Dreaming of a Statement Bed

First let me give you some background.... my darling husband is a lot of things - romantic, kind, funny, handsome (you get the idea) but one thing he is Not is decisive. Sometimes when we decide to go out to dinner we actually never make it out the door due to the indecisiveness that goes on in our household which is why I was completely blown away on Saturday when we were in and out of the mattress store within an hour with a brand-new king bed!

We'd been talking about getting a new bed for a while but with the wedding and everything we figured we would have to wait until Christmas but that timeline got accelerated when Mike started waking up at night with horrible back pain that wasn't there at all during the day. Combine that with one very fidgety 12-pound dog, and we have all been sleeping terribly.

Our new Tempurpedic got delivered on Sunday and wow, it is amazing even in all it's firmness (they take a few weeks to soften up). Just the real estate on a king sized bed is enough to make me giddy. I mean, Goose still insists on snuggling next to me but at least I can stretch my arms and legs out without throwing an elbow into Mike's side. Although we are all sleeping much better, having the mattress on the ground is a little too "college house" for me.

I was browsing for a new bed frame and when I was trying to define what I want, all I kept thinking was I wanted a "statement bed." I mean, there are statement necklaces / purses / shoes so why not a bed? I love looking at rooms that are verily neutral aside from one great piece of furniture and since our bedroom has beautiful lofted ceilings, I say why not? Mike might not be totally on board (yet) but he will come around.

So far, at the top of my list is this beauty from West Elm. I've always wanted a wingback headboard and those cute little legs put the finishing touch on it.

Next up is the Architecture Bed from Room and Board. A modern twist on the four-poster bed that would fit nicely with our tall ceilings. The only thing I am worried about with this one is its lack of a head board.

And finally, there is this tufted, wingback bed from All Modern. At $836 it is the best price and comes in a few different colors. Since Mike's main complaint with the West Elm one is that he doesn't like having a footboard, this could be a great option for us.

What do you guys think? Am I the only one that is seriously crushing on an upholstered sleigh bed with a mid-century modern twist?

Tufted Headboard for Under $200

While the cat's away, the mice will play redecorate. This past weekend was amazingly productive with three days of nothing planned. I honestly can't remember the last time that happened but it was just what I needed to re-discover my creative side. I mainly focused my efforts on our master bedroom and bathroom with a few other projects thrown in there and am quite happy with the results.

The biggest item on my 'to-do' list was recovering our headboard. I bought this large canvas while living in the apartment but was never happy with my first upholstery job. The 'before' fabric was our previous duvet cover and while I loved the pattern, the stretchy fabric and design didn't lend itself well to this use. You can see in the picture below how the pattern wasn't straight and it looked saggy.

If you have a queen, you will want to get a 36" x 72" pre-stretched canvas. These can get really expensive but I found one at my local art store on sale for about $110. I've seen tutorials where people just used a large wooden frame but the actual canvas was a must if you are going to tuft it since you will need a backing for the buttons to hold on to. The other option is to get a piece of plywood cut to this length but I wanted something light that I wouldn't have to anchor into the wall (especially something to consider if you are renting).

I originally went with one layer of batting but decided to add an extra layer to make it softer and let the buttons stand out more. For a queen size you will need about two and a half yards for each layer which will run you around $3 a yard. For the fabric, look for something sturdy that can stand up to being stretched and stapled. Being cost conscious, I went for the sale section and found this lovely blue linen for $4.99 a yard and bought three yards so I'd have extra to make the buttons.

From there you want to staple each layer at a time to the back of the frame with staples about 3" apart making sure you are pulling the fabric tight all the way around. Once the frame was covered, I leaned it against the wall and broke out my large level to mark where I wanted my buttons to go. I decided on a grid pattern so I marked a dot every foot after I had measured 6" in from the edge.

For the button detail, I liked the look of the same fabric so I bought a kit at the fabric store to make my own. This was probably the most tedious part of the whole process but worth it in the end for the look I was going for. The directions on the back are pretty self explanatory but I definitely recommend getting the set with the little tools to make forming the fabric around the shell easier.

Once the buttons were made, I went to town with some needle and thread making sure I pulled the buttons as tight as I could before tying them off on the back side (this is where having the thick canvas as the base really came in handy). I used a basic cotton thread and looped it four times to make it really strong.

Originally I was contemplating using a patterned or brighter fabric but I love the how the blue is subtle next to our white duvet, dark wood, and grey accents.