The Headboard

I am not quite sure why it has taken so long to write this post, but it's been a long time coming. When we moved into our first apartment as newlyweds, I decided I really wanted a headboard. Of course, me being me, I wanted to find something second hand and fix it up rather than buying something new. Yes, to save money, but also because I really enjoy projects. I was a frequent visitor of the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Lexington, and on one of my visits I found a headboard for $10. It was just a plain, wooden headboard, but it was in great shape and could easily be painted. I bought it and somehow thought I could load it into my small SUV all by myself. Sometimes my independence gets the best of me. I broke off one of the legs in my attempt to get it in the car. I figured Jake's stepdad, Dan, would be able to fix it, so I brought it over to him.

A week later, he tells me he can build me a better headboard and wanted to know if there was anything in particular that I liked. It just so happened I had just pinned this on my pinterest.

I followed the picture to a blog where I discovered  ana-white.com. If you haven't visited this site, you are missing out. She has TONS of detailed plans for furniture as well as posts from people who have used her plans. I found complete directions, including woodcuts, for the headboard on this site. I sent it straight to Dan, who was excited to see the plan and happened to have enough wood for the project. He did such a good job! It looked exactly like the plan and it didn't even take him long to make. We are so lucky to have Dan who can make us awesome things! 

The next issue was the finish. I, surprisingly, decided I didn't want to paint it. The natural wood was so pretty that I just couldn't cover it up. I decided I wanted to stain it, but I wanted a grey stain. I thought this would be very simple, as Lowes had a few options for grey stains. I picked one out and went home to try it. One word...BLUE. Every single grey stain I tried looked blue. Not only did it look blue, the stain looked like a paint, rather than a stain. Blue was definitely not what I was going for. I wanted it to look slightly rustic/weathered, so I decided to try a new route instead of store bought stain. I found a recipe online that called for apple cider vinegar and steel wool soaked together for 48 hours. After lots of trial and error, I am so happy with how it turned out.

This is the headboard with 2 coats of the apple cider vinegar/steel wool mixture. I then applied two coats of polyurethane. 

Here is the headboard in our room. How great does it look?? The thing I like most is that it is so versatile and can go with lots of different colors of furniture or decor. I also like how it looks like a different color depending on the light. Sometimes it looks grey, other times it looks brown, and from time to time it looks green/blue. It is a piece that I think we will have for years to come. 

Our bedroom is my favorite part of our apartment. It is not huge, but if feels spacious because it opens up into the sunroom. When we moved to Virginia, we also bought a new mattress. I can't even describe to you how amazing it is to have a good quality mattress. It is embarrassing to admit, but with a headboard, somewhat matching furniture, and a nice mattress, I finally feel like a real adult. 

Here is the other wall of our bedroom (opposite of the bed), and then that's about it for the room. You can kind of see the opening to the sunroom in this picture. I like the simplicity. It feels comfortable and relaxing and I love going to bed at the end of the day in this room. At some point, maybe at our next location, I will hang more pictures or decorations. One day I would also like to add a chair/bench and possibly a vanity.

Until next time,

J and M