DIY Tufted Headboard (work in progressive)

My husband asked, "now why do we need a headboard?"  

 All I can say is he's never going to get it!

About 6 months ago, I started projected cohesive master bed room. I took the matching bed side table I picked up at a thrift store for the guest bed room years ago, the severely abused dresser my mother in law gave us, and a dresser I found at a thrift store for $20  and painted them gray and turquoise. I painted the existing lamp shades to coordinate, pulled accessories and art from other rooms and purchased a couple throw pillows for the ottoman. I really felt things were coming together the only big thing missing was a head board. The wall behind the bed looked so sad and empty I knew I had to do something. I was craving a tufted head board. I fell in love with this one from Coast Pluse World Market but I almost fainted at the sight of the $500.00 price tag. I have flirted with the idea of making a tufted head board for years but in the past when I had entertained the idea, even the DIY versions seemed expensive. Wood, foam, batting, buttons and fabric add up quick. I had written off the idea and was in search of a wood head board I could paint. I found one, at this salvage yard warehouse slash thrift store I love for $5.00. Then it hit me I could turn it into a tufted headboard. That resourcefulness probably saved me close to $50.00.

So This is How I did it...

• Painted the parts of the head board that would not be exposed with paint I already head; cost 30min.
• Measured and drill holes for tufting; cost 30min. 
• Cut to shape, a queen size foam pad from an old mattress that we just took to the dumb, Cost 20 min.
• Used spray adhesive and a few staples to attach two layer of the foam; Cost $4.50 and 10 min.
• Cut an old mattress pad with multiple layers of batting laying in the attached it to headboard with staple gun; Cost 30 min.
• Covered buttons using a kit from the fabric store and the fabric from the little bag my duvet cover came in; Cost $9.99 and 45 min.
• Draped lien fabric and then started tufting. There are some many great tutorials that one can reference for tufting; cost $12.00 3hours and 30 min. I will say this my fingers are sore from tufting and it took way more time than I expected. Maybe because I was just figuring it out as I went.
• Once all the buttons were in place, I used the staple guns  to secure the fabric on the back, cost 1 hour.
• The plan is to finish it off with piping

DIY Pet Feeding Station

For as long as I have had pet I have had issues related to feeding them. What are my issues you ask? Dog bowls being too low to the ground, dog bowls moving all over the ground, finding empty dog bowls all over the house, not finding the dog bowl (my dogs like to carry them around and hide them), not having any convenient place to store the big ugly green bag of Costco dog food,  the ugly-ness of the big plastic food dispensers and of course the dogs getting into the cat's food. After years of going nuts, I finally solved my problem. I made a cute, functional pet feeding station that address all the issues listed above and probably a few more I forgot to mention.

I first got the idea here on pintrest, but as I am not looking to renovate my kitchen anytime soon I had to come up with a modified plan. I did some research on pintrest and found lots of ideas. See; Pin, Pin, Pin, Pin and Pin. After getting inspired online and scavenging around at thrift stores I concluded that and old dresser was going to be my best bet. I need something high enough so the dogs would not get the cat's food, something big enough to provide storage, and something inexpensive. Did I mention I am super cheep!

Before...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After...

 

So this is how I did it....

• Bought Dresser at warehouse sale; cost $15 bucks. 
• Barrowed jig saw from grandpa; cost 1 hug.
• Bought paint and plywood; cost about $20.
• Had cute old man in the lumber department cut the plywood to size for me (measured twice!!!); cost  a thank you.
• Gathered from garage, sander, drill, hammer, nails, measuring tape, paint brushes, spray paint and screwdriver; cost 5 min and a bump on the head.
• Sanded the hell out of the dresser; cost 2 hours.
• Removed two draws (saved for another project latter) and the support stuff in-between them; cost 5 min.
• Used nails to reinforce parts that seem weak; cost 5 min.
• Calculated size of circles for bowls to drop into drew them on then cut them out using the barrow Jigsaw;  cost 30 min or so. This was my favorite part. I think Grandpa is getting me a jigsaw for my birthday!!!
• Removed the knobbies from the draws; cost 2 min.
• Painted two coats on the plywood, reaming draws and dresser including the inside area where draws will not be put back; cost about 1.5 hours.
• Sprayed the knobs copper then changed my mind and painted the sliver with spray paint; cost 7 min.
• Put knobs back on, draws back in and placed the plywood on the supports above the bottom draw it fit tight so I did not feel the need to nail or glue it in; cost 10 min.

My total cost was about $35, 4 hours 34 min not including shopping time or wait time, 1 hug, 1 thank you and a bump on the head. I am tempted to jazz it up with some hand painting but I think I will resisted and keep it simple. I am however planning on staple gunning in some plastic sheeting stuff to line the draws for food storage. All in all I love it, my husband loves it and most important our pets love it.