Sooooo {EXCITED!}

You know those days when everything just falls {perfectly} into place?

Yeah, neither do I. ;)

But I had a day this week that came frighteningly close.


I found the {perfect} fabric to upholster the previously-mentioned {FUGLY} headboard ~ and I found it for 50% off at Kohl's. To top it off, I had a whopping $18.71 left on a gift card from Christmas, and with the sale I got 17cents back in change ~ so the fabric was, basically, free. {WOOT!}

In my perusal of blog-land, I stumbled upon another headboard upholstering project in which the woman used an old comforter instead of buying batting. {Brilliant!} (I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw this, so if you're reading and you know, PLEASE tell me so I can give proper credit.) I didn't have any old comforters lying around, so I did the next best thing ~ I hit the Salvation Army thrift store. Now, I'm not gonna lie, used bedding totally {skeeves me out} on several levels...so I should mention that (after being reminded to do so by my mom) I did the smell test before I purchased, and I then washed the comforter...twice...with copious amounts of {bleach} in each load...before I even considered doing anything else. I found the comforter for a whopping $8.

***disclaimer*** In case you're wondering the universe made sure I didn't get too excited about my close-to-perfect day. The following day, I opened up my car door...into my forehead. {OUCH} doesn't cover it. The bruise is HOT. But I digress...

It took me a couple of days to build up the {courage} to actually start the project, because, honestly, if I did screw this up royally, we'd either be stuck using it anyway, or we'd go without a headboard. I should mention, too, that I don't mean anything {personal} by calling this headboard {FUGLY} ~ but it's clearly dated, and not in a vintage/antiquey/cool retro sort of way ~ rather in a "Whoa ~ that's totally from the 90s!" way.

Anyhoodle...yesterday, I took the {plunge}.

First, I removed the headboard from the bed and brought it out into the living room where I would have the needed floor space. I {cleaned} both sides of it, detached the legs and measured for new legs. Since I flipped the headboard around and used the flat side (what was the back) as the front, new legs had to be cut to work around the "decorative" trim that is on the side that was the front. That also required predrilling holes to attach the legs to the headboard, and to the bed frame...don't forget that part!


Next, I laid the comforter down on the floor and laid the headboard down on top of it. Once I determined that the comforter was large enough, I cut the sucker in half. I wanted the headboard to be {soft} and {cushy} so I wanted to use two layers of padding rather than one. I stapled the first section of comforter to the back of the headboard ~ pulling it taut & stapling 3 staples at the center of the top, then the bottom, then on each side, and then going back to add more staples in between. I did this with 2 layers of comforter....


Now, because the sheet I chose is a thinner, microfiber material, and it's also light in color, I had to jump through a few more hoops to make sure that the {peachish} color of the comforter wasn't going to make an appearance. I had a couple of old, plain off-white sheets, so I used those (yes...two of them) to make sure that none of the color would show through. I stapled those to the back the same way I did the comforter.

Finally, I stood the headboard up, put the sheet over the headboard and lined up the pattern to make sure it was as straight as possible. I was doing this by myself, which made it a bit more complicated, but I did manage to pull and staple the top, bottom, and side tightly enough to then lay it down and finish it up without screwing up the pattern too badly. It's not {perfectly} straight, but it's as good as it was going to get, so I'm okay with that.




So, the {first} of many bedroom-related projects to come. I'm working on choosing a wall color now. I had considered a much lighter shade of blue, but now I'm thinking I might go with something closer in color to the print on the headboard. {Thoughts?} Please do share. The {FUGLY} dressers and nightstand don't have long to live, either...at least not in their current states. I've got a little trick up my sleeve for them, and I plan to paint them a dark brown.

In a brief and {fleeting} moment of excitement I realized that I would have enough fabric from the sheet set to do matching window treatments, but alas, the pattern was printed on the flat sheet {crooked} and I didn't realize it until after I'd cut...so now it's not lookin' like that's gonna happen. We'll see if I can muster up the {patience} for figuring that whole thing out.

Until then...I'm {happy} with what I've managed so far!

All linked up to Tatertots & Jello and Funky Junk Interiors! :)