When we moved into our downsized home, our bedframe did not fit in the smaller bedroom. Sadly, we broke up our bedroom suite and donated the frame. We wrote about this in a previous post, Making Room.
Original Bedframe 
Bed without Headboard
We didn’t like the bare wall look and started to look for headboard ideas. After MANY pins were added to our Pinterest board, we decided that a wall-mounted headboard would work best because we did not want to take away floor space by attaching a headboard to the frame. We went to one of our favorite places to shop, Habitat for Humanity Restore. We also wanted to spend as little as possible on the headboard and their prices are very reasonable. We started out looking for a door to convert to a headboard when we found a great deal on wall mounted headboards. They had a large number of them that we believed came from a hotel. We picked through them, purchased our selection, brought it home and put it in the garage with our project supplies. We didn’t like the color and wanted to paint it to match our bedroom furniture. We would do that when we had our ‘in progress’ projects done.
We had no headboard for almost a year. Seriously. It took that long for this project to get to the top of the very long project list. When we started on it, it only took about 3 days to complete.
The first step was to clean the headboard, as it had gotten a bit dusty waiting its turn. It was dusted off first with a microfiber cloth and then vacuumed to get the louvers clean. Then a light sanding with a fine sanding block, followed by extra fine steel wool. We wanted to get it as smooth as possible and remove the sheen from the existing finish. Another round of dusting and vacuuming followed, and it was ready for the paint.
We selected Rust-oleum Forged Hammered Paint and Primer in One in Chestnut for the center and Burnished Amber for the frame. We really liked the texture.
We masked off the frame with paper and tape and applied the first coat of paint. After it started drying, we could see that the texture was not as prominent as we had hoped. Andy applied a second, heavier coat and we let it dry overnight. The instructions said it would be dry in 30 minutes, but it was still tacky.
The next day, we removed the mask from the frame. After noticing a few spots that had not received paint due to the mask, Andy sprayed again in those areas. A small amount of paint got on the frame, but because the frame paint was a step darker than the center, we were not concerned.
After giving the center paint good drying time, we carefully masked it off. We used a sheet to mask it because we did not have any newspaper or other wide paper. After giving the frame one heavy coat, it was done. We let it dry over 24 hours before hanging it.
We needed to determine the height to hang the headboard and where to attach the hardware to the wall. We pulled the mattress back about 6 inches and set the headboard on the box springs. We were happy to see that this placement would work and we would not need to raise or lower it. Andy marked the wall at the 38 inches for the hardware.
We used a French cleat that would support 200 lbs. to hang the headboard. The back of the headboard already had the hanger so we only needed to use the part that attaches to the wall.
Because the headboard is 62 inches wide and the cleat we purchased was 18 inches long, Andy cut it in half. He then attached it to the studs at the determined height.
We rested the headboard on the box springs and carefully lifted it high enough to clear the cleat on the wall and slowly lowered it into place. And our headboard project was done!
Here is the breakdown of costs:
Wall hung headboard from Habitat for Humanity Restore – $20.
3 cans spray paint @ $6.48 ea – $19.50
French Cleat – $14.97
Total cost – approx. $54.50
Handy husband: PRICELESS!