CEDAR PLANK **SHIPLAP** HEADBOARD

A few days ago I posted some headboard photos I really liked with the goal of creating one of them for our bedroom.  After my little blogging hiatus, I'm learning all over again that a blog is a good device for getting your projects done!  Blog about it and you've kind of committed to it, so it forces you to get up and get going!

I love the combination of rough horizontal cedar planks and curves.  You can achieve a look that's pretty and curvy, but keeps a more rustic touch with the rough cedar.  Painting the end product kind of encases all those rough edges so it's not at all "pokey".  

So, to get started, I picked up 8 pieces of cedar fencing, got out some newspaper to make a pattern, and got going.  First I made a pattern for a curvy headboard - you'll want to make just one half of the design.  You can trace the design onto one half of the boards and then flip it to do the other half. 

  So just tape several pieces of newspaper together to get the size you need and start designing!

 Once the newspaper pattern is cut out, then lay out your cedar boards on a flat surface.  On top of that, lay a piece of plywood or hardboard.  I had to use two pieces of hardboard - each 2' x 4' because a full 4' x 8' sheet won't fit in my little car.  Then start tracing out your design.

 As you can see, due to my smaller backing boards, the sides of the headboard are missing the backing.  Once I get the shape of the headboard all cut out, I can use the backing scraps to fill in the these areas.  

 The backing gets nailed down to the planks every couple inches.  Make sure your nails are long enough to go into the cedar planks, but not so long that they poke through the other side!!!  

 Then using a blade for curvy cuts, use a jigsaw to cut out around the line you've drawn.  The right blade makes all the difference.  You'll only get frustrated if you try to use a blade meant for straight cuts to do this.  The right blade in your jigsaw will cut right around those curves like butter.

 Here's a picture of the back of the headboard with the scraps all cut to fill in those side areas.

Then to paint it . . .

I painted kind of sparingly to give it more of a worn look.

 For hanging, I used something I saw somewhere on the internet but I don't remember where.  I took a board about 24" wide and used my jigsaw to cut it in half - on an angle - the long way.  I'm sure there's an official name for this but I don't know what it is.  Adhere one half to the back of the headboard - make sure the angled edge is at the top and that it angles down, from top to bottom. The other piece is attached to the wall in such a way that the headboard just slides down on top of it and the two pieces lock together.  Does that make sense???

After lots of measuring . . . and measuring . . . and measuring . . . we got it on the wall.  Evenly.  I love it!  It's the perfect rustic, curvy headboard I was imagining!

By day . . .

And by night . . .


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