18 DIY Headboard Ideas For Creative Beginners

A very trendy idea these days is to build your own headboard rather than to buy a ready-made one or to have a bed with a built-in headboard. It’s a great way to add character to the bedroom and to personalize your home.

Beginners DIY Headboard Ideas

Many DIY headboard ideas are simple enough for any beginner to try and the designs can vary and can be adapted based on each person’s preferences and requirements. Check out 10 of our favorite DIY headboard project tutorials.

Ideas to build your own headboard

Decorative string art headboard

Decorative string art headboard

Let’s start with a DIY headboard design that’s decorative more than anything else. It’s a string headboard which gives you plenty of freedom when choosing the pattern or color palette. To make something like this you need wood for the frame, a drill, screws, lots of yarn and an embroidery yarn. This headboard is sort of like a custom piece of art which you make and display yourself. All the details about the project can be found on themerrythought.

Wooden headboard made of super chunky yarn

Wooden headboard made of super chunky yarn

Another DIY headboard idea perfect for beginners can be found on the etsy blog and involves a gridded latch-hooking rug canvas, strips of fabric (2” wide), super chunky wool yarn, nails and a hammer. The idea is to make a woven headboard with a wooden frame. You can combine yarn and strips of fabric in different colors and you can mix and match them however you want. This will influence the final pattern.

Double hanging cushion headboard

Double hanging cushion headboard

For some, having a comfortable headboard is a top priority. This is important especially if you’re the type of person that enjoys reading in bed or watching TV. You want the headboard to be soft and comfortable so what could be better than a headboard made of cushions? That’s right, this tutorial from sarahshermansamuel shows you how to make a headboard using two floor cushions, a copper pipe, leather strips and some basic tools such as a hammer, nails, a needle and some thread.

Classic herringbone-pattern headboard made of wood

Classic herringbone-pattern headboard made of wood

The DIY herringbone headboard featured on sewmuchado is perhaps the most similar one so far to what we’ve come to expect from such a furniture accessory. The design in this case is more on the traditional side. Of course, there’s the possibility to stain or to paint the headboard once it’s done to have it match the bedroom’s decor and this can also influence the style.

Wooden slat headboard with a cool pattern

Wooden slat headboard with a cool pattern

The simple DIY slatted headboard design featured on vintagerevivals is great because it looks chic and elegant, it’s easy to build even if you’re a beginner DIYer, it doesn’t cost a fortune and it’s strong enough to hold you even if you’re not leaning against the wall. We love the look of stained wood featured here but we can just as easily imagine a painted headboard looking great in the right context.

Related: Can You Have a Headboard with an Adjustable Bed?

A headboard made of square plywood blocks

A headboard made of square plywood blocks

Compared to other DIY headboard ideas, the one featured on flippingtheflip is quite complex and complicated. However, this also looks like a fun and enjoyable project. The supplies and materials needed include a sheet of plywood, two wood posts, sandpaper, stain and wood conditioner. Cutting the plywood into square-shaped blocks will take a while so be patient and try not to rush the process.

A classic fabric tufted headboard with a rich color

A classic fabric tufted headboard with a rich color

The classic tufted headboard is not out of the question either. You can actually make something like this yourself from scratch and it wouldn’t be very difficult. There’s a detailed tutorial on placeofmytaste which can help you identify the materials and tools you’ll need and guide you along all the steps of the project. Pick a type of fabric that suits you style and looks good in the context of your own bedroom.

Rustic headboard made of wood slices

Rustic headboard made of wood slices

If you’d like to add a bit of rusticity to your bedroom, how about a wood round headboard like the one featured on thewhitebuffalostylingco? The project starts with a sheet of plywood which you cut to the desired size. You attach it to the frame of your headboard and then you start gluing wood rounds onto it until you cover the whole surface. You can mix and match slices of different sizes and use wood stain to visually fill the gaps.

A combination of placemats and small rugs

A combination of placemats and small rugs

Some DIY headboard ideas can be pretty crazy, like this one from sarahshermansamuel. Believe it or not, this is a headboard made out of placemats and small rugs. It’s an interesting and unusual design with lots of character and lots of room for customization. Form and texture play important roles in this case and the design is mostly decorative. This is not the type of headboard you can lean against without relying on the wall behind it.

Extra wide tufted headboard and window ledge combo

Extra wide tufted headboard and window ledge combo

The last DIY headboard idea we want to show you today comes from stylebyemilyhenderson. It’s a tufted headboard that goes the entire width of the wall and which doubles as a sort of cozy window ledge or shelf on which to display framed photos and other small things. The tutorial also shows you how to customize the bed frame so it matches your new headboard.

Upholstered headboard with a thumbtack trim

Upholstered headboard with a thumbtack trim

If you haven’t realize this already, upholstering a headboard is not as difficult or as complicated as it may seem. It’s important however to have a good base for the project. If you’re building the whole thing from scratch, get the shape and proportions of the headboard right and do this with a vision of the final design in mind. This headboard for example has a thumbtack trim all around the outline and to get this effect the foam had to be carefully cut in this shape before the fabric was added. Check out theraggedwren for the full tutorial.

A wooden barn door-inspired headboard

A wooden barn door-inspired headboard

There’s something very charming and unique about the typical wooden barn door, something that makes us want to apply the same vibe to other elements in our home’s décor. Projects like the one featured on letsdiyitall are built on this very idea. This is a headboard designed to look similar to a barn door. It has a beautiful rustic finish and the metal sconces really suit this style.

Headboard and floating shelf combo

Headboard and floating shelf combo

This is a case where initially all there was here was a floating shelf and the wall itself acted as the headboard. However, since that looked out of place and incomplete, the space between the shelf and the bed frame was filled in and now it looks like an actual headboard. There’s definitely some inspiration you can take from this project on robin-happyathome, especially if you like the idea of having a place to display decorations on above your bed.

Pallet wood shelf with a cute design

Pallet wood shelf with a cute design

Using reclaimed pallet wood to build a headboard is a great way to save money on resources and to get that unique and charming look of old, distressed wood that can make your bedroom look extra cozy. The actual structure of the headboard can be super simple and to make it a bit more interesting you could decorate it in a creative way such as this. You can get this look in two ways, either with vinyl stickers which is easier and more temporary or by painting the wood. Head over to catheywithane if you want more details.

A headboard made of repurposed shutters

A headboard made of repurposed shutters

Another cool idea is to use vintage wooden shutters to make a super charming and cozy-looking headboard. Twp pairs of shutters would be enough for a double bed and you can choose to have them all in the same size or in different sizes if you want to recreate the design featured on samanthaelizabethblog. As you can imagine, this is a super simple project.

Mismatched wood strip headboard

Mismatched wood strip headboard

Based on the same idea of using reclaimed wood to give your headboard a cozy and unique vibe, this design from pearlspinstripesandpeanutbutter adds a new twist by combining all sorts of pieces with different colors and finishes. This ends up giving the headboard a mismatched pattern which is emphasized by the actual size of this thing.

Stenciled headboard design

Stenciled headboard design

If you’re not planning to upholster the headboard then a nice idea could be to still give it some character by applying a pattern to it. Using a stencil makes the project pretty easy but that’s all that we can learn from the design featured on theidearoom. The frame of the headboard also looks beautiful and sutis this pattern really well.

Upholstered headboard featuring stenciled fabric

Upholstered headboard featuring stenciled fabric

Similarly, you can also use a stencil and paint to customize an upholstered headboard. The easiest way to do this is by stenciling the fabric before you install it and the tutorial from treasuredrubbish guides you through the entire process of building such a headboard from scratch. An additional little detail here is the fact that the nailhead trim was painted silver to better match the pattern and color scheme of the headboard.