I have been looking for the perfect headboard for the studio for quite some time. I wanted something luxurious, but also fairly neutral in color, so that would fit in well with any color scheme. In the end, I decided to create my own deep diamond tufted headboard. I found quite a few DIY tutorials online which I used as inspiration. If you Google “Tufted Headboard DIY” you will find plenty. If you care to see how I made this one, just keep scrolling.
First off, I should say, I am terrible at math. The biggest mental obstacle I had to overcome for this project was wrapping my head around the spacing of all of the tufts. I decided that the easiest way to do it would be to use a grid in the form of peg board. If I were to do this again, I would have used plywood for the back of the headboard, instead of just pegboard. The pegboard is a little too ” bendy” and could use a bit more stabilization. If I were to do this again, I would buy both plywood and pegboard and use the pegboard to simply lay on top of the plywood and mark the holes where I would want the tufts to go. Then I would drill out those holes in the plywood and use the pegboard for some other project. That being said, here is how I did it.
Materials:
Pegboard (In the future, I would use plywood, instead)
Bolts, washers and nuts for support boards
2×4 support boards
Button cover kits (available in the upholstery section of craft stores)
Button twine (sold near button cover kits)
Very large upholstery needle (6″ or larger is good)
Regular buttons for securing the back side of headboard
3 inches thick foam
Rolled batting
Fabric quite a bit larger than the finished size of the headboard. The tufting takes a LOT of extra fabric
Staples and staple gun
How I did it:
First, I cut my headboard shape out of the pegboard in my case, that was 62″ x 34″ for a queen size bed. We cut a curve into the top, though it would have been easier (and just as pretty) to make it a rectangle.
Next, with chalk, I circled the places where I would put the tufts. I’m not gonna lie, I got my husband to help me with this part to get everything centered and perfectly spaced, and we erased and re-marked the holes several times to get it right. If you were smart, and used plywood, now would be the time to place the pegboard on top of the plywood and drill holes through the circled marks in the pegboard and then toss the pegboard.
Next, I figured out where I wanted my support 2x4s to go on the back of the headboard when it was finished, and placed several bolts to secure those boards in place later. I needed the support boards to fall between the tufts so they would not get in the way of the buttons. If you are confused about this part, skip to the 2nd to last image below and it should make more sense. Next, I flipped the board over and placed bolts with washers on them through the top of the pegboard and let them hang through the back.
Next I placed two layers of foam over the top of the board. You could buy a single piece of 3 inch foam, but I happened to have these pieces laying around and decided to use them instead.
Next, I placed a layer of batting:
… and finally, the fabric.
Do NOT cut the foam or fabric yet. You will be pushing and pulling the foam and fabric and will want all of the leeway you have to get it in the right spot. Next, you will cover your buttons. You can buy little button cover kits at craft stores. They come with a pusher tool to make the buttons. Just read the back of the box.
The next thing I did was lay under the headboard and locate the circled hole. I then shove the needle up through the marked holes and all layers of foam and fabric until it poked out the top. This gave me the location of the tuft.
I then cut an “X” in the batting around the location of the needle.
Next, I used a serrated knife to cut a hunk out of the foam around the location of my needle to create a depression for my tuft.
Next, I tied the button onto an 8″ piece of twine.
I then threaded both ends of the thread through the eye of the needle and pushed the needle back down through the hole and pulled the button down tight, loosely pressing the fabric in the hole, as well. Under the board, I threaded each end of the twine through the holes of another button. I then tied a knot below that button, pulling tightly. It helps to have someone pushing on the fabric covered button from above while you do this, to get it really tight.
You have now created your first tuft. Continue in this manor, tufting from the very center of the board outward. At first, I found myself pulling the fabric too tight. To get nice, even creases between holes, you need the fabric to be loose, not tight, as you might suspect.
You will need to ease the creases into place. Be sure to make all of the creases go the same direction – down. Imagine if water were pouring down from the top of the headboard. You wouldn’t want water to collect in the flaps, you would want it to run off. That helped me to visualize how to fold the creases.
Once all of your tufts are done, it is time to wrap the fabric around the back of the headboard, and staple it in place. I didn’t have much fabric to spare, so I stapled rather close to the edge.
Next, I cut out my legs and cross support and painted them gray, to match the headboard. I then drilled holes in these board to match the bolts I had placed through the headboard back in the beginning. I then placed the supports over the bolts and secured them with washers and nuts.
And voila! That was it! Mine is still a little wiggly since I used pegboard alone, without plywood. I plan to add additional supports at some point if that becomes a problem.
