Master Bedroom Progress: Easy Headboard Under $20

If you've been following along, you'll know that right now we are deep in the throes of a Master Bedroom Remodel (read about how we remodeled and doubled our closet space on the cheap right here, how we painted the walls and decided on a layout right here, and how we installed crown molding here).

So far we've gone from this:

To this:

But something was seriously missing. The room had come along way already, but it needed something dramatic, a focal point, something relaxing and soft and that added depth to the room.

Enter our super-easy DIY headboard.

The Idea

The idea was to create floor-to-ceiling fabric that hung just behind the bed, obscuring the wacky wall-angle by essentially creating the feeling that a wall was back there, and adding some serious eye-candy to the room.

Oh, and on the cheap. That requirement was a must.

And apparently lots of fabric hung drapery-stype is quite in, at the moment, too.

{source}

Um, yes, please!

Hanging the Fabric

This part was pretty tricky. Because our bed was at such an odd angle, we had some serious issues to work out. First we tried drapery rods - no luck. We couldn't hang them normally because of the odd angles of the walls, and hanging them from the ceiling wasn't going to work. Plus, then you could see all the hardware. Which was not cool.

So we ran out to our trusty store that's never let us down yet - Target, and bought a cheapo-deapo curtain rod for just $3.50.

 Score!

We ran home with our cheapo-deapo loot and promptly began to void the manufacturer's warranty. Yup, that's right, us crazy rebels intentionally broke our brand-new curtain rod!

The only way to get the rod to hang at the odd angles was if we managed to bend the metal hanging piece to fit the slope of the wall exactly. So, we placed the metal pieces in a clamp and carefully bent the metal with pliers until we thought the angle was about right. Then we held up the rod in place where we wanted to hang it - and tada! It worked like a charm.

Creating the Curtain

Fabric isn't cheap. But thanks to all the inventive and creative folks out there in blogland, I knew that the cheapest and most heavy-duty option out there is painter's dropclothes. Yes, Tom was skeptical. Very skeptical, because he knows me and my "sewing skills". But I assured him (as I always do at the beginning of a new project) that it would be awesome once we were done (which is always true - it's the "doing" part that isn't always so awesome!).

He still didn't believe me.

So we measured the width of the bed and bought some canvases that would fit. They were too tall, but we didn't mind since you wouldn't see the extra fabric behind the bed, anyways. We took them home and inspected them. Turns out that the cheaper dropcloth wasn't finished on the edges and was frayed. Plus, ours had a hole in it. Not cool. So a word of caution: if you're going to try and do this, spend the extra couple of dollars for the heavy premium dropcloth.

After the winning dropcloth was washed and dried it and then it was ready for the next step: making a sleeve for the rod.

I had stopped by the craft store and picked up a no-sew iron-on tape for this project, which ran us $3. I was worried that it wouldn't work on a heavy-duty painter's dropcloth, but luckily it worked like a charm!

I just laid out the fabric on an ironing board, and tried to get it as level and even as possible. Then I set the tape on the fabric with the paper side up.

I ironed it on, holding the iron down for 3 seconds on each part of the tape.

Then I removed the paper and folded over the top part of the fabric...

And simply ironed over it again, this time pressing and holding down the iron for a good 10 seconds (6-8 is recommended, but since the dropcloth was so heavy-duty I did it for a little while longer).

And ta-da! An instant curtain/drape.

The Result

Then we slid the brand-new curtain over our modified curtain rod and hung it up.

And then we stepped back and admired it. How cool is this? It makes a huge impact, and cost less than 20 buckaroos!

Sa-weet.

Did I mention it only took us 30 minutes to actually do the project? Not bad, huh?

But there was still something missing...

So we went shopping - in our house. There was a very cool big woven bowl that my mom had given to us awhile ago from Z Gallerie, and we knew it would be the perfect focal point for the space.

But the problem - how to hang it?

We simply safety-pinned it to the fabric. No wires, no fishing lines, and no holes in the ceiling! It's perfect.

Then we proceeded to hang up and install some plug-in swing arm lamps we ordered off of Amazon.com (hiding the cords behind the curtain), to really finish it off.

Want to know my favorite part? When Tom's eye-rolling belief that this project wouldn't work turned into stunned amazement and then rejoicing and jumping-up-and-down in celebration. Yup, then we both proceeded to step back and admire our handywork.

What a difference! We love it!

So what do you guys think? Are you a fan of the fabric? Would you ever consider doing something like this? Stay tuned because next we'll cover how we've utilized our new fabric headboard and our easy and affordable solution for bedside tables!

{Linking up to: Mad in Crafts, It's a Blog Party, The Pumpkin Patch, Between Naps on the Porch, All Thingz Related, Sugar Bee, New Nostalgia, Today's Creative Blog, The Thrifty Home, Blue Cricket Design, Sew Much Ado, Seven Thirty Three, Night Owl Crafting, Someday Crafts, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat's Design, Life as Lori, Shabby Chic Cottage, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Somewhat Simple, It's a Blog Party, Frugal & Fabulous Design, Fingerprints on the Fridge, The Shabby Nest, It's a Hodge Podge Life, Finding Fabulous, Saving Money & Living Life }

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