DIY Headboard

For a while, mine and Clayton's bedroom had been looking so bare with the lack of a headboard. Clayton built us a bed frame and our bed is a Cal King; so it isn't easy to find a headboard for it. I came up with a cool idea of using pallets. Clayton has a bunch at his work so I asked him to pick up a couple. I ended up going over there with him and chose the two I wanted. Who would have thought that they would all be so different looking? haha Anyways, so I chose the two and then we put them behind our bed right away. They fit perfectly on top of the bed frame posts and they were perfect in width.

For a few weeks, they were left there untouched. They werent all that pretty but I just couldnt find the time to finish them. I FINALLY found a weekend for Clayton and I to sand them down and then stain them. I found an awesome tutorial on how to stain using vinegar and steel wool! I didnt take a picture of that part. I didnt think about it until after I was done putting the mixture on. BUt basically, I just got a bowl full of vinegar with a little bit of apple cider vinegar mixed in and then put two pieces of steel wool inside fully emerged so it could soak. The tutorial I got this from said to soak over night but I was way too impatient for that. I probably soaked it for 15 min ha! After covering both of the pallets with the mixture, scrubbing it on (wearing rubber gloves btw) using the steal wool, we let them sit out in the sun for a few hours. I kept going out to check on them and they turned very Sloooowly ha i was worried it wasnt working at first. But at last, they turned out PERFECT! just enough rustic to wear they dont clash with my dresser. Love Love Love it and I especially love how I barely spent anything at all for this headboard. The pallets were free and then I bought a container of vinegar and apple cider vinegar, and then a bag of steel wool. SO cheap and SO easy :) my kind of project haha

Here is the before pic of the pallets. Please ignore the messiness of my UNmade bed haha

There were red markings on the pallets, so sanding them helped get rid of most of that and then also made the wood smooth. The pallets coming right out of the work place had "scratchy" wood. Basically, it could give you splinters haha So we decided to sand it all down. Much easier to rub all the stain mixture I had on a smooth surface so the steal wool didnt catch on it. 

I just love the rustic feel it gives to our bedroom now. The stain mixture aged the wood just right to where it looks beautiful rather than from a construction site haha Im sure if I went over the wood with more of the vinegar and steal wool, it would have gotten darker. But like I said before, If it had gone any darker, it would clash with our dark cherry colored dresser. 

So YAY, I am happy with this wonderful DIY headboard! Next project is to put decor above the headboard and then to get or make some cute side tables. The ones we have now are too short for our bed. OH and I am still looking for a cute comforter. This one here is just the down feather blanket that clayton sleeps with every night. ha So hopefully it wont be too long before these changes happen and I can post them on here :)