A DIY Scalloped Headboard That Will Make a Statement
If you’re looking for a statement piece for your bedroom, without the high price tag, look no further. This soft, scalloped headboard adds a touch of dreamy decor to the wall above your bed. Best of all, it’s a project you can DIY in a weekend for about $100.
The Purpose of a Headboard
Headboards were originally invented for practical reasons, providing insulation and protecting sleepers from cold drafts in poorly insulated homes. As homes improved, headboards evolved into decorative elements, reflecting craftsmanship and personal style.
Aesthetically, they anchor the bed in the space, adding texture, color, and visual interest. Whether upholstered, wooden, or minimalist, a headboard enhances both comfort and design in a bedroom.
A DIY Scalloped Headboard for a Kids Room
When I was designing my son’s room, I wanted to create an upholstered headboard for his bed that added visual interest to his room and soft cushioning behind his head when he slept. I was giving the room a dinosaur theme, so I thought a scalloped design would look a bit like a dinosaur’s back.
However, a single headboard for a twin bed ended up feeling a bit too scaled down. I decided to make it a corner headboard to make it stand out more. Instead of just one headboard at the back of the bed, two headboard pieces would meet in the corner.
Whether you would like to try out this corner-style headboard, or a more symmetrical arched version, a custom headboard is the perfect do-it-yourself project to enhance any bedroom space. Follow these steps to create your own DIY scalloped headboard.
- Step 1: Designing a Scalloped Headboard
- Step 2: Cutting out the Plywood Panels
- Step 3: Upholstering Individual Panels
- Step 4: Determining How To Hang It
- Step 5: Attaching the Panels to the Mounting Board
- Step 6: Adding Finishing Touches
Step 1: Designing a Scalloped Headboard
The first step to this project was coming up with a design. I started on paper, drawing arches of the scallop. This was a bit tricky as each arch of the scallop was also part of an overall arch shape. It wasn’t as easy as duplicating a curve shape; each angled curve ended up needing to be a bit different in order to look good.
But after many small adjustments, I settled on a design. Because the bed is in the corner of the room, I designed two headboard pieces that would meet together in the inside for a corner, with one side slightly longer so that it would look more proportional to the bed. The final dimension ended up being 38×24 inches for the back headboard and 54×24 inches for the side headboard.
After designing each curve on paper, I cut them out so I could trace the shape onto the plywood. I selected 3/8″ standard spruce plywood to act as the base of the headboard. The size of headboards were just small enough to fit both on half a sheet of plywood. For the other half, I decided to make two mounting boards that would hold all of the upholstered panels together.
At the hardware store, they were able to cut a 4×8 foot sheet of plywood down the center into two pieces that were 2×8 feet. From there, we cut them again to make two 3.5 foot pieces and two 4.5 foot pieces.
Not only did this make it easier to transport home, it meant I didn’t have to get out the track saw to cut it myself.
Fitting all the pieces onto one sheet of plywood also equals cost savings! The 4×8 sheet of plywood ended up being the perfect size to fit the two headboard shapes that would be upholstered (3.5 foot length for the headboard above the bed, 4.5 foot length for along the side of the bed) as well as two mounting boards with the same dimensions.
I arranged the paper curve cut-outs on the plywood pieces until I was happy with the arrangement. Then, I traced the top of each curve with a pencil. I also used a ruler and a speed square to draw a line separating each ‘panel’, making sure the lines was straight perfectly perpendicular to the bottom of the headboard.
Step 2: Cutting out the Plywood Panels
I then used a jigsaw to cut out the main shape I had traced on to each headboard. If you’re new to power tools, a jigsaw is a great saw to start with.
The blade stops as soon as your finger releases the trigger, making it one of the safest saws you can use; perfect for a beginner DIYer. But be sure to wear eye protection; the jigsaw kicks up dust and plywood slivers as it cuts.
Once the scalloped headboard shape was cut, I traced it onto another piece of plywood for the mounting board. This mounting board would hold all of the individual upholstered panels together. It is also the part of the headboard that gets mounted to the wall.
I tried to make this piece a couple inches shorter so that you wouldn’t see plywood behind the upholstered panels. To do this, I moved the mounting piece of plywood a couple inches down before tracing the curves.
Then, I used the jigsaw to cut the scalloped panels apart so that I could upholster the individual pieces. If you want a more accurate cut you can also use a table saw, or skill saw for this straight cut. But because I knew it was going to be upholstered, I was okay with a slightly rougher cut.
Step 3: Upholstering Individual Panels
Selecting a Fabric
I started by getting 2 yards of polyester velvet fabric from my local fabric store. This fabric was thick and stretchy and perfect for upholstery because it is easy to work with. I also picked up 2 yards of 1 inch thick batting. I ended up doubling this batting and found it did a pretty good job cushioning the plywood. But if you want added comfort, you may want to use something slightly thicker.
Cut the Fabric for Each Panel
The next stage of the project was applying the fabric and batting onto the individual scalloped pieces. I did this by layering the fabric underneath the layers of batting and placing the plywood cut out on top. Then I cut the fabric and batting, leaving about 2 inches of excess around the edge of the plywood.
Upholstery Tip: If your fabric has a visible weave to it, you may want to make sure you cut your fabric so that this weave runs straight vertically or horizontally for a more professional-looking result.
When you’re tracing your fabric using the plywood panels, be sure that you have flipped over your plywood piece and you’re not using the wrong side as a stencil. I did this a couple times and had to re-cut pieces of fabric and batting so they were facing the right way.
Once you cut out all your layers of fabric and batting, it’s upholstery time!
Stapling Upholstery
For me, this was the most fun but also the most frustrating part of the project. I loved seeing how the upholstery could turn such rough plywood into something soft and beautiful. However, I had some difficulties with my staple guns, which made this stage of the project take a lot longer.
The best tool for upholstery is either a compressed air or electric staple gun. However, a manual hand staple gun works too, it just takes a bit more effort.
Centre your plywood panel on the layers of fabric that you cut out. Pull the fabric around the edge of the panel and place your first staple to keep the fabric in place. Then, turn it over to see how the fabric will fall, making sure the fabric will be able to cover all edges.
Then follow along the edge with your staple gun, pulling in the edge of fabric and adding your staples. The fabric should be pulled taught so that it gets rid of any wrinkles, but not too tight that it looks stretched. Place at least one staple every inch so that the fabric looks uniform and doesn’t bunch or buckle. Trim off the excess fabric.
Everything had been going well in my upholstering efforts until my compressed air staple gun unexpectedly stopped working. This could be because it hadn’t been oiled in a while (don’t ignore the maintenance recommendations for your tools folks!) so I had to switch to a hand stapler.
This manual hand stapler worked as a backup but was not without its difficulties. I used an Arrow T50 staple gun, which is a great tool to have, though it can be prone to jamming. Below is a great video on taking apart and fixing one of these if you find yourself in a jam!
Step 4: Determining How To Hang It
The purpose of the plywood mounting board is to hold all of the panels together, but it is also what will screw onto the wall. So before you attach the upholstered panels to the mounting board, take a moment to consider where you will be hanging it.
Find a Wall Stud
If you are hanging your headboard on a wall that has studs, locate the studs before you attach the wall panels to the mounting board.
If you are interested in learning how to locate a wall stud using a magnet, click to read my previous post, How to find a wall stud using a magnet—for drywall or plaster walls.
Once you have located your stud, mark it on the wall. Then hold up your mounting board and mark where the stud falls on the plywood.
It is important to do this before attaching the upholstered panels to the board because where the stud falls, you’ll need to temporarily leave that panel off so you can screw it into the wall.
Step 5: Attaching the Panels to the Mounting Board
Arrange the upholstered panels on the mounting board until you are happy with the placement. Using double-sided foam tape or stick on Velcro, stick on all the panels to the board, except for the one that falls on the line where you marked your wall stud. You will add this panel on at the end after the headboard is mounted to the wall. The purpose of the double sided tape is to temporarily hold the panels in place so you can screw them on to the mounting board.
Flip the entire assembly over and use ⅝” screws and drive two screws into each panel from the back of the mounting board. If you are using plywood thicker than ⅜”, you may need to use longer screws. Just make sure your screws aren’t too long that they pierce through the front of your upholstery.
It is always a good idea to pre-drill the holes before you drive in the screws to ensure the plywood doesn’t split. I pre drilled using a counter-sinking drill bit. You can set the depth of this drill to whatever depth you want using an Allen key. I set mine to ⅝ inch so that it wouldn’t go through the front of the upholstery.
Hanging the Headboard
Once all panels are screwed on, except for the one that falls on the wall studs, it’s time to hang the headboards.
Depending on your size of headboard, usually just two screws into a stud is enough to hang it securely. Use 2 inch screws driven through the mounting board where you marked the stud to hang your headboard.
Add extra double-sided tape or Velcro to attach the final panel that had been removed for mounting. Using tape/Velcro allows this panel to be removed in the future to access the screws. This is great if you think you might want to relocate the headboard one day, but not so great if your kiddo keeps pulling the panel off.
A more permanent way of attaching this panel from the front would be to use construction adhesive like PL Premium, or several large dollops of glue from the glue gun.
Step 6: Adding Finishing Touches
Despite trying to make the mounting board shorter than the upholstered panels, I was still able to see some of the plywood of the mounting board after I had hung the headboards. To hide this, I created some rolls of fabric to cover the plywood edge.
No-Sew Fabric Edge Detail
There are ways of making beautiful fabric piping using a sewing machine, however I was looking for a quicker solution.
Luckily, I discovered a really easy way of making tubes of fabric. For stretchy polyester fabric like this velvet, often one edge of the fabric is prone to curling. So all you have to do is just cut off the curling edge and stretch it to encourage the curl. This creates a nice natural piping that doesn’t even need to be sewn.
By using this method, I created five tubes of fabric about 2 feet long and this was enough to cover the top edge of the entire headboard.
To attach it, I used the glue gun, making sure the edge of the fabric roll wasn’t visible. I actually only needed to use the glue gun in a few spots. For the most part, just shoving it into the gap was enough to keep it in place.
Now for the best part: styling. Add your coordinating sheets and comforter, arrange some throw pillows, and stand back to admire your work!
Then, climb into the bed and take a nap. You deserve it!
Cost Breakdown
This DIY scalloped headboard is a relatively easy project that can be accomplished on a budget. All in, this scalloped headboard ended up costing less than I thought it would, just over $100. Here’s the breakdown:
- One sheet of 4’ x 8’ rough pine plywood ⅜ inch thick – $32.98
- 2 yards of velvet fabric – $47.20
- 2 yards of 1 inch thick batting – $16.95
- ⅝ inch screws – $7.56
- 2 inch screws – $10.70
- Stick on Velcro – $10.99
Total: $126.38 CAD
Final Thoughts
A scalloped headboard can be a unique focal point in any bedroom. But if you don’t want to pay the high price of scalloped headboards currently available on the market, give this DIY a try! For around $100, and a few hours of your time, you can create a custom headboard to suit any space.
