DIY Geometric Wood Headboard

Now that the living space in our apartment is complete (and looking pretty dope, if I must say so myself), it’s time to start focusing on the hot mess that we call our bedroom. I have honestly been drooling over those trendy geometric feature walls that have been popping up all over the internet, but my landlord wouldn’t be too happy with me if I installed one in our rental. So, to scratch my accent wall itch in a way that will still get me my deposit back, I decided to create a DIY geometric wood headboard instead!

How To Make A Geometric Wood Headboard

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Of all of the geometric wood feature wall projects I’ve seen on Pinterest, I have completely fallen in love with one in particular – the feature wall that Brepurposed made for her floating bench. I mean… not only is it stunning, it is exactly the concept I was looking for. Beautiful, but removable! I definitely followed Bre’s lead on this one, so make sure to check out her post to see how she made hers (she installed it in her laundry room with a bench and it’s epic).

Usually, I go into these geometric art-type projects blindly and just let the design come to me as I work, but I decided to take Bre’s lead and start this project with a game plan. I created a design in Illustrator and basically laid out a bunch of rectangles at 45 and 90 degree angles until I was happy with my design. I made sure to print this to have on hand in my shop as I built.

But, once my design was ready, it was time to get started!

What You’ll Need:

Tools
Miter Saw
Circular Saw
Pin Nailer
Sander & Sandpaper
Drill
Putty Knife
Carpenter’s Square
Tape Measure
Pencil

Materials
(1) ¾” Sheet Plywood
(10-12) 1 x 2 x 6′ Boards (Quantity Will Depend On Design)
DAP Weldwood Carpenter’s Glue
DAP Rapid Fuse
DAP Premium Wood Filler
Dark Walnut Wood Stain
Pin Nails
Black Spray Paint
Heavy Duty D-Ring Hangers
Game Plan

The Steps:

1. Determine the size of your plywood backer and then cut it to size using a circular saw (if you don’t have a circular saw, you can have your plywood cut at your local home improvement store).

I determined the size headboard I needed by measuring the width of my bed frame and then subtracted 3″from the width to account for the 1 x 2 border pieces. I cut my headboard backer to 36 x 51″.

2. Next, I began to cut my first few 1×2 pieces (starting with the longest ones). I cut them both with 45 degree angles at each end. I didn’t worry too much about them being perfect because I will be trimming any excess overhang with a circular saw later.

3. Next, I began to layout my first two pieces. I worked with the longest pieces first and used a carpenter’s square to make sure they were perfectly straight.

4. Once I was happy with the layout of the first two pieces, I sanded the plywood backer and the 1 x 2 pieces to 220 grit and began to apply them to the board using a combination of DAP Rapid Fuse and DAP Weldwood Carpenter’s Glue before nailing them into place with my pin nailer.

Since pin nails aren’t the strongest bond right away, the DAP Rapid Fuse works as a clamp while the DAP Weldwood Carpenter’s Glue cures the wood and the pin nails into place.

Overkill? Maybe. But, I didn’t want any pieces falling on my head when I’m sleeping!

5. At this point, I just continued this process until I completed my entire design. I did have to alternate between cutting my pieces at 45 degrees and 90 degrees depending on the piece.

I used a 1 x 2 spacer piece on it’s side to break up the pattern and keep consistent spacing when working.

6. Once all of the pieces were in place, it was time to trim the excess using my circular saw.

7. Next, I cut 1 x 2 pieces of wood to use as border pieces. I then sanded them and painted them with black spray paint.

8. As those dried, I filled in any gaps and holes in my piece using DAP Premium Wood Filler, which I tinted to the same color as the stain I was using on my headboard.