The Polka headboard project

Our attic bedroom has become our own little hide away from the world. The walls in peignoir by Farrow and Ball and the wardrobes in Moles Breath - we still needed a solution for the bed. I wanted a headboard with a statement, but didn't have the budget to buy one from my favourite store. So I decided to make one, and when I saw this headboard by Bianca Hall aka frenchforpinapple I fell head over heels in love. 

I got in touch with Linwood fabrics who operate a family run fabric company based in Hampshire. I had heard and seen their fabrics before and knew there would be a perfect one for my project here. After selecting a few samples I decided on their Tango collection, specifically their polka design in midnight blue. The gorgeous pattern and its detail I thought would highlight the curves I wanted to get in my headboard beautifully yet still being practical and robust.

After a speedy delivery from Linwood, I set about creating the headboard, for which I got in touch with my friend Jil at Upholstery bee. She was so gracious to help me out with this project and her skills were invaluable.


Here is a step by step process on the creation of the Polka Headboard. You will need someone to help with this process as each section rolls and  can be a bit unruly to control. 

Step 1 - Measure and calculate it all out.

​Here is a list of what we got:

• 4 boards cut to our length of 195 cm (width of our bed)
• 4 semi-circular foam pieces (we chose a 15 cm diameter)
• Wadding in plenty supply
• Fabric. We got 15 cm  extra length on each end to allow for the depth of the foam and the board it sits on.
• You will also need a pneumatic nail gun and some sharp scissors. 

Step 2 - Glue on the foam to the wood planks.  

​We used spray adhesive and then gently lowered the long piece of foam onto the plank of wood. Its useful to have two people when doing this to hold the foam up and you will need to work quickly as the spray adhesive dries quickly.

Step 3 - Apply the wadding and staple in place.  

​Try and place the staples in a straight line and make sure that the overlap isnt too large as you will need to cover the wadding with the fabric ideally. 

 ​Step 4 - Cut the fabric

​Cut into strips that will cover the foam and wadding with enough overlap to upholster comfortably. We managed to get 4 strips from our width of fabric. There is a rule in upholstery that fabric, even though your friend, too much of it can ruin a piece. So measure many times before you cut. 

Step 5 - Fix the fabric
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Get the fabric orientation right and start fixing from the centre  outwards, keeping taught. The corners are particularly tricky due to the amount of fabric that gathers so getting a neat edge is crucial. This is why I got the fabulous Upholstery Bee to work her magic! It is quite a large piece and due to the semicircular front it rocks and rolls (obviously) so I was on hand to help keep things steady. 

You will need to repeat all of the above steps till all 4 of your pieces are upholstered and sit happily.  I transported the pieces individually home as  they wouldn't have fit in my car otherwise and then continued the process at home. 

Step 6 - Creating one headboard
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Fix all 4 upholstered semi-circular pieces together using a bracket. I couldn't find a bracket long enough in my local hardware store so I got multiple shorter ones which I used to attach the boards together. 

Step 7 - Hanging the headboard
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Fix the headboard to the bed or to the wall. I initially used a French cleat but our walls are as soft as cheese so this couldn't take the weight so I ended up fixing it directly to the base bed using some back supports. 

Step 8 - Enjoy!

I would like to thank Linwood fabrics for giving me a gracious discount on the fabric and also to Upholstery bee whose magic created these headboards.