How to Pad a Headboard

This simple do-it-yourself project can transform your bedroom with a luxurious look without spending much money or time. Padding your headboard is one of the simplest things you can do for maximum visual impact.

Start by removing your current headboard from the bed. A simple foam mattress pad is the trick to saving money and time with this project. Try to get one that isn't the eggshell type for best results. Lay the mattress pad on the floor and lay the headboard on top of it. Using a black magic marker, trace around the headboard.

Once you have the shape drawn, cut it out of the mattress pad. You'll want to cut about an inch inside the line to make the piece of foam you're cutting out a little smaller than the headboard itself.

Attach the piece of foam to the front of the headboard with a small amount of double sided tape or hot glue in each corner. It doesn't have to be held firmly in place by the glue, just enough to make it easy to work with. The fabric you put over it will keep it in place later.

If you change your bedding and bedroom decor often, you'll probably want to go with a neutral color fabric. If you want an instant designer look and you have a favorite comforter or bedspread that you use often, coordinate or match that fabric. Just make sure whatever fabric you choose is fairly heavy and will be able to be spot cleaned.

Lay your fabric on the floor and use the same process you used with the foam of tracing the outline with a marker. When you cut the fabric, cut to about at least six inches outside the line to allow enough fabric to pull around the headboard and attach to the back.

The quickest, easiest way to attach the fabric is with a staple gun. Simply lay the fabric over the headboard and foam, line it up properly and then stand the headboard up. Start from the top middle and pull the fabric to the back of the headboard and staple in place. Next, turn the headboard over, firmly pull the bottom middle of the fabric to the back and staple into place.

Work from the middle out, being sure to keep the fabric pulled tight and avoid wrinkles. Corners and curves can be a little tricky and you may have to tuck some of the fabric under the way you do Christmas paper on a package.

For an extra fancy touch, still on a shoestring budget, visit your local hardware or home decor store and get several of the decorative tacks often used to secure curtain tie-backs. These are often brass and are basically short nails with a decorative head. Tap them lightly into the headboard, evenly spaced in rows or any pattern you choose. It will give your headboard an expensive button-back look. Voila! A fabric padded headboard straight out of an elegant designer bedroom.