Pleated Linen Headboard

Here's something I whipped up yesterday and wanted to share with you how easy it is to reinvent a piece that you may think has no life left in it!!! This is an old bed frame - head and foot board - probably from the 40's i'm guessing....it was given to me by a client who was moving to a smaller home. (Thanks, Jennifer!)

 It has been living in my garage for a year.  As you can see it has some serious veneer issues.

 But recently my niece was saying how her existing headboard, which is not attached, was driving her nuts and she just wanted a bed where she could lean back without the bed scooting away from the wall.

So...I thought about this old thing....the hardest part was getting it out of the very BACK of my garage....where I have been piling things in front of it for a year.  So here it is again.

Last week, I scored this awesome bolt of pleated linen fabric from a great place that's going out of business here in Richmond, Liquidated Warehouse.  You should check it out - they are closing end of June, and I'll miss finding treasures there!!!

I decided it would be the perfect thing to reupholster the head and footboards.  I cut the fabric with enough allowance to fold over the edges.

On the footboard, I got out my old glue gun...

 But after almost losing a thumb, i realized, duh....Staple gun...so much easier...So I stapled all the edges down.
Then I used one of my favorite tricks:  Nailhead trim!!!! I purchased mine online at Fabric Farms. I ran the strip all along the edges - up the side over the top and down the other side.  It's very easy to use, but you can easily slice a  finger, so I would recommend gloves....as you can see, I didn't use them, which is why I now have not only a burnt thumb, but a sliced one....;)

 You just nail in a tack on every one that has a pre-existing hole...........

 And here is the footboard finished....Pretty swank!! I'm telling you, YOU can do this!!!

 I did the very same thing to the headboard.

Here's a view of the top edge.

And I couldn't stand it, so after I painted a kitchen cabinet job all day, I ran over to her house and put it up..........It looks great.........

 Headboard........

 Footboard.

  I will mention one thing....when you upholster these vintage beds, you should be aware that they were not built with today's thick mattresses in mind, so alot of the headboard will be hidden by the mattress and boxsprings.  In this case, function was more important.  But I'm thinking about hanging a piece of covered plywood above the headboard, in the same pleated fabric and nailhead trim, to visually extend the look.  That will have to wait for another day!  Okay, off to paint...again....