Metamorphosis Monday: Fake a headboard

One of the biggest expenses in decorating a bedroom can be the bed itself; however, if you're on a limited budget (and who isn't these days), a headboard is one of the easiest design elements to fake. And for this week's Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, I'm going to show you how to fake a headboard from bi-fold closest doors. Recently, for a client, we had to decorate two guest rooms on a very limited budget. In one, the client already had a bed. In the other room, which contained a king size mattress, one of our duties was to find a bed--however, our budget did not allow for a piece of furniture. The solution: a metal bed frame and a headboard. The question was, "what headboard?"

We looked for inspiration from one of the existing pieces of furniture, this beautiful painted armoire in shades of bronze, green, and beige. Our solution, a headboard made from off the shelf paneled bi-fold closet doors painted to co-ordinate.s

Here are the doors in their original white finish.

Next, I primed them in red. I did this so that when I sanded off paint from the edges, the red (an accent color in the room) would peek through the bronze finish. The darker primer would also make painting a bronze color easier.

Here are the finished doors, painted in several shades of bronze with a dark wash and touches of gold, in place. We attached the doors directly to the wall.

A detail of the finish:

The doors provided a striking headboard with a scale appropriate for a room with 12 foot ceiling. The paneled detailing complement the client's existing armoire for the traditional decor that the client asked for.

Finally, my friend Valerie from Visual Vamp has progressed once again in Apartment Therapy's Color Contest. Please visit Here to vote for her. Thanks.