Easy Dorm Room Headboard Tutorial

I recently made headboards for my daughter's dorm room bed in her sorority house.  This is a super-easy project.

While I was at the fabric store, I kept texting her cute fabric swatches like these....

but she and her roomie wanted something less 'flashy.'   So they went with gray. 

I know some of you are thinking "how many dorm rooms can this child have?"  Will she stay in school forever? Well, she is actually just starting her Junior year. You will remember her first dorm room and the frat house room we turned into a girl's room.  She then interned for a semester and is now living in the sorority house for the summer. Whew. She keeps me hopping.

With this sorority house room, we decided to leave the pink walls the same color because she is only here for summer and we are tired of painting.  So we had to work around pale pink. Which is not always easy.  Before I get ahead of myself, here is the all-too-common 'Before' photo of her standard-issue bed and room, pink walls and all....

Most of the dorm beds on college campuses across the country are very similar.  This headboard was VERY easy to create.  We simply used plywood, quilt batting, fabric, and a staple gun. Nothing else!  

Dorm Headboard Tutorial

Items you will need:

Plywood

Quilt Batting

Cute fabric of your choice

Staple Gun

First, measure the width between the two railings and add two inches.  

The board essentially rests on the two metal beams that hold the mattress....

I cannot stress enough - be sure and add a couple of inches to your measurement, or you will have a headboard that slips between the rails like this....

I made that photo for all the visual learners out there! We chose to make the headboard 30" in height. You could go taller or shorter - completely up to your preference.    

Step 2:  Politely ask the nice man at Home Depot or Lowe's to cut the plywood to the size you need (in our case 30"x42").  One piece of plywood is approximately $12 and will easily cut two headboards, but probably not three. The nice people at Home Depot or Lowe's will cut the plywood free of charge. Plus, you can then fit the plywood into your car because it will be a manageable size.

Step 3:  Cover one side of the plywood and every edge of the plywood with the batting.  Try to fold it several times and layer it evenly and as thick as you can get it - then staple on the back side....

We actually bought the thickest bag of batting we could find at Wal-Mart.  We used one bag per headboard. 

Step 4: Measure out your fabric so that the fabric can cover every edge of the board and cover all of the batting.  The fabric will need to reach around the edges about 2 or 3 inches. Pull the fabric taught (but not too taught) and staple the fabric on the back side, just like you did the batting.

(photo of daughter posing while mom works)

(The front will be pretty and the back will be staples and wood and fabric edges. I would show you a photo, but I didn't take one.)  You are done!  These do not need to be adhered to the bed in any way. They simply slip onto the metal bars and the real wooden headboard and the mattress keep the new cute headboard in place.

I have a Pinboard with tons of great Dorm Room ideas here.  

I also shared her other dorm rooms and ideas for decorating here:

How to Decorate a Dorm Room
Turning a Frat Room into a Girl's Room
Dorm Room Suggestions

Fun, fun! Have a great day!


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