MAKE IT YOURSELF // Making a Headboard from an Old Door

A few years back I saw a photo in a magazine of a headboard made from an old door. I loved it and knew some day I would make one for our master bedroom.

I found a great door in San Francisco a few months back while shopping at an Architectural Salvage store. But I had no way to get it home! When I started our master bedroom makeover, I searched the LA area for a place that sold old doors. I finally found a store about twenty minutes from our home and found the perfect size door. It was 50% off and cost me $45.

Most doors will work very well for a headboard for a king or queen sized bed. A king bed is 76″ wide, a California king is 72″ wide and a queen is 60″ wide. Doors typically measure 80″ in height so for a king it’s likely you won’t even have to cut the door. Just make sure the panels on the door are symmetrical when turned on its side. In other words, don’t buy a door with a larger panel on top. And if you need to cut it down in size be sure to cut from both ends to keep it centered.

Here is the door I purchased. I really wanted a chippy one.

I cleaned it and sanded it like crazy.

I also measured the desired height of the headboard and cut 2″ x 4″ boards to attach to the back of the door. (I am not a fan of super tall headboards, so I decided on a height of 38″.)

W H A T    Y O U ‘ L L    N E E D:

• Milk Paint
• Brush
• Sandpaper
• One 2′ x 4″ x 8′ board
• Minwax Polycrylic Finish Sealer

S T E P    B Y    S T E P: 

STEP  #1 

I painted the door with only one coat of paint because I wanted it to be chippy. After painting, I used a paint scraper to remove some of the paint.

STEP  #2

Then I sealed it with the sealer.

STEP  #3

Next, my handyman stepped in and attached the boards to the door. Make sure you place the boards the same width of your bedframe so you can screw the bedframe to the boards. He then screwed the headboard into the bed frame.

And that was it! Doesn’t it look great? (The only thing I did wrong was I didn’t paint the 2″ x 4″ boards with the milk paint. Some day I will paint them …)

Please excuse the green chairs … they are already at the upholsterer getting redone!!!

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