Sweet Dreams!

My legal-minded husband can add woodworking and carpentry to his resume.

My friend, Danielle, and I decided that our headboard-less beds needed these awesome headboards. And we surely don't have the money to drop Pottery Barnish digits on one. That's when Danielle stumbled across the most awesome website, knockoffwood.blogspot.com. This fabulous lady gives step by step direction on how to make numerous "knock off" pieces that can be found in pricey catalogs. And we knew we were equipped with all we needed for the project: a good set of directions and two qualified(?) husbands. And it didn't hurt that Keith had access to some big-time, serious tools either.

Gabe and I FINALLY (after waiting all summer plus the eight days since we actually started) got ours installed into the room last night. Here's the result... (I didn't take a before picture, but just envision a mattress with no headboard.)

And another view...
I didn't want to give up my Pottery Barn bedspread that I love when we moved up from a queen to a king. So I bought a cream, quilted cover from Bed Bath and Beyond and folded the PB spread over the bottom third of the bed to give the layered look I adore in all the PB catalogs.

So here's a little breakdown of the process of how Danielle and I (and Keith and Gabe) made these awesome headboards.

Step 1 - Send the kids to respective grandparents' house for the weekend.

Step 2 - Chat over coffee and doughnuts while husbands make first of five trips to Home Depot armed with needed materials list.

Step 3 - Devise Plan B when you realize that MDF boards are too big for the table saw.

Step 4 - Cut all wood to specifications after making a makeshift saw horse from two rubbermaid bins. Build up enough nerves to use the saw yourself. (Too bad there's no picture for that!) And learn new carpentry terminology in the process, such as miter saw. (miter saw (n): a saw that cuts wood pieces as various desired angles, such as 45 degrees needed to make corners)

Step 5 - Leave husbands hard at work to go rebuy non-primed molding (Home Depot trip #2) and get batting (that had been overlooked the day prior). Stop to pick up a pizza for lunch.

Step 6 - Take a lunch break from all the hard work and heat.

Step 7 - Realize that molding, though unprimed, is still not right. Save it to frame out bathroom mirror (oh, did I not tell Gabe that was also on my list??) , and make another trip, this time to Lowes (trip #3), in the rain to hopefully get the right stinkin' molding.

Step 8 - Praise our husbands on their craftsmanship. Ooh and aah over the beautiful headboards that will soon be in our rooms.

Step 9 - Find molding our husbands had cut precisely while you were gone (and made trip #4 to get enough) to frame our bathroom mirrors for a luxurious, spa-like effect.

Step 10 - Cover plywood with expensive batting that had been over measured and overbought.
(Note massive wad of "extra" in background. Mine was equal in size.) Realize that a bench for the foot of the bed can be made so save the batting for it. One day.

Step 11 - Carefully lay chosen material (in this case, canvas) over wood and batting.

Step 12- Recruit a friend and two husbands to help staple gun the fabric on the back to get a clean, tight look as this...

Step 13 - Haul the pieces back home.

Step 14 - Spend the next week sanding, staining and sealing while hubby is at work and toddler is sleeping.

Step 15 - Have husband bolt fabric covered plywood into the inset of the headboard. (This will include lying on back on garage floor for your hubby. You'll need to apply pressure from the top.)

Step 16 - Raise headboard up only to realize that the wood screws are too short when the fabric slides right off.

Step 17 - Make 5th and final trip to the HD to get longer wood screws. Promise your toddler a snowball only to realize that the stand is closed on Sundays.

Step 18 - Repeat step 15 using correct wood screws.

Step 19 - Stand it up and admire all your hard work.

Step 20 - Put toddler to bed. Help husband move 500 lb headboard into bedroom.

Step 21 - Use $15 fancy hook thing to help keep headboard against wall (just an added measure of safety).

Step 22 - Make the bed at 9:30 at night to get the full effect and realize that it's PERFECT!

Step 23- Congratulate each other for tackling a new project and realize how proud you both are of your work. Then briefly consider what you could make next. Nix the idea, at least for the night, and enjoy a celebratory bowl of Lucky Charms.

Step 24 - Tell your husband how awesome he is one more time as you both fall asleep with visions of a new headboard dancing in your heads.