The Easiest DIY Upcycled Headboard

I am the type of DIY person who just can’t stomach the idea of throwing anything away, especially if it can be repurposed in to something unique and useful for a home.  I am also a homeowner who loves finding solutions within a tight budget.  This project came out of a need for a guest room headboard and some leftover fencing I didn’t want to throw out. This had to be the easiest DIY headboard project ever!

This post contains affiliate links which help to support this blog.

 

 

My husband and I are dog people.  And when you have several rescue dogs around the house, you need an outdoor pen.  With an outdoor pen, you need a fence.  So of course we built one.  

The pen sits right outside of our screened porch area where an above ground pool used to be.  The dug out area was perfect for a dog pen and a door leads directly outside from the screen porch.  

 

 

Like any home improvement project, we had leftovers.  Leftover fence sections that were going to be thrown out or donated.  Not one to ever throw something out of course, I knew we could make something else with the leftover fence sections.

An easy DIY rustic headboard for one of our guest rooms downstairs in the basement immediately came to mind.

At the time this project was completed, our son’s wedding just weeks away and we needed to update two very unfinished and cluttered guest rooms.  We really needed a headboard for one of those rooms and this was the easiest solution that fit our budget.

 

 

 

The Easiest DIY Rustic Up-Cycled Headboard

For this project you will need:

• Wood Fence Panel
• Paint color of your choice
• Paintbrush
• Coarse Thread Drywall Screws
• Level
• Drill

 

The section of fence we used was 30″ x 72″.  It was basically just four slats of a fence panel for the right size.  

The bed in this guest room is a king size bed and the length of the fence section (or height if used as a fence) was already a great size to fit a king size bed. 

 

First I painted – and painted again, and again – the fence panel with white paint from my sample paint supply.  Being rough sawn wood the fence soaked up a lot of paint.  The paint color is Birchwood White by Valspar.

I lost count of how many coats of paint this took.  

 

 

To hang the headboard, we first measured the wall to find the center point of the wall, and most importantly a stud to mount to the center back support of the fence section.

Then we measured the distance from the floor to the top of the mattress to determine the height to hang the headboard on the wall.  I wanted the headboard to be installed low enough for the top of the mattress to hide the back support brackets of the fence section.

 

 

Since the fence panel is heavy, you will definitely want to mount at least the center screw in to a stud.

Using a level, a drill, and 3″ Coarse Thread Drywall Screws, my husband mounted the headboard to the wall.  The center back support for the headboard was mounted first to a stud in the wall to provide the most support.

 

 

 

And that is it!  That is all we did to create this adorable new headboard.

 

 

I love reusing something in unexpected ways.

“Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” Isaiah 49:23