Saturday, February 27, 2010

DIY Headboard

If you live in New York City, it's likely that you're renting your space. Because of small apartments and rules stipulated in leases, it's difficult to make a space your own. I was able to paint my bedroom in my Murray Hill apartment and decided to paint it shortly after moving in. I painted two opposing walls a deep, charcoal gray to add a little warmth and depth to the room. Leaving the two remaining walls white allowed the darker color to not overpower.

Still, even after painting, there was a definite missing piece behind the bed. I needed a headboard. Sure, I could go out and purchase a headboard, but with limited funds, that wasn't really an option. Also, I always have to consider the fact that I might move again. Would I be able to move a headboard and would I be able to find another space large enough for it? My last apartment certainly wasn't!

So, I came up with an idea. I decided that I would make the "illusion" of a headboard by painting directly on the wall behind the bed.

The project itself cost me 5 whole dollars. Home Depot makes "tester" size paints, you can choose whatever color of whatever brand of paint you want and they give you a small jar of it so you can paint a patch and see if you like a color. And, at $2.95, you can't beat the price! For this, I decided to paint two lines (one white, one light blue) using painters tape to give clean lines.

With the bed in its usual space, I marked the wall to determine where I wanted the edge of the "headboard" to be. From there, I measured, making marks of where I wanted each point to be. Then, I simply connected the dots. After taping, I went over each piece with a level to make sure the lines were straight and even.

Then I got to painting. I painted the interior, smaller, line blue and the larger outer line white. I think the differing colors adds some definition to the effect.

So here's the finished product. I don't normally have yellow sheets on my bed (usually I have a set of gray ones on there - they match the walls) but I changed them to something more cheerful during the snow storms.



Personally, I love it. I think it adds something to the wall and makes the bed more of a focal point than it was before. It was a super easy project that anyone could do. And, you could easily paint frames around hanging pictures, windows, or anything!

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