How to Reupholster a headboard

April 4, 2019

Reupholstering your headboard is an easy and effective way to give your bedroom a refresh. Perhaps you have recently redecorated and would like your headboard to complement the new décor or you would like to make the headboard the focal point of the room. If this sounds like you, follow our steps below to learn how to reupholster a headboard.

Step 1 – Choose your fabric

There’s a lot to think about when choosing the perfect fabric for your headboard. You want to go for a fabric that reflects the décor of your bedroom, such as matching your curtain fabric or an upholstered chair. You should also choose a soft fabric that is durable and easy to clean (especially if you have little ones in the house). Fabrics that look great on a headboard include leather, suede, cotton or polyester.

We have a large selection of fabric in a variety of colours and textures, take a look at our fabrics page for inspiration.

Step 2 – Remove headboard fabric

Remove the headboard from your bed or wall – the headboard should be easy to remove by undoing the screws. Once removed, you will need to take off the current fabric using a staple remover.

Step 3 – Measure, cut and attach padding to headboard

Next, measure the padding for the headboard. Our furniture foam can be cut to any size, shape and thickness, making it ideal for padding your headboard. Once measured to size, cut and attach using a staple gun.

Step 4 – Measure, cut and attach fabric to headboard

An easy way to measure your new fabric is to use the previous material as a pattern. Simply lay the original fabric onto the new fabric and cut around it using fabric scissors, making sure you leave enough room for the fabric to be pulled behind the board and stapled.

If you damaged the original fabric when removing it from the headboard, don’t worry, you can still measure your new fabric to fit. Just measure the size of the headboard, leaving around six inches to overlap onto the back. Mark the fabric with tailors chalk or fabric markers to ensure you cut straight lines.

Attach the cut fabric to the headboard using a staple gun. The easiest way to do this is to lay the headboard on top of the fabric and pull the fabric tight and staple the fabric into place at the back of the headboard.