Turning Doors into a Headboard

Since I began writing Home Style, I’ve been sharing different ways to create the look of a headboard without necessarily buying a piece of furniture specifically made for a bed. In the past, I’ve suggested floor screens, plywood tiles and even paint. I'd now like to share another creative idea for a headboard that will give you the look for less.

In this bedroom makeover featured in the photos, I actually used two hollow-core doors, stacked on top of each other to create a dramatic headboard effect. It's very NYC boutique hotel-looking—if I may say so myself. Cost for each door was only $27!

Doors are great to use as headboards because once you lay them horizontally, their width is almost as wide as a king size mattress, so it’s a perfect fit for every mattress size. They also come in a natural finish, so you can choose to stain them to bring out the wood grain or paint them an accent color as in this makeover to make the headboard really pop.

What took this headboard to a whole new level of style is placing three accent lights from IKEA along the top to highlight the art work. The doors also allowed me to hide the electric cords from the lights behind them, so it made everything look custom-built. I hate seeing cords! The art work was made by using an 11x14 mirror as a picture mat and gluing a smaller 4x6 frame inside. It looks like one piece, but it’s actually made from two individual frames, giving it a very modern and original look.

To finish off the bedroom, I used two storage/organizational cubes as nightstands and floated them on the wall. Cost only $25 each. New lamps for $10 each and a bed-in-a-bag combo complete the transformation.