How To: Custom Headboard

Moving home was a definite transition, but one thing it did was boost my creativity! My family moved into this house while I was in college, so I never really lived here. This meant that I felt that I needed to do/create something to make the space mine! What a better way to do that AND make my dad question letting me move home than to actually paint ON THE WALL! 

Note - This is the cheapest way to create this look. It cost me $15!

It turned out amazingly, so I'm posting this how-to in case your bed is lacking a headboard, or you are in need of a little on-wall decoration for a room in your house!

Pre-Step 1: Wash the wall. Make sure that there is no dirt on the wall that would make the paint go on un-even or on a layer of dust.

Pre-Step 2: Sketch/Trace what you want on your wall, and cut it out. using an exacto knife and ruler makes the cutting easier. I cut mine out of green poster board.

Step 1: Trace your stencil on the wall. Repeat if you are wanting a pattern.

Step 2: Put a layer of painter's tape where there are straight lines to help avoid mistakes.

Step 3: Start to paint! Since I majored in art, I was able to free hand without having a lot of painter's tape. Either way, this does take some time. You want to use indoor house paint. Because I am not painting the entire wall, I was able to get away with buying only a sample amount of wall paint!

Note - You will need to paint a few layers!

The entire time I was painting, Lily, my Boston Terrier made sure to supervise.

This pattern comes from a Norwegian quilt, which is fitting since it's for a bed and I'm Norwegian... 

Enjoy!