A DIY Twin Headboard you can make with wood for your child’s bedroom.
Back in July, about 3 months into the foster care classes, we decided to start work on building two headboards for a kid’s room upstairs.
We had no idea what our first placement would look like, how many children, or their ages, but we wanted to try to be as prepared as we could be.
So we grabbed some wood leftover from building our living room built-ins to create two headboards.
The funny thing is that once we did get our first placement, a 5-year-old girl and her 8-month-old sister, this bed was only used twice!
Big sis prefers to be closer to us, so we moved the secondary bed downstairs in the sitting room/hallway next to our room.
But we’ve been working on slowly decorating this room in case she ever decides she wants to sleep in her own room.
Of course, there is no pressure, we want to make sure she feels safe, secure, and loved when she falls asleep.
The second bed by our room will stay down there as long as she wants/needs it, even after she feels comfortable sleeping in her own room.
And until then I’m going to keep having fun adding fun and cute pieces to her bedroom.
Headboard Materials:
23″ tall by 42″ wide by 1″ thick wood board
2″ by 1″ square edge wood trim pieces
4″ by 1″ square edge wood trim piece
1.25″ long wood screws (approximately 20-22 needed)
1.5″ by 1″ trim piece, (we used a quarter circle ornamental trim piece)
White paintable caulk
White paint
Headboard Instructions:
1. Buy or cut a piece of 1-inch thick flat board by the dimensions of 23 inches tall by 42 inches long. This is the main headboard piece.
2. Next cut two 2x1x42 (common) inch pieces of straight square edge wood trim for use as the legs of the headboard.
We recommend using pine wood or similar real wood as MDF is not as strong as real wood.
3. Then cut another piece of 4-inch square edge wood to a final cut of 4x1x39 inch piece that will be screwed across the top.
4. Lastly cut the extra pieces for strengthening the legs which are 2x1x19 inches.
5. Layout the trim leg pieces and top between them, then lay the large flat headboard piece on top, so you are screwing down into the assembled pieces from the back, see pictures above.
Make sure all of the outside edges are lined up together perfectly.
6. Use 1.25-inch screws to screw all the pieces together.
We used 3 screws each when attaching the tall leg pieces to the headboard, and three more to attach the extra leg pieces to the long leg pieces below the headboard.
The idea is to keep all of the screwed together pieces on the back of the headboard with no tips of screws protruding through the front of the headboard.
Make sure to just slightly sink the screw heads into the back of the headboard to avoid scratching the wall later on when you use the headboard in a room.
7. We used about 7-8 screws for attaching the top trim piece to the headboard, see photos below.
The final dimensions of the kid’s twin size DIY headboard should be very close to 42″ tall by 42″ wide.
8. Then cut a small piece of thin crown molding, we used a very simple quarter concave trim piece, cut to a length of 42 inches, and screw it in as well from the back with longer 2.25-inch screws, use three at a minimum.
Out top trim dimensions were 1.5×1 inch actual.
9. After this the headboard is finished being built.
You can now caulk, sand, and paint your headboard (we did two coats of paint).
We chose some leftover white paint from another project, but you can choose whatever color you wish!
I hope this DIY tutorial helps you as you decorate your home!
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And if you use this post to help you on a DIY project for your home, be sure to share a picture and tag @DomesticallyBlissful on Instagram so that we can all see your beautiful DIY and so that I can share your photo on my stories!
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What color do you plan to paint your headboard?
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With love, Giusti
I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:8 NIV
