Inside: How to paint a faux headboard on the wall with perfect paint lines cause a painted headboard requires no space, can be any shape you want it to be, and costs very little for a lot of impact.
When it was time to transition my little boy to a big boy bed I couldn’t find the one I’d imagined in my head — with all the toy storage a mom could ask for, so I built him a twin bed with storage underneath.
Now I know that a headboard can really be a focal point in a room but since his room isn’t that big and I couldn’t afford even a few more inches because of the placement of the door on the wall where his bed is, I had to come up with another solution and he loves it! –-heck I love it!
Simply put, we painted a headboard right onto the wall. Which means we spent about $15 for a quart of paint and some painters tape and have a headboard!
It was so easy and comes with no commitment cause when you’re done with it, you can just paint over it!
Deciding on the shape of your painted headboard
I absolutely love those house frame beds that you see all over Pinterest but the space they take up and the fact that I’m sure my little guy would literally swing from the rooftops of one made that option a no go.
So I took inspiration from the shape of those house frame beds and decided that it would make a perfect shape for his faux painted headboard.
His bed sits in a corner and I wanted to make it feel extra cozy so I wrapped the house shape onto two walls.
Then for a little extra coziness, I used a dark color. The dark blue adds a lot of contrast to the existing light green wall color and made the headboard really pop and become a focal point in his room.
Painting your faux headboard
It’s really important to get really perfect paint lines so your finished headboard doesn’t look messy. But don’t worry, I’ve got a simple trick to show you how to get perfect paint lines on textured walls.
I’ll show you here, but I’ve also written about this easy way to get perfect paint lines on textured walls and included a video in this post.
The first thing you need to to is to tape off the shape of your faux headboard and make sure that the painter’s tape is on smoothly.
Then paint along the line where the tape and the wall meet with the original wall color and let it dry. This is so that any paint that may seep into the tiny cracks between the tape and the wall get filled with the existing wall color and it seals those gaps.
Once that’s dry, paint your faux headboard the color of your choice. If your headboard requires two coats of paint, let the first one dry before adding your second coat but peel off the tape while your last coat of paint is still wet.
This is the fun part because the shape of your faux painted headboard comes to life and you get to reveal those perfect paint lines you just created!
Pretty good for an afternoon of watching paint dry and a quart of navy blue paint I’d say, wouldn’t you?
What I love about this project –besides the cost, is that there’s no limit for what shapes you could come up with to make it really unique and this idea could easily work in adult bedrooms too!
Related:
DIY Twin Storage Bed – IKEA Hack
How to Paint Perfect Paint Lines on Textured Walls
How to Teach Your Kids to Declutter
I’m making two of these beds and would like to paint the headboard like you did here! I am not good at this stuff and was hoping you could tell me any details such as how high the sides are and the peak in the middle are from the ground? Thank you for all the great tips and ideas!
Glad to help, Jolene! The sides are 33 in. from the top of the bed frame (56 in. from the ground) and the high point in the corner is 52 in. from the top of the bed frame (79 in. from the ground). Id love to see your finished headboard; please shoot me a pic at [email protected] !
I absolutely love this!! With three girls, I’m always looking for alternatives to the costly items!! This is perfect, thank you for sharing.
You’re so welcome, Christine! Glad you found inspiration here!
Beautiful. Makes you want to curl up in the corner! Great job!
Yes, it does! Thanks for stopping by!
this headboard a fantastic idea! I was thinking how to get a 4×8 plywood in my little hatchback and carry to the suite to cut for my headboard!!
YOU save my headache with your awesome easy to do idea… Love it!!
Thank you so much for sharing a unique tip!! 🙂
You’re so welcome Jan. Be sure to shoot me a pic to show me how yours turns out!
Why do you remove the tape while the paint is still wet???
Great question Pam! It’s less likely to peel the new color off beyond your line. 🙂
Looks great! Thanks for the painting tips to get those beautiful lines! I had no idea how to do that and have had such frustration with that in the past. I am excited to give it a try!
I’m thrilled you find this post helpful, Barb! Let me know how it goes!