The Beautiful, French Door Headboard
Don't
let my normal redesign excitement fool you, this might be my favorite
DIY ever {until the next one, of course}. In addition to the raw
beauty of the thing, I think my love for this project comes from the
fact that it was totally FREE & super easy to make!
In a previous post I explained how the idea for the French Door Headboard was born. If you didn't read it & would like to, CLICK HERE.
Below is a REALLY bad picture of where the french doors were hanging when we moved in the house. They led out to the Florida/Playroom & we removed them a year ago to open up the house more. Well, luckily we know the beauty of a good set of antique french doors, so we hung on to them. {The other one we used to switch the hallway door from an old, boring standard door to a beautiful, light-filled french door!}
:: What You Need ::
Here's what you need if you'd like to make a DIY headboard. You don't need a door. You can use anything you can imagine!
: Drill :
:Drill bits :
: Wood screws :
: Measuring tape :
: Wood - 2x4 & 1x1 :
: Table saw or hand saw :
Here's the door "before". We painted it white a few years ago & it only had a few scratches. It matched our new "light & airy" room perfectly. I loved the idea of the glass letting all the light in because we were putting the bed in front of the windows. I hate losing light, so this was just a perfect fit! So, we just added legs to this door. We had all of the wood & screws. Again, meant to be!
:: Step One ::
First, measure from the floor to the height on the wall/window where you'd like the top of the headboard. Ours was 50" from the floor to the top of the door.
As we were measuring, we realized that our 2x4 was going to leave a gap between the wood & the wall because of the floor trim. This was going to be a problem with the stability of the headboard. We don't want a wobbly headboard! So, we decided to add a shorter piece of wood (1x1) to squeeze between the wall and the 2x4. That piece was measured to 35".
:: Step Three - Cut the Wood ::
Because we had the wood at home, we cut it on our table saw {best yard sale find ever for $30}, but REMEMBER - if you have to buy wood, just take the measurements to H.D. with you & they'll do it for you!
: {2} 2x4 @ 50" :
: {2} 1x1 @ 35" :
:: Step Four - Attach the Wood ::
First, lay the piece of 2x4 wood in place on the back of the door. Predrill holes in the wood through the door. Then, screw in the 2x4 with 2.5" wood screws.
Next, do the same steps with the 1x1" wood on top of the 2x4.
You're done! How easy was that?! At this point, you can put a little bit of felt under the feet of the wood so they don't scratch the wood floors. Also, if you want more stability, you can add small metal braces to the sides of the wood legs. We didn't because ours is very sturdy.
:: The Final Product ::
After painting & adding all the new bedding, curtains, & side tables here she is! I am in love with the light that comes in. The old room was dark & cave-like {perfect for a good nights sleep}, but we're {I} working on better, brighter mornings & this was a great first step!
{S}
