How to Make a Wooden King Size Bed Frame and Nail Trimmed Headboard

Want to make your own DIY King Size Bed Frame and Headboard? We’ve got a complete tutorial to show you how to do it! Grab the materials below and get started!

Materials List for a DIY King Size Bed Frame and Headboard:

Plywood
8: 2 x 4, 6 ft. long
3: 2 x 12, 8 ft. long
5: 2 x 2, 8 ft. long
9 yards – 0.5 inch 27 wide NuFoam-polyester padding
6 yards – 55 inch home décor fabric
Nail trim
Staple gun
Flame Guard
Scotch Guard
Fabric Adhesive
Box of 2.5 inch wood screws
12: 5/16” hex head lag screws

DIY King Size Bed Frame & Headboard Tutorial

1. Cut two of the 2 x 12 boards 85 inches long (Board A and B). These will be the side of your bed. Cut the other 2 x 12 board 80 inches long (Board C). This will be the foot of the bed.

2. Cut one of the 2 x 2 69.5 inches. This one is going on Board C. Place the 2 x 2 piece 5.25 inches from each end of Board C and 1.5 inch from the bottom edge of Board C. Screw into place.

3. Then cut two of the 2 x 2 boards 78 inches. Place one of the 2 x 2 boards 3.5 inches from the end of Board A. It needs to be flush with the bottom edge of Board A. Then screw in place. Repeat with Board B.

4. Take your last two 2 x 2 boards and cut eight 15 inch long pieces. Line up one of the 15 inch pieces with the 2 x 2 already screwed on Board A. Screw in place. Leave a 4 inch space and place another 15 inch 2 x 2 piece. Screw in place. Repeat two more times until you have four 2 x 2 boards on Board A. There will be a 4 inch gap on the end. Repeat with Board B.

5. Cut four 10.5 inch pieces from a 2 x 4. These will be the legs at the foot of the bed. If you can, cut your angle at 45 degrees.

6. Cut two of the 2 x 4 boards to 68 inches. (These will be Boards D and E)

7. Cut the last 2 x 4 to 77 inches (Board F)

8. Place Board F on the top side of board D and E and screw into place. The boards should be flush with no gaps. This is the frame for your headboard.

9. Cut another 2 x 4 at 74 inches. (Board G)

10. On Board D and E from the bottom (opposite of where board F is placed) mark 19 inches. Place the bottom side of Board G at that mark. We want the short side of the board at the 19 inch mark and the rest flush with the edges of Boards D and E.

11. In centers of Boards F and G, take two pieces of 2 x 4 (Boards H and J) and screw them into place. They should touch in the middle and be connected with around an 8 inch leftover 2 x 4. Note that Boards H and J are cut from leftovers. Boards H and J could be one board but it would require an extra 2 x 4 to be purchased.

12. Make sure you have a perfectly square headboard and if not square up now.

13. Cut two pieces of plywood 38.5 inches x 4 ft. Then cut two small pieces of plywood 9.5 inches by 4 ft.

14. Place one of the large pieces of plywood flush with the corner of Board D and F. It should also line up with Board G and the middle support 2 x 4. Nail into place. Repeat with the other large piece of plywood and corner of Board E and F.

15. Take one of the smaller pieces of plywood and place at the bottom of the large piece. Flush with the edge of pieces D. Nail into place. Repeat on the other side as well. The smaller pieces of plywood will prevent the box springs from sliding off the bed.

16. Paint the bottom of Boards D and E below the plywood. Also paint the legs that were built in step #5.

Now you are ready to add upholstery!!!

17. Take 0.5 inch NuFoam (polyester padding). What I found was from Joann’s Fabric and was 27 inches wide and cut in half so I had two 12.5 inch wide pieces. If you don’t want something quite as thick and a little easier to work with you can also use batting. Cover both side rails and the foot board.

18. I sprayed my NuFoam with a fire guard I also got from Joann Fabric that is supposed to make it fire resistant.

19. Take the home décor fabric and cut into thirds. It comes 55 inches wide, so about 19.25 inches wide and 85 inches long. (I did not wash my home fabric for my bed since this isn’t something I will ever wash in the washing machine. But I did iron it.)

20. Lay one of your strips of fabric over the NuFoam. Staple the bottom in place

21. Make sure all wrinkles are removed and tightly pull the top side over the edge of your rails and staple in place. Then pull the end of the fabric over the ends of the boards and staple into place. Repeat on each railing and the foot board.

22. Take 10 – 1 inch thick 14 inch x 14 inch poly foam square. Lay them three inches from the side and the top of the edges of the headboard on the plywood. Lifting one up at a time and checking your measurements, spray some fabric adhesive on the plywood and back side of the NuFoam and lay in place. Repeat for all 10 squares.

23. Lay out your 0.5 inch NuFoam in two inch strips and almost cover the entire headboard and the sides. Make sure it goes over the top of the headboard at least an inch and nail in place on the top and wrap around to the back and nail in place.

24. This will leave you with all but 5 inches of the bottom covered in NuFoam and will be thicker in the middle. The 5 inches will be covered by a box spring so no one should be able to tell there is no NuFoam, and we will cover it in fabric.

25. The home décor fabric comes in 55 inches and we will need 63 inches wide to go over the top and bottom of the headboard. You will need 2.5 yards long to cover the headboard. To accomplish this you will need to cut two strips 10 inches x 44 inches long. Sew the two strips together on the short side. Then sew the long side to the edge of the 2.5 yard for the headboard. Then iron well. You are now ready to apply the fabric to the head board.

26. It is best to have some help with this. Lay the fabric over the headboard. Have someone lift the top of the headboard up about 2 ft. so you can put a couple of staples in place on the back of the headboard. This will keep the fabric from sliding off. You want the top of the headboard completely covered. Then lift the headboard up and staple the top of the fabric in place.

27. Tightly pull the fabric so it wraps around the bottom of the headboard and staple in place on the back side.

28. Repeat the same steps on each side, pulling the fabric as tight as possible.

29. Now you are ready to add the decorative nail head. I got this from Joann fabric and it makes it so easy!

30. Measure 2.5 inches from the side of the head board all the way around. Then lay your nail trim out. The easiest way we found is to have someone hold the trim in place and make sure it stays level and another person nail it down.

31. The great thing about this nail trim is that every 5^th “nail” has a hole and that is where you will nail in an actual nail. If for some reason the fabric seams too thick and the nail won’t stay then you can always use tiny nails instead. No one would be able to tell.

32. Once the nail head is finished it’s time to put the bed together! Start by putting the headboard standing up where you would like it to go.

33. Attach a leg to each side board using two lag screws on each leg. You want the top of the leg flush with the top of the 2 x 2. You will need to drill pilot holes prior to inserting the lag screws.

34. Line up the side board with the outside leg of the headboard. Make sure the side board is level. Then place two large screws in the inside of the leg of the headboard so it will go all the way through to the side board. Then repeat on the other side.

35. Attach the foot board to both legs using two lag screws on each side. Then place four 2 x 4 boards in the middle of the bed in the space made by the 2 x 2.