Head Board Tutorial

9 years ago, I was living in my first apartment as a married gal.  My new living space led to a new favorite show, TLC's Trading Spaces.  I must have watched every episode those first few seasons.  I learned all kinds if tricks, including how to create a headboard in about a hundred different ways.  Well, my taste in decorating has evolved, but the headboard phenominon, must have stuck with me cause I recently got the urge to transform a garage sale headboard.

Here's my garage sale find.  Not bad, but not quite what I was looking for either.

First, I filled in the back with some plywood.  I had to use a couple of pieces cut to size and then attached it with furniture nails.

Then I filled in some of the cracks and imperfections with wood filler and sanded it down a bit.

Following that, I sprayed it up with primer and a coat of navy satin paint. 

After that first coat of paint, it became clear to me that the plywood was still a little rough, so I did some more sanding.  I wanted it to look as smooth as the original wood slats.

A couple more coats were required to complete the coverage.  I had to go buy two more cans of the navy spray paint.  I guess no project's complete without a couple extra trips to the hardware store.

Here's the headboard in it's new room.