My wife (girlfriend at the time) and I purchased a king size bed and therefore required a king size headboard. Because we are cheap (or so I am learning as I construct this website) we were not impressed with the price of headboards from various stores. We looked up some DIY headboards and decided to follow a design that used 2 x 4’s with a pegboard backer to help align button on a “dimpled”/”tufted” fabric headboard. See here for the plans we worked from.
The main frame was constructed from 2 x 4’s and Kreg-ed together. Our Sleep Number bed’s base had some holes for a headboard to be attached so we hijacked those and ran some long bolts through the base and headboard’s legs and I tightened them with some wingnuts to hold it in place. Because our bed requires a pump the design couldn’t incorporate a solid frame that goes all the way to the floor. This headboard was designed to provide 6″ of overlap between the headboard and mattress.
I wish I had taken better pictures of how the back was constructed – but after building the frame I screwed some pegboard to the back. This required two pieces and so I had to make sure to keep the spacing of the holes perfectly in alignment since we would be using the holes for the dimples. My wife then attached some foam batting and some fabric to the front and threaded the buttons on. We then nailed some “domed head nails” to create what looked like rivet decorations all the way around the outside. This was a nice touch and certainly not something I ever would have thought to do…
