DIY Barn Door Headboard

The master bedroom, it's supposed to be an oasis for you and your spouse, right? Well, mine never fully felt like a getaway, a room that I was supposed to love spending time in relaxing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my master bedroom before, but now I love my master bedroom! All it took was a new quilt, lampshades, and one awesome handmade headboard.

I really enjoy making headboards. I wish I could do it for a living, seriously! The hubby and I made our first one together two years ago when we moved into our first house. It turned out awesome for our first headboard! We still have it too. It's now residing in our guest bedroom and it looks great in there! Maybe it's the fact that our master bedroom is gray, the headboard was gray and the comforter was gray... it was just too much gray! The room felt too flat and too dark, even with our bright white curtains and pops of white and purple around the room. It just didn't turn out the way I wanted when I started two years ago. So, I decided it was time for a makeover! I really love cottage/farm house/rustic home decor. Not redneck...upscale farm house. I grew up in the country and I've always loved its charm. To capture that charm, I decided to mimic the barn doors that you would see on an actual barn or the sliding barn doors that you see nowadays in homes. The design is super simple, clean, and easy to make! I wish I had some sort of CAD software so I could give you a more detailed blueprint, but I don't, so I just threw together the simple blueprint you see below using photoshop.

For this project, there was very minimal cutting. Only 7 cuts to be exact. If you are satisfied with a 6 foot headboard, then you can start from here. If you want your headboard shorter, you will need to either buy shorter boards or cut them down to the desired height. Next, lay 8 x 6 ft boards on the ground, front side facing up (aka favorite side facing up!).

Next, take one of your 8 foot boards and lay it horizontally across the 8 boards you've laid down and mark the 8ft board to this width, then cut. These will become the cross boards for your barn door. Repeat this step two more times and you should now have six 4 foot boards that will go at the top, middle, and bottom of your barn doors.

Using your wood glue, apply a generous amount to the back side of your 4 foot boards and place at the top and bottom of your barn door. Next, find the center of your barn door and place your middle board there. There should be about 27" between the bottom of the top cross board and top of the middle cross board (see blue print above).

After your cross boards are in place, lay one of your 6 ft boards diagonally across your door and mark where you will cut. Using a pencil, mark the left & right side of where boards intersect, connect the lines with a straight edge, and then cut using your miter saw (see image below).

Once you have cut your diagonal board, apply your wood glue and place on your door. Repeat this step cutting the diagonal board in the opposite direction for your second barn door. This will leave you with one door having a "Z" shape and the other with a backwards "Z" shape.

Once your boards are in place, allow them to dry for 2 to 4 hours or until fully dry. It also helps to place a heavy object on top of the boards to help the to adhere since not all boards are 100% straight.

After your glue has dried, flip your door over so that the back side is exposed. Using your drill and 1/16 drill bit, drill eight holes (24 in total), evenly spaced across each cross board. Make sure that the drill bit does not go too far or you will drill straight through both boards. You only want to drill far enough so that your screw secures the boards together. Next, drill three holes evenly across your diagonal board. Once all of your holes are drilled, screw in your screws. Repeat with your second door.

Your doors are now assembled and you can begin sanding. For my doors I just did a quick light sanding before staining.
To achieve the same stain as my headboard, you will need the two stains above. Minwax Special Walnut 224 and Varathane Sunbleached. I purchased both of these at The Home Depot. You can use whatever color stain you'd like, this was just the combo I used.
To recreate the stain seen in my image, apply the Special Walnut first, brushing and wiping away as you go. Next, apply the Sunbleached stain, but do not cover the entire surface. Brush a few strokes and quickly wipe. I found it easiest to wipe, almost buff, in a circular motion. This will help you cover all of the board evenly. Finally, apply one final layer of the Special Walnut, allowing this layer to set for a few minutes before wiping.
Once you're finished, add any hardware, such as decorative hinges like I did, and allow to air out for several hours to a full 24 hours before bringing into your home. That's it, your'e done! Because this door headboard is so heavy you will just want to prop it up against the wall and push your bed up against it. To prevent scratches and indentions in your wall place a small folded square of felt behind the edges that touch the wall.
If you use this tutorial I'd love to see your finished project! Feel free to tag me on istagram @audrakurtz, tweet me on twitter @thekurtzcorner, or upload a picture on my Facebook fanpage!