Spring is upon us, and if you’re anything like me, that means lots of cleaning and getting a DIY project or two checked off the list! If you were paying attention last week, you’ll know my awesome mom came on to guest blog. Well, we’re doing it again – this time my cousin teaches us how to turn a barn door into a headboard. I’ll let her take it from here …
Hi Bumble and Bustle friends, I’m Courtney, Claire’s cousin (our moms are sisters), and my husband and I purchased a condo in Chicago last July. I’m a first-time homeowner and a big fan of a good DIY project, so we’ve kept busy since moving in.
The style we chose to incorporate throughout the condo is industrial, but with a bit of farmhouse to soften it up. I’m loving black metals, neutral tones, and natural wood. Here’s one of my industrial bedroom photo inspirations:
That Moment You Find The Perfect Piece
We went to a local reclaimed store and I saw the most amazing barn door in a hidden corner. It was in great condition still with nicely rusted hardware. And for $70, we just had to get it – even though I didn’t know yet what to do with it. Originally, I was thinking dining room table or coffee table. However, once I discovered how hard it would be to maintain the barn door look while making it a functional and smooth table, I decided to turn it into a headboard instead.
Let the DIY Project Begin
At this point I had the barn door but wasn’t exactly sure how to turn it into a beautiful headboard. We purchased a simple metal bed frame on Amazon and I put it together myself in under an hour! I started planning how the barn door would attach to our bed frame, but this was where the easy part ended …
So, I called in some assistance from the handiest person I know, my mom. She is seriously amazing at any DIY project and even some more complicated stuff that you would usually hire someone to do. She made a couple of visits to help us with our new house and the barn door headboard was on our list in December. Before she got into town I started sanding the side of the head board we would be sleeping against.
The How-To Details
I used an orbital sander (the kind that is electric) and started with 180 grain sandpaper. After a few passes of the 180, I went up to 220 grain. That said, I didn’t go too crazy with the sanding since I knew my husband and I would sit up on a pillow and rarely be touching the wood itself. It’s smooth to the touch, but there are some textured areas. After a few months we haven’t had any issues.
Once mom was here to help with some plans, we removed the door handle that would eventually be on the side of our mattress (not the wall). I decided I liked the hinges to show rather than the door handle. A good hammer and pliers can do the job of removing any rusty hardware and nails that stick out. I recommend some gloves to be on the safe side! Then, to seal it we used the basic Minwax Clear Polyurethane Finish in satin to ensure it dried matte and not shiny. We just used one 8 oz. can’s worth of the stuff which got us one full coat. The finish brought to life some of the interesting patterns and deepened the color – exactly what we wanted.
Now The Building Part
To attach the barn door to the frame we used 2x4s in line with the bed frame’s legs. This entire process requires very careful measuring, so take your time! The 2x4s go on the back of the head board and screw into the large support beams of the door. We also planned it so that the barn door sat on the bed frame itself. That meant about a third of the door sits behind our mattress – less door showing but a more-stable headboard.
As a team (you really must have 2 people for this step), we lifted the barn door and sat it between our mattress and the 2×4’s on top of the bed frame. While one person holds the barn door in place the other drills and puts in screws every few inches. We used 2-inch wood screws that are meant for decks. There’s also one screw from the bed side that is hidden by our mattress just to ensure the barn door was securely on the 2×4.
We attached the 2x4s to the bed frame legs with two bolts. You can see in the picture above the 2x4s line up with the bed frame’s legs and are entirely hidden.
The Finished Product …
And that’s it – once we had the plan in place, it was actually a very easy project. And perhaps my favorite DIY project of our new place – it really adds a lot of character to our bedroom!
Okay, I’m now going to channel my inner Joanna Gaines and see what fun project I can come up with for next weekend. Hope this blog post inspired you too!
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