Headboard Made From Salvaged Shutters Diy

by ScavengerChic

9 Materials

It must have been July when my brother first showed up on my doorstep with a huge pile of these fantastic interior wood shutters. I immediately knew that I wanted to make a headboard. The only problem was, I didn't need a headboard.
Don't despair if you don't have shutters, an old paneled wood door will give a similar look.

headboard made from salvaged shutters diy, diy, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling

At some point, I found that my oldest son and his wife were on the lookout for a new headboard for their guest room. If I just happened to make one, what size would it be? Queen.

Start your headboard by laying it out flat. A queen headboard needs to be about 5ft wide. There is a little wiggle room...the headboard could easily have an extra inch, more or less, on each side.

With 2 sets of 3 shutters and 2 4x4's for the sides, my headboard wasn't quite wide enough, I needed one more panel.

With the added panel, the new width of my headboard was 5' 1 1/2". Ready to assemble.

Four lengths of 1x4 were cut to the exact width of the new headboard. The 1x4's were placed so that they cover the ends of the shutters but not any of the recessed detail on both sides of the headboard.

This is a side view. The 1x4's were glued and nailed into place with finishing nails.

4x4's were cut. You would think I would cut the 4x4's to the height I wanted the headboard but you would be wrong...since this was a gift I wanted the headboard to be able to fit into my son's SUV so he could get it home, a five foot high headboard would never fit. These 4x4's were cut to 43". I cut two more 4x4's, 16" to extend the legs. When my son gets the headboard into his home, he can chop off the leg extensions to whatever length he wishes to fit his bed.

To attach the 4x4's to the bed, 6 inch bolts were screwed into the sides. The bolts were screwed into the headboard where the 1x4 overlaps the shutters (look at the side view above). Predrill and screw the bolts where there are 3 layers of wood avoiding the empty space.

I cut a 1x6' top shelf 6 inches longer (3 inches on each side) than the width of the headboard. Nail into place.

Underneath the top shelf is a small piece of crown molding, also cut and nailed into place.

Fill in any gaps with paintable caulking and any nail holes with wood putty.

The nail holes and edges were sanded and ready for painting. The headboard then got 2 coats of an interior semi gloss white paint.

The headboard was a Christmas present for my son and daughter-in-law and I think they really liked it, but when it came time to leave it was either the headboard or the dog. For some reason, they chose their dog.

A few weeks later the headboard finally found it's way home.

If you would like to see what I did with one of the other shutters, you can find that here.

http://scavengerchic.com/2015/08/03/upcycled-mortise-and-shutter-shelves-diy/

And if you want to see more pictures of the entire project make sure you click on the link below. You'll also see how I made those leg extensions so the bed actually fits in the car.

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Frequently asked questions

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3 of 4 questions

Linda on May 14, 2016
Do you secure it to the wall?

0
Pam on Jan 13, 2017
How much did it cost

2
Tessa on Jan 09, 2018

How did you attach the 16" feet to the 4x4's? I see a piece of wood or something going around where they're joined, but then, I've never done this, so I don't know the procedure for doing this. Thank you!

1