The bedroom is one of the most important rooms in your apartment. This room can serve as your own private retreat, but you probably want it to be a space where you can show off your unique style, too. Whether you don’t have a lot of space in your room and aren’t sure if you can fit in a massive headboard for your bed, or if you’re on a decorating budget, you can still get the visual impact without the usual cost associated with traditional headboards. Use your head when decorating and check out these unique takes on headboards.
Get Crafty
If you’re looking to go bold and bring pattern and color into a space without commitment, try experimenting with folding screens or a painter’s canvas as a headboard. If you’re not sure where to start, Overstock.com has white canvas folding screens that are around $100. Paint a folding screen instead of a wall, place behind your bed and you have a perfectly unique headboard. Get creative with your own design, or create a bold, graphic pattern by using a pre-cut stencil. Pick up an inexpensive painter’s canvas from Michael’s and create your own art to display over your bed in place of a headboard. All you’ll need is your favorite fabric and a staple gun. Wrap the fabric around the canvas and voila – instant artwork that creates a huge impact.
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Faux The Win
This is one of the coolest headboard options because it’s the most interesting- looking. If you’ve never experimented with chalkboard paint, there’s no better time than now. It’s easy to apply and you can pick up a quart of paint (which covers an 8-by-12- foot space) for under $15 at Lowe’s or Home Depot. If you’re not comfortable with painting your wall, pick up an oversized chalkboard at any school supply or craft store and use that in its place. Simply trace the outline of a traditional wrought iron headboard, or get creative with inspirational messages and other images. Pro tip: Uuse dustless chalk to avoid waking up with a face full of white dust.
Stick To It
Along the same lines as the chalkboard paint headboard, another way to create a temporary headboard option is to use a wall decal. They’re quick and easy to apply and remove, and they can make a grand statement without a lot of time and effort. Check out the Olivia headboard from Blik, which is available in a variety of colors and imitates a traditional headboard. And at only $40, it’s a steal. The Nico headboard, also $40 and available from Blik, is a more graphic take on a bed frame.
Read more: What Your Bedroom Wall Color Says About You
Mirror, Mirror
It may seem like an obvious choice, but you’d be surprised the impact an oversized mirror can have when serving as a headboard. And the great news is that you won’t have to spend an arm and a leg to achieve this look in your bedroom. You can find mirrors at any thrift store, yard sale or flea market, so pick one that works with your bedroom décor, whether it’s modern and minimalist or ornate and decorative. It will open up your space while giving you an interesting visual element.
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Cleanse the Pallet
For a rustic aesthetic that would look great in any space, turn to your local hardware store for scrap pallets. You can either leave the wood as- is, or sand it down and treat it. Place the pallet behind your bed and you have an instant headboard. If you’re feeling a little bit more ambitious, you can create an entirely new headboard constructed of just the wood pulled from the pallets. It can be a little tricky to remove the wood, so use a saber saw to cut through the nails and then use a hammer to pry the wood off. Sand down the wood using an electric hand sander and cut the pieces to rearrange as you see fit. The end result is a completely DIY headboard that’s as unique as you are.
Hang It Up
Get a simple yet romantic headboard look that channels a canopy bed aesthetic by hanging curtains, drapes or tapestries behind your bed. Install a tension rod behind your bed and pick out your favorite curtain to drape against the wall. Brightly patterned tapestries also work for this headboard idea. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of installing a rod, you can also pin the fabric directly to the wall behind your bed for a splash of color that will go a long way.
Read more: How to Make Your Bedroom More Romantic