5 Amazing Upholstered DIY Headboard Ideas For A Bedroom


lilac bed

If you want a new bedroom design scheme, adding a bed headboard or upholstering an existing one can be transformative. Whether you want to breathe new life into your old bed by recovering it or make a new, bespoke headboard using wood and fabric, the following five genius headboard ideas are relatively cheap and easy to DIY at home.

diy panelled headboard

Wood panels have been covered with wadding and fabric and then attached to the wall in this bedroom design by A New Day Interior Design Studio. Photographer: Anna Stathaki.

Upholstered Panel Headboard

For a real statement headboard, panelling the length of your wall with fabric and then placing a bed base in front of it is a great way of getting a really high-end look in a bedroom. Take inspiration from interior design Studio A New Day by cutting 3 MDF boards to size and adding foam, wadding and fabric and attaching the boards to your wall.

wavy scallop headboard

Image credit: Holly’s Homestyle

Wavy scallop headboard

Soften the look of a headboard by cutting in on-trend wavy or scallop shapes at the top. Holly’s Homestyle on Instagram worked with modern textile designer and upholsterer By Isi to create an amazing wavy headboard covered in Christopher Farr Cloth fabric. To see a short video on how they did it click here.

wavy scallop headboard blue

Image credit: Holly’s Homestyle

Interior designer and DIY extraordinaire Daniela Tasca York also created a wavy headboard for her son using only recycled materials! She broke down an old mattress and used the padding as a foam before covering the headboard with a saved sofa covering.

diy scallop headboard boucle

DIY headboard using only recycled materials from Daniela Tasca York. Image credit: Daniela Tasca York.

Use a tablecloth as A cheap headboard upholstery fabric

If you want to cover an existing headboard or bed frame on a budget, follow the lead of content creator Luke Arthur Wells who purchased a tablecloth from H&M Home to cover his double bed frame. All he did was disassemble the bed frame and used an industrial staple gun to secure the tablecloth on top of the original fabric. The end result was a completely new-look bed for a total of £45!

Image credit: Luke Arthur Wells.

bed recover diy

Luke Arthur Wells Reupholstered bed frame covered in an H&M Home tablecloth. Image credit: Luke Arthur Wells.

Cushioned Fluted Headboard

Farrow & Ball’s Head Of Creative, Charlotte Cosby, used large D shape polyfoam strips for a fluted padded-effect headboard. You can buy these two mitre-long polyfoam strips on eBay. Simply wrap the foam in wadding and fabric of your choice and then attach it to the wall using an instant mega-grab adhesive.

fluted headboard diy

A fluted headboard made from strips of polyfoam in the home of Charlotte Cosby.

Basic recover DIY

Last but not least is my basic bed cover DIY. I ordered a few metres of good-quality stain-resistant lilac velvet from Linwood and wrapped it over my old bed frame. To find a full DIY guide on how to reupholster your bed click here.

headboard recover diy

I covered my old bed in a Linwood Fabric.