Let’s build a hanging headboard! I was looking for a leather headboard when I came across the idea of a wall-mounted headboard. I thought it was a unique spin for a headboard and it gave cool hotel vibes, which is exactly what our guest bedroom was calling for.
This simple DIY headboard is made with a plywood base and upholstered with the fabric of your choosing. We chose a faux leather from Hobby Lobby for this – the main headboard is a brown leather and the straps being a black leather.
Alright, let’s dive in and build a headboard!
How to Build a Wall-Mounted Headboard – No Sewing Required!
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Recommended Tools:
- Circular saw
- Staple Gun
- PowerCuts or something to cut foam/fabric
- Measuring Tape (new to DIY? Be sure to check out this post with measuring tips)
- Safety Equipment
Shopping List:
- (1) ½” x 4 x 8 plywood (we used maple, but it’s not visible, so it doesn’t really matter)
- (1) ½” x 5ft metal EMT conduit
- (2) ⅜” structural rail supports
- (2) cabinet knobs (base must be close to ½” so it fits inside the conduit)
- E6000 glue
- Spray paint (I used Krylon Fusion All-In-One in Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze)
- 3/8” staples
- 1.5” screws (note: we used screws we had on hand and the head was too small for the structural rail supports, so we had to add a washer underneath the screw head)
- Drywall anchors
- Fabric for the main headboard – we got ours from Hobby Lobby. You’ll need at least 65×36″.
- Fabric for the straps – see step 7
- Spray adhesive
- Batting
- 1” thick upholstery foam
We got all of the sewing related supplies for 40-50% off at Hobby Lobby. The fabric and sewing supplies are generally on sale every other week. The fabric and the batting/foam are usually on sale during opposite weeks, so you might have to make multiple trips if you want the best deal!
Dimensions
We designed this headboard for a queen mattress. A queen mattress is 60” wide and our headboard is right around 60” wide. Technically it’s about 59 ⅞” wide because the 5’ conduit wasn’t exactly 5’.
The upholstered part of the headboard measures 58.5” W x 29.5” H.
STEP 1: ASSEMBLE THE ROD
First, slide the rail supports onto the rod. One of ours was very easy to get on and one of them was pretty tough despite loosening it fully. So, if yours is tough to get on too, you’re not alone!
We placed our rail supports approximately 1.5” from either side of the rail. Once you get it to the right spot, grab an allen wrench to tighten the rail support so that it stays.
The next step was adding the detail pieces to cap off the ends. We used E6000 glue to secure the knobs inside of the rod. Any glue that oozed out, we either removed or smoothed out like you would with caulk.
STEP 2: SPRAY PAINT THE ROD
After letting the glue dry, spray paint the rod so that it’s all one color. You’ll also want to spray paint a few screws that you’ll use to hang the headboard to the wall through the rail supports.
If you are worried about stripping the paint off of them as you install the screws, you can wait. What we like to do for touch-ups like that is spray a bit of spray paint into a cup or onto a paper plate and then use a small paintbrush. You need to work really quickly if you go this route so that the paint doesn’t dry before you finish!
STEP 3: CUT YOUR PLYWOOD
We actually made two versions of this headboard. The first iteration was made with two pieces of plywood. The second iteration was made with a single piece of plywood. I’ll show you both and then you can decide which you prefer for your space.
For the single piece of plywood, we cut our plywood to approximately 57.5” x 28.5.” For the double headboard, we cut our pieces to be 31” W x 22” H.
With how high we hung the rod, I think the 22” was too short. The only reason we cut it to that height was because we were using scrap wood and that was the max height we had available.
Check out this post for details about cutting plywood with a circular saw and 5 ways to cut plywood straight.
STEP 4: ADD THE FOAM
Cut your foam to be about 1” wider and longer as your plywood. I’ve heard an electric turkey carver or bread knife works like a charm to cut foam, but we don’t have that, so I used my PowerCuts instead. It’s not a perfect cut, but it’s clean enough since we’ll add some batting.
Place your foam onto the plywood and then lift up one side and spray the plywood underneath with the spray adhesive. Add a little spray adhesive to the bottom of the foam as well. Press the foam onto the plywood and repeat with the other side of the foam that’s not already attached.
STEP 5: ADD THE BATTING
Cut your batting to be a few inches larger than the size of your plywood. For our headboard, I had to piece together multiple strips of batting to fit the headboard. I made sure the batting seams lined up, but were not overlapping.
Center your plywood onto the batting with the foam side facing down.
Starting at one edge, staple the batting to the back of the plywood. I gently pulled it so that the batting wasn’t loose, but the foam on the edges weren’t getting too flattened.
Keep working your way around all of the edges of the plywood. For the corners, I pinched the fabric around the corners so that they were smooth rather than folded. I’m not an expert upholster-er, so I don’t have many tips or rhyme or reason.
Cut off any excess batting.
If you had to line up multiple pieces of batting like we did, as you’re stapling, make sure that the batting strips are still right next to each other without any gaps or overlap.
STEP 6: ADD THE FABRIC
Cut your fabric to be slightly larger than what you cut your batting to. Place your fabric face down and make sure it’s flat. Place your plywood onto the fabric with the batting side face down.
Start with one of the short sides and use plenty of staples – ours were all right next to each other. Pull your fabric tight as you staple it. Try to keep the tightness level the same so that you don’t have a lot of waves in your fabric.
For the corners, I decided to fold them rather than trying to make them smooth around the whole headboard. If you go the folding route, be sure to fold all of your sides consistently. We folded the short sides first and then folded the top/bottom of the headboard on top of the sides.
Cut off the excess fabric in the corners before fully securing the second side with staples.
STEP 7: ADD THE STRAPS
Now it’s time to make the straps that the headboard will hang with. We originally tried velcro that was secured with a sticky backside to the fabric, but that didn’t hold up to the weight, so staples are the more secure route.
In an ideal world, I would’ve had the straps go all the way around to create a loop that the headboard would fit in, but I didn’t get long enough fabric for that. You’ll need approximately 70” strips of fabric for that to work.
First, I cut the fabric into two 2.5” strips. I don’t really sew, so I just left them as is. If you are good at sewing, you can sew the edges of the fabric strips so that they last longer (and to add a pretty/more polished detail).
If you created two full loops, great! You can move onto the next step.
If you didn’t create two full loops, you can center the headboard onto the strips and secure one side of each of the straps with plenty of staples. We placed our strips approximately 10.5” from either side.
Read the next step before attaching the second side of the loop.
STEP 8: MOUNT THE HEADBOARD ON THE WALL
I wish we would’ve had full loops so that we could slide those onto the rod before securing it to the wall, but instead we installed the rod first and then hung the headboard onto the rod.
To install the rail, first mark the width and height where you want to hang it. We hung the center of our rod 50” from the ground, which works perfectly for the DIY platform bed we paired with it.
If you need to use drywall anchors, mark the placement of those and install them before adding 1.5” screws to the rail supports.
If you did not go the full loop route, you can now feed your loop around the rod and place your headboard on top of the railing. Measure how much slack you are leaving on each side so that the headboard hangs straight and then staple the second side of your strap to the back of the headboard.
I’d recommend just adding one or two staples to each side at first and then carefully lowering the headboard to make sure it’s hanging straight. If it is, you can lift it back and add the remaining staples.
There you have it! Now you know how to make your own wall-mounted headboard. We love the look of the leather, but feel free to get creative with any fabric you like! We paired ours with this simple DIY bed frame.
