Looking for Cheap Headboard Ideas? Try Wall Decals, Drapes, and Wallpaper

A creative faux headboard idea using wall decals. You can create any theme to make the wall above your bed look stylish and impressive.

So, how do you come up with impressive headboard ideas?

What can you use?

Is it an easy instal-it-yourself decor feature?

For a few dollars and a couple of hours of work over the weekend, you can style your bed and dress it up with a creative headboard feature that can become a focal point in your bedroom. For this affordable feature, use wall decals. Apply them on the wall above the bed where the headboard position is to create an elaborate (or simple) headboard effect.

1. Wall Decal Headboards

Wall decals (stickers) come in various styles, shapes, colours, and patterns. They can be anything from simple and whimsical quotes to very graphic designs with striking visual appeal: funny, inspirational, mood-enhancing, scenic, or dramatic. You can use any theme or create something unique that reflects your style.

Wall-applied stickers work well for almost any type of bedroom; adults, teens, or young children. While you can apply adult themes, mature quotes, or illusionary effects for adults, you can create faux headboards with pretty and colourful picturesque scenes, quaint patterns, or numerical and alphabetical arrangements for nurseries and young children. For teens and tweens, themes with their favorite rock stars, glow-in-the-dark, and vivid and cute patterns like butterflies, hearts, and rainbows. 

You can also create and design your own pattern by combining various decal themes.

How to Apply Wall Stickers

1. Applying stickers directly onto the wall is simple and fast, but it is best to use removable stickers. This will allow you to change the look of your decal headboard as often as you wish.
2. Cut out the shape and size of your preferred headboard from an inexpensive board like plywood or chipboard. Before you install it on the wall, apply the decals or stickers. It is easier to apply decal stickers when the board is flat on the floor.
3. If you wish to apply them directly on a half, or three-quarter-inch board (before installing on walls), coat the board with a block of bright or muted paint. Ensure that its edges are lipped before painting. 
4. Fix the finished product onto the wall with hidden screws.

2. Drapery-Style Headboards

Curtain ‘headboards’ are one of the cheapest and easiest to make. It is a task that will take you no longer than thirty minutes. You can use inexpensive fabrics or textile cut-offs for this headboard effect and hang them simply, just as you will drapes and curtains. 

Simple to sew and install window-type treatments can also serve as faux headboards.

For an aesthetically pleasing overall look, choose a material with bold patterns. Depending on the effect you wish to create, it should complement the bedroom’s colour scheme. You can hang them from the ceiling for a dramatic look. This works well for wide beds.  Styles to go for include Roman blinds, swags, pinch-pleats or swag and tails. 

How to Hang Your Drapery-Effect Headboard

To hang your finished product, attach a decorative curtain rod to any height (of choice) above the bed’s head, and simply hang your curtain; swags, blinds, pleated, ruffled or plain gathered drapes.

 

3. Wallpapered Headboards

If you seek a low-budget but stylish headboard look, applying wallpaper on the wall above the bed is worth considering. With thousands of patterns to choose from, wallpapered headboards bring so much personality into a room, and will enhance the bed in no small way.

Choose a wallpaper pattern that works well with the room’s colour scheme. If you plan to do a bedroom upgrade, you can start off by selecting a covering that has your favourite colour. You can pick out something quirky and colourful or a wallpaper design that is rich and regal. You can then pick out a colour from the wallpaper’s pattern and paint it on the remaining bedroom walls.

Wallpaper Headboards - Tips

• Create a dramatic look with a floor-to-ceiling wallpaper headboard that spans the width of the bed.
• Install textured fabric covering like velvet, damask, or animal print in place of wallpaper. This creative headboard idea will give your bed the illusion of grandeur.
• Wallpaper can be applied directly on the wall. However, if you plan to use fabric, first apply the fabric to a ¾” board. Wrap the fabric around the edge and tack it in place at the back.
• Before applying the wallpaper, make sure your bed is positioned in a place you're happy with because moving this headboard around once it’s installed can be a little tricky.

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7 Ways to Change Your Living Room from Drab to Uplifting

(This blog post is culled from an originally published article by the author on Discover.HubPages in 2013) *If you like this post, and find it beneficial or interesting, kindly share it on social media. It will be greatly appreciated :)