Creative DIY Headboard Makeover Idea

Hello! Today I will walk you through this creative DIY headboard makeover idea! I recently purchased this headboard on Facebook marketplace and wanted to recreate it to look like a farmhouse bookshelf-styled headboard. So, let’s jump in!

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The Creative DIY Headboard Makeover Idea for a Farmhouse Headboard

I love the farmhouse style, and as I said earlier, I wanted a farmhouse-styled headboard. The look of rustic barn doors is a must-have in my book. Plus, I’m an advocate of furniture having storage space, so it seemed like there was only one option; create a farmhouse bookshelf headboard!

Gather the Supplies

Here is a list of all the supplies I used throughout the process:

Wood (I used scrap cabinet grade plywood and pallet plywood)
Hardware
Sander and Sandpaper
Screws, Drill and Drill Bits
Circular Saw
Pencil
Tape Measurer
Wrench (for the hardware)
Wood Glue
Stain/Paint (I used gel stain, white and yellow acrylic paint, and mineral spirits)
Paint Brush
Matte Protective Top Coat
Matte Board

Add onto the Foundation

The headboard I bought already had the bookshelf part, which is what I wanted. I added a piece of scrap wood to the top of the bookshelf so the farmhouse hardware would have enough room to slide across.

I also added some structural pieces to the bottom to make the headboard sturdier. After I completed that, I removed the back part because it had a hole and a crease down the center. I found a matte board similar in thickness and cut out the pieces according to size.

Finally, I cut out the pieces to make the barn doors and glued most of them down with wood glue. If you decide to do the barn doors, I cannot emphasize enough to make sure you have the right dimensions that fit according to your hardware. Whether considering the thickness of the door, length, width, height, and how the door will sit with the hardware, you need to make sure you consider all these factors.

Paint or Stain your Headboard

Once the headboard foundation is all set, you can paint or stain it! I didn’t add the backing to the headboard so it would be easier to paint. The same method applies to the middle section of the bard doors and hardware.

For this project, I used gel stain and mixed it with yellow and white acrylic paint. I did a similar process to a bookshelf (you can read about it here). I loved how the bookshelf came out, so I wanted to do a similar style.

When I did this project, I prioritized the areas that show because I was running out of the paint/stain mixture. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make more because I used all my yellow paint.

Once the first layer dried, I lightly brushed the gel stain in some areas. The goal was to get the stain to look like wood grain.

It looked too busy, with the dark contrast against the light. So, I made the same mixture that I did prior (I since got more yellow paint) and added mineral spirits to dilute it. I applied this over the whole top and rubbed it away with a cloth. This process worked out well, and I did it more in some areas than others to give the realistic wood look.

I’ll be honest the painting part did take a lot of trial and error, so don’t get discouraged at first. I think the final step of putting a coat of the mineral spirits mixture gave the headboard the look I was trying to achieve.

Once that was complete, I coated it with matte spray paint to give it a protective layer.

Add the Hardware

Now you can add the hardware to your headboard! In this process, I also added the backing to the headboard and the middle piece to both doors. Again, make sure you measure everything out before you drill any holes (lol did this one the hard way).