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! :)