DIY Upholstered Headboard with Cardboard

I decided it was time to finally give Little Man a headboard! Besides the fabric this project was FREE!! Got to love that! I decided to give the cardboard backing headboard a go! Using cardboard has its pros and cons but for now it works! 

I used a big Pottery Barn box I had. My box had a fold in it. In the end it doesn't seem to matter but it would have been easier to assemble without the bend. I used two pieces of cardboard, which is why the entire thing is lined with duck tape!  Not shown, but I used two layers of the eggshell mattress pad cut to size, and then a layer of quilt batting. I stapled the quilt batting down before I added my final layer of fabric. As with any headboard I use a lot of staples!

 

My biggest concern with using cardboard as a backing was how would I actually attach the headboard to the wall. For my attempt I used string and put about 50 staples in to hold it in place. See below. This did hold it. And probably would have been fine, however, after I made the below changes, I decided to change how I hung it as well.

Once my headboard was hung, it drove me nuts how the fabric and the batting bowed out when you viewed it from the side - and this is your view when you enter the room. I should have glued the eggshell crate to the cardboard and to each layer before I added the quilt batting. This would have solved the problem from the start! 

However, I was not going to take the whole thing apart unless I had no other solutions! So I took the whole thing down and decided to add tufting!! This is one of the huge advantages of using cardboard instead of wood, this was SO easy to add. You need a long upholstery needle and embroidery thread. I made my buttons using extra fabric and a button kit. With a long needle this was SO easy! 

I added 8 buttons and it looks so much more finished than before! And it solved my bowing problem! I also decided to hot glue 3 D-rings to the back to hang.

I am much happier with how it turned out. I still wish I would have made it a little shorter, but again I am not going to go back and change it! I measured for a bed that wasn't against the wall. Being against the wall it should have been the exact size as the mattress, not any longer. Oh well, Little Man LOVES it! He even helped!