I have been debating doing this for quite some time. I was wondering if you could help me out. I already have a wooden bed, headboard etc. and was wondering how I could upholster it. How would you recommend I upholster it and how would I put the nail heads? Thank you so much.
ReplyDelete