Tufting and Nailhead trim

Nothing says "Glamour" like tufting or nailhead trim on a piece of furniture. Well, I guess diamonds and 24K gilding say that too, but I think that may scream it. I have always wanted a piece of furniture that incorporated these design elements.







 When we moved into Mi Casita, we brought my full size bed including its antique headboard and footboard. It was my childhood bed so it had seen (almost) 30 long years, which means that it had endured many little monkeys jumping on the bed. I feel terrible because it wasn't until we finally replaced the bed that I realized how bad it was! And this was our GUEST bed! Ugh! My friend, Sarah recently admitted that she thought the bed was going to fall apart when they stayed in it 2 years ago. The second issue was that the room looked...like a grandma lived there. I know that is harsh, but it did! It didn't reflect either of our taste, but seemed like the land of misfit...decor.

When the time finally came to replace the bed set, i realized it was my opportunity to bring a little glamour into our home. I loved the look and feel of hotel room beds. Although it is no Sheraton (don't they have the best beds?!), I wanted our guests (mostly my in-laws) to feel like they were staying in a welcoming retreat.

My dream was to incorporate BOTH design elements into the room - nailhead trim and tufting. Yes, it was a lofty goal considering it was my first stab at both techniques. After reading the tutorial on Apartment Therapy I decided to ditch the trim (for now) and attempt the tufting.

I had the fabric from an abandoned project, but I had to purchase the rest of the materials. I won't go into the details, because the tutorial did a great job, but it was a pretty simple project. The hardest part was attached the buttons to the board for the "tufted look". The tutorial says to use a long needle to push the thread through the foam and predrilled holes in the board and then go back through the same hole in the opposite direction. It is near impossible to hit the hole after pushing it through 2" of foam! So I tied the string to the button, pushed the thread through the covered board and pulled TIGHT. Because you are pulling the button so tight, it helps to have 2 people (I just did it myself, but it was a pain). I attached the end to a small button and stapled over the string using the small button to hold the covered button into position. Does that make sense? This process was also the longest part of the whole project. I think I spread it over
2 days...

I also used a french cleat (I think that's the name) to hang it on the wall. I got a 20" cleat from Hobby Lobby for about $14. The headboard is very light, so the cleat's weight rating was more than enough for the weight.

Overall the project was quick and very rewarding!