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Sleep in style with this DIY paint and stain headboard

23 Mar 2023

Add a personal, and one-of-a-kind, touch to any bedroom by making your own stylish headboard. A headboard is often the focal point of a bedroom, and by painting it with a stand-out Resene colours you can create a bold and stylish statement piece. Whether you opt for bright and vivid shades, or timeless neutrals, check out below how to create this striking pattern.

What you need:

 

Step 1: Cut your sheet of plywood down to your chosen size. Fleur cut hers to 2.3m tall by 95cm wide. Cut your 18mm x 18mm pine wood so that you can make a frame around the perimeter of the plywood and across the back of it a couple of times. Use wood glue to glue these in place on the back of the plywood, securing it with screws if you want extra support.

Step 2: Flip the ply over and on the front, use a ruler and pencil to mark out a pattern you like. Fleur drew horizontal lines 30cm, 20cm and 10cm apart. Next, use a 45 degree set square to make lines at random intervals. Fleur alternated the direction of these with each horizontal line.

Step 3: Once you have all your lines in place, you can start staining and painting. If you’re choosing to stain first, use painters tape to mask off each of the different areas that you want stained and use your chosen wood stain. Fleur used Resene Colorwood Natural wood stain in the colour Resene Teak. Use a cotton cloth to apply one coat. Repeat this process of taping and staining until you have all the stained areas finished.

Step 4: Next, apply the paint, using the same method as the stain. Tape off each area and apply two coats of paint with a paintbrush, allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second. Remove the tape as soon as you have finished the second coat. Repeat this for all the different coloured areas using your chosen Resene paint colours. Fleur used Resene Hot Toddy, Resene Pirate Gold, Resene Billabong, Resene Blumine and Resene Geyser.

Step 5: Once you have filled in the whole headboard with paint and the paint has dried, apply two coats of Resene Aquaclear in a satin finish.

 

Once the Resene Aquaclear is dry, you can mount your headboard to the wall, securing it with a few screws.  You can use the headboard by itself or add it behind an existing headboard. 

This headboard also makes a handy artwork or feature wall idea.

Walls  painted in Resene Eighth Canterbury Clay and Resene Carrara, trims in Resene Half Rice Cake and small headboard in Resene Biscay.

project and images Fleur Thorpe

Published: 23 Mar 2023