Faux Wood Headboard
I think it'll be pretty obvious by this photo, but I had just been feeling a bit "blah" at the current state of our bedroom. Lots of white. Some black. I did love my IKEA fabric wall art, but it could have been done a whole lot better...and bigger. Plus, the only real color pop in the whole room is the hot pink wii remote that hangs out on the side tables. Womp womp.
Luckily, one morning I happened to be watching Good Morning America (oh, I can't lie, it's what I do every morning) as Lara hosted a short segment called Improve This! Robert and Cortney Novograts were on, explaining that a beautiful faux wooden wall could be created by sticking vinyl flooring on the wall. I knew I didn't want to cover an entire wall, but this definitely got my wheels turning.
In the past, I had seen a pretty, dark wooden contact paper at one of my favorite stores, the Dollar Tree. I ran over there this weekend to see if they still had it. They did! It was the exact shade that I wanted (although they did have a lighter option as well). I did a few measurements in my head and bought 5 rolls of contact paper for a whopping $5. Early the next morning, I washed the walls in alcohol and began peeling, sticking and smoothing. For all five rolls, running vertically, it only took me about 30 minutes.
I don't think I've ever been so excited at 7 in the morning (yep, that's when I did this project) I began smoothing out any little bubbles I saw and got ready for the next piece of this faux-headboard project: a frame.
I went to the closest home improvement store to me, The Home Depot. I explored the "moulding" aisle for about half an hour. I needed a light, cheap material and finally found it in Woodgrain Millwork WM A314. I cut the lengths myself in the store, which took me forever with that hand saw. A man even offered to help me, I looked so pathetic. My dad wouldn't have been too proud!
Anyway, the moulding cost me around $15.
Once home, I gave the boards a coat of a liquid leaf, similar to Plaid Liquid Leaf 3/4 oz-Classic*. Once they were dry, I nailed the boards straight onto the wall around my faux wood (using a leveler, of course).
Ready for the outcome? Me too! I love looking at this before and after. It really shows how big of a difference a dramatic headboard (or a fake one, at least) can make in a room.
Let's reminisce a bit about the total cost of this project. The wooden contact paper was $5 and some change, the frame moulding was $15 and some change and the gold leaf paint was $5 and some change. That's right friends: This project cost me a grand total of $25. That's it. It's pretty amazing how an entire room can change for a mere 25 bucks.
Coach was a bit surprised I used wood since I'm always so against ANYthing brown, but I really think that the blacks, golds and blue pops will really bring a modern touch to something I normally see as "country." It adds such a cozy, masculine feel to our room and I'm loving it. We felt like we were in our own special little hotel room last night.
Did you also see our new bright blue side tables? I can't wait to share those with you too!