Scavenger Chic

Upcycled Vintage Door Headboard DIY

• By Joan
• April 22, 2020
• 7 Comments

Vintage Door Headboard

I know you’ve seen a headboard made from a door before but since I showed you my new side tables last week, I might as well finish the room with my headboard.  

I created my headboard at least 7 or 8 years ago.  Middle son had picked up two beautiful old vintage paneled doors he had found on Craig’s list and only had plans for one.  Living in an apartment he had no room to store an extra door so I oh so generously offered to take one off his hands.

I don’t have any in progress pics to show you, this was pre-blog,  but I’ll do my best to recreate the process or you could just screw a door to a wall and call it a day.

I made my door headboard when hubby and I made the switch from a Queen size bed to a King.

If you’re making a King sized headboard, your headboard should be at least 76″ wide.  It can be a little wider if you’d like your posts to be on the outside of the bed as I’ve done.

A Queen sized headboard should be at least 60″ wide. 

If you need to trim the door make sure that the inset panels are centered.  My door was trimmed to 74 1/2″.

Cut 2, 4×4 side posts 61″ in length.  Lay out all your pieces on the floor like a puzzle before attaching so you can see if anything needs tweeking.

Cut a 1×6 board the length of your door  (74 1/2″).

The 1×6 will eventually be screwed to the back of the door.  This board will give you something to attach your molding to and give the door a little more height without encroaching too much on the natural door border.

Cut another piece of wood, again the same length as the door, to be used for the top ledge.  It can be a 1×4  or 1×6,  or whatever scrap wood you have laying around.

Fill in the void between the door and the top ledge with more scrap wood  the thickness of your door.  If you cut any pieces off your door, it’s a great time to use that scrap.

Now it’s time to look for any scrap molding you may have laying around.  Once again, cut to the length of your door. Hopefully, you keep your scrappy bits like I do.

And since one piece of molding didn’t quite fill the gap, I had to add a second.

Now you can attach all those pieces together.  Start with the back piece and screw on.  Use nails and wood glue for the filler piece and finish nails to attach the molding to the filler.  Lastly, use more finish nails to attach the top ledge making sure you hit the filler pieces and the back extension.

Countersink all the finish nails on the molding, fill with wood putty and sand.

Center the door on the 4×4 posts, predrill and use at least 2, 6″ x 1/2″ lag screws with washers per side to attach the posts to the door. 

The door is positioned low enough so that the mattress covers it by about 6″.  Extend the posts another 4 1/2 inches beyond the top ledge of the door.

On that 4 1/2 inch extension, find more scrap molding, you’ll need about 28″, and cut  to fit around the 4×4 post using a miter saw to cut the corners.  You do not need to finish the back.  

Attach the molding with finish nails, countersink, and fill with wood putty.  Add a cap of scrap wood to finish the post.  Again, use finish nails, countersink and wood putty.  Sand any rough edges as well as the wood putty.

Caulk any gaps you don’t think would be concealed by paint.

My bed is finished with 2 coats of semi gloss interior black paint.

If a door doesn’t inspire you, maybe one of these will.

Until next time, stay safe.

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