Master Bedroom

We've been in our new house over two years now and I FINALLY decorated our master bedroom. I've had an idea of what I wanted (thanks to Pinterest) since we moved in. I've been piecing things together for the past year, but I could never seem to find the right bedding, or throw pillows, and was way too indecisive about a paint color. Well, I finally took the plunge earlier this month and started shopping and constructing things.

Here is a before picture (note the paint samples on the wall):

It needed help, right?!

The first thing I found were the throw pillows. I had an idea of the colors I wanted to incorporate, so I set out for Home Goods and found these pillows. Finding accents you want to use is always a good place to start. Then you have an automatic color palette to work with! The light blue/green color in the pillows was the exact color I imagined painting the walls. 

I knew I wanted a fluffy, bright white duvet cover to sit toward the foot of the bed and also a quilt. I found both at Target! Now that I had found the bedding I liked, I decided to build a headboard and end of bed bench. Find my post about the nailhead trim headboard here. My post for the end of bed bench is coming soon! 

Here is the finished room! The curtains, lamps, and standing mirror are all from Home Goods. The wall paint is from Lowe's. The color is "Pale Pastures" by Valspar. :) I still need something for above the headboard...

Nailhead Trim Headboard

I finally made a headboard for our master bedroom! :)

Materials:

Plywood (approx 6ft x 3ft)
3 - 2x4s, two 5ft, one 3ft
Pine board - Two 6ft pieces, two 29 inch pieces
Foam (2 inch thick works well)
Fabric (2.5 yards)
Quilters batting (2.5 yards)
Spray adhesive
Nailhead trim
Wood screws (1 inch, 1.5 inch)
Staple gun
Hammer

For starters, measure the width of your bed, or existing metal bed frame. Your dimensions may vary a bit from what I used. My plywood was 74 inches wide, and 36 inches tall. 3 feet seems to be a good height for a headboard. The top of the headboard will be 5 feet off the ground. The 5ft 2x4s will be used as posts, which will attach against your bed frame.

Start by attaching the two 5ft 2x4s on the edges of the plywood. These are attaching to your bed frame, so make sure they are the correct distance apart! You'll want to screw from the top of the plywood down into the 2x4s. Also, now you can also put the 3ft 2x4 behind the center of the plywood. This is just for extra support. Again, screw from the top of the plywood into the center 2x4.

Once the 2x4s are in place on the back, now it's time to add the pine board on the top to make a frame around the edge. Simply align your pine board along the edges and screw it in from the top of the pine board down into the plywood. 1.5 inch screws will work fine if you're screwing on top of the plywood where the 2x4s are attached. However, along the top and bottom of the headboard, you'll want to use smaller screws since the wood won't be as thick (no 2x4s there!). I forgot to take a picture at this step, but the next picture shows the pine board. :)

Now that the pine board is in place along the edges, it's time to fill the space between the pine board frame with the 2 inch foam. Adding the foam will give your headboard a nice soft, puffy look. I got my 2 inch foam from Hobby Lobby, which was by far the least expensive I found! It comes in a 6ft roll. Notice that the standard roll was a tad too short, so I had to cut some small pieces to fill in the gaps at the bottom. This won't be visible with the fabric in place. Place the foam where you want it and then lift small sections and use spray adhesive to adhere the foam to the plywood.

Next, it's time to wrap everything in fabric! Start by wrapping everything in quilters batting, pulling tightly and stapling along the back as you go. Once the batting is attached, so the same thing with your fabric! I wrapped my posts, but you don't have to.

Once the fabric is attached, now you can add the nailhead trim. I got my nailhead trim from Joann Fabrics and it's fairly easy to install. It comes in a roll and you only nail in a piece every 5 or 6 "nailheads". Use a rubber mallet, or my version, a hammer covered in a sock. I did a border of nailhead trim along the very outside edge and also along the edge where the pine board meets the foam. 

Lastly, you'll have to buy a nut, bolt, washer combo to attach your headboard posts to your bed frame. Pictures coming soon of the headboard in it's place! Stay tuned!

DIY Wood Shim Headboard

I tend to be a little spontaneous and once I get an idea and the urge to make something, it has to be done...now! This drives Jeff crazy, but he always loves the finished product. Last May, my family was coming to visit, so naturally, I rushed to make a headboard to finally complete the guest room. Eight months earlier, I completely redecorated the guest room the weekend before my best friend Natalie came to visit. I didn't have enough time to make a headboard that weekend, so it ended up waiting until the next year. Nothing like having visitors to motivate you to complete a project you've been putting off for a year!

Anyway, here is how I did it:

Materials:
1. 1/2 thick plywood, 63" x 36"
2. Two 2x4s, 54" each
3. Four pieces of pine board, for the framing. The kind I bought was 2.5 inches wide, so I got two 36 inch pieces to frame the sides, then two 58 inch pieces to frame the top and bottom (58 = 63 minus 5 inches for the width of side frames)
4. Wood shims. I bought them in cedar b/c they had plenty. The come in pine also, probably doesn't matter. They come in packs of 12. I needed 22 packs!
5. Nail gun. I bought a $30 Stanley staple/brad nail gun (like this one) and used 5/8 inch brad nails
6. Stain and brushes. I used a dark walnut from Home Depot. I only used half of one can.

Assembly:

1. Screw 2x4s to the plywood (from the front of the plywood into the 2x4s). This is the hardest part, b/c you want to screw into the 2x4s from the top of the plywood. Need a helper to hold the 2x4s in place. Make sure they are the correct distance to attach to your metal bed frame.

2. Screw on framing. I did this from the back side into the front. We started with the side pieces, then did the top/bottom.

3. Stain the plywood. I didn't do this, but it would have made it much easier than trying to get in all the cracks after the shims were on.

4. Layer shims and nail them in. Start at the top in case you have a weird leftover space at the bottom. I filled the last row with 1/2 width shims that I split in half. I layered them 10 across with overlapping and went across one row in one direction and back the other direction the next row. Once the first two rows were done, I used them as a guide for the rest, to give it a brick-like pattern. To avoid the awkward 1/2 width shims at the bottom, you could make the whole headboard a 1/2 inch longer. So do 36.5 inches vs 36. I wasn't sure what I needed, but the bottom is hidden by the bed anyway.

5. Stain everything! I used 2 or 3 coats, until I was satisfied with the color.

Here is the finished product in the guestroom. I'm very happy with how it turned out! :)

First Post!

I'm Lauren. :) I live in Maryland with my husband, Jeff, and our two dogs, Henry and Alaina. Jeff and I got married in September 2012, and bought our first home in May 2013. Since moving in, I've been on a never ending journey to decorate our home...without spending a fortune. I'm finally starting this blog to document all of my DIY projects, home decor, and other life adventures. The name "Goldens and Glue Guns" comes from my obsession with golden retrievers and doing any sort of DIY/crafty project, hence glue guns. I love all dogs in general, but most anyone who knows me knows that I have a particular obsession with all things golden retriever. We can credit that to my grandmother's dog Goldie, who I loved oh-so-much as a young child. I waited 23 long years, of torture, before getting my own golden retriever, Henry. He and our beagle, Alaina, are completely spoiled and will surely make regular appearances on here. Can't wait to share my projects with you all! Thanks for reading!

Here is a funny pic from Fall 2014. It was a very windy evening and the dogs were going nuts over all the new smells in the park we went to. I was unsure how the pictures would turn out, but needless to say we got a few great ones. Couldn't resist using this one for our Christmas card last year. :)