Headboard Shelf

Oh, Pinterest, how you tempt me....


We have never had a headboard in our master bedroom.  I usually have 26" square pillows with coordinating linens as my headboard.  Recently, I changed up our bed linens from green to blue - and wanted to do something different over the bed. 


Enter Pinterest Pins like this one, or this one...
...and then add in a new miter saw for the Handy Hubby...

And here's how it went down...I've added a lot of pictures, so that other DIYers may be able to follow the steps.


We measured the width of the king sized bed and decided we wanted the shelf to be a little longer than that, so we settled on 77".  Her are the pictures of Handy Hubby assembling the shelf:


He used three pieces of 3/4" plywood for the structure...

 ...added trim to the second lower section

...and rounded trim for the outside edges...  It was all glued in place with wood glue and then taped until the glue was dry.

..and finally, nailed into place.

We used wood putty to cover all of the nails/screws and imperfections in the wood.  After it dried, we sanded it smooth.

Handy Hubby built his own corbels, because we couldn't find any we liked at the hardware stores.
See why I call him HANDY!?!

The corbels were screwed into place from the back side.  We decided to add some additional trim to create "frames" on the lower part of the shelf, but I neglected to get pictures of those going on!


And then we went to town with the finishing process.
We applied four light coats of heirloom white spray paint, lightly sanding between each coat.  Why spray paint? This is a color that I really like and I had too many, several some cans on hand.  ;)


Also, Handy Hubby hates to paint and can't stand brush marks.  We even looked at paint sprayers, but he hasn't made a final decision on which model he wants to invest in.


Notes:

• light coats of spray paint help avoid streaking
• plywood soaks up the paint.

Here she is after the painting/sanding process:

A bit of sanding on the edges helped to distress/age the piece and I added some stain I had left over from my kitchen cabinets - applying the stain more heavily to the sanded edges.  The stain works great, because you can brush it on and then wipe off as much, or as little, as you like.  Using a damp rag to wipe off the stain will help you take off even more.


The final step was to protect her with two coats of satin polyurethane.  Here are some closeups of the final look:

This piece is heavy.  Hubby estimates it to be around 30-40 pounds.  Because I was a little nervous about it potentially falling down on our heads, he purchased hanging hardware that was rated for much heavier.  The hardware was screwed into studs for extra measure.

Now the fun part...What to put on it!?

I think I will enlarge/print a family photo, frame it and sit it on the shelf, leaning against the wall.

Accessories and fabrics:

• Candle holders - Hobby Lobby
• Burlap - from my stash
• Candles - Michaels
• 26" pillow covers - I found the fabric 50% off at JoAnn's and made the slipcovers myself.  I think I have enough left over to make a matching drapery valance.
• Throw pillow - Hobby Lobby
• Black Letter "P" - The Farm Chicks Show

I'm really happy with how this piece turned out.  She makes me smile!  What do you think?


-TracyP

Linking back to:
Craft-o-Maniac Monday
Under the Table and Dreaming Sunday Showcase