antique door headboard

I’ve always loved doors that are turned into headboards. I love how they give a little antique charm but still have clean, smooth lines. I thought it’d be the best option for our small, kind of dark colored bedroom. We needed a headboard that wasn’t too large, but also didn’t look flimsy and misfit. Oh, and it had to fit up the stairs, which is a HUGE challenge in this house.

So, I started my Craigslist search for an antique door. There was a woman selling a bunch of them about 35 minutes away for only $20. So we headed that way to retrieve one. She had lots to choose from and all were original to the house. We selected one and were on our merry way.

It was a bit too long for a queen bed, would have fit a king perfectly. Al cut some of it off and removed the doorknob. He also secured some stilt like legs to it so we could secure the bed frame to it. He made sure that the hole from the doorknob was at the bottom so the mattress covers it.

He sanded the whole thing and painted it. I guess this was more of Al’s project, I just watched really.

I had a coupon for a free pint of paint so I decided to be a little wild and paint it bright yellow. Well, in my mind it was a nice warm yellow. On the door it was bright yellow.

I hated it and freaked out for like a week. But, then it started to grow on me. I started to enjoy the pop of color against the dark greyish walls. And now, it’s been bright yellow for 8 months and it’s staying that way.

I’m still toying with the idea of putting some sort of molding on the top. Our bedroom is still not done so this is really all I have to show you. We’re getting there though, soon it will be complete.

We ended up spending 20 bucks for the head board and less than 5 for the stilts. The paint was free. I’d say that’s a pretty great price for a queen headboard!