Planked Walls and Upholstered Headboards (master bedroom progress)

Well, the master bedroom is slowly coming along, looking better and better each month! I’m trying to work on it a little at a time and not stress, since I realize we may never fully finish it before we sell our house. I’m okay with that, and in the meantime I’m really enjoying having a master bedroom that doesn’t make me cringe.

Anyway, this months challenge for my BHG sponsored post was “furniture”. So a few weeks ago I was sitting in bed, perusing walmart.com, looking through all the BHG furniture and thinking how I didn’t really need anything, when it dawned on me that I was sitting on two crappy mattress stacked on top of each other, with a pillow behind my back and my head resting on the wall. A bed would probably be a good idea. You know, like an adult would have.

So I ordered the king size BHG Grayson Linen Headboard in Oatmeal for $179 (they also have navy and gray, and a queen is only $119).Grayson Linen Headboard

It had 808 reviews and 4.5 stars, which is impressive by any standards. I was a little worried because the nail heads looked black in that picture, but when it showed up they were a pretty muted brass color.

nailhead trim

The whole thing is really nice and looks like a much more expensive headboard, and is certainly more comfortable to lean against than a hard, bare wall. Although the legs on it are just particle board covered in black felt, but no one sees them anyway so it’s not a big deal.

how to decorate above bed

I also decided that while I’m at it, I should probably launch us into full adulthood and get a bed frame and box spring, which would get us down to just one crappy mattress.

platform bed frame

When I actually started shopping around I found this instead, which is a platform bed frame that doesn’t require a box spring. It was cheaper than buying the combo, plus gives us lots of storage under the bed. I can even store the vacuum under it, which has been haphazardly lying around our master bedroom for seven years due to the lack of closets in this house.

Also, you may have noticed another change in this room…

planking before and after

Yup, planks.

For years now I have wanted at do a feature wall behind the bed in our master bedroom. It’s the perfect wall for it, is large and flat without any windows. I’ve come up with all sorts of fun ideas along the way, none of which have actually happened. So while Adam and I were buying beds and ditching crappy mattresses, I thought it would be a good time to tackle the wall. I ended up going in the opposite direction that I had been wanting all these years, and just kept it simple with white planks. It’s not exciting or daring, but I seriously love my kitchen planks, so they made sense in here. Plus planking is a fairly quick and easy project, and I’m all about quick and easy projects these days.

Adam and I did this wall just like the others, ripping thin plywood into six-inch strips, sanding and painting the edges, then installing with a brad nailer. (If you want a tutorial on planking a wall, read my tutorials here and here).

wishing I didn't paint

Thing is that this time the plywood we bought was a little bit nicer, and I loved how the raw wood looked.  The problem was I had already prepped the planks by priming the all the edges and the planks I knew would be hard to reach. I had no choice but to paint them, and was mentally kicking myself the whole time. The raw wood would have looked so good and been so much easier….dang me and my responsible pre-planning.

bright and colorful bedroom

Still, the wall looks nice and adds character, and the bed is a big improvement. Adam even curled up in it that first night and said he felt like Robert Crawley and that I should start referring to him as “His Lordship”. That’s right, real men watch Downton…and no, His Lordship isn’t happening (unless he wants to pay for a maid, kitchen staff, and nanny, then I’d be a “His Lordship” -ing fool.)

Anyway, now I have to find something to hang above the bed, again, because the planked pallet sign I recently made is plank overload on this wall (I’m moving it to the other side of the room).

What to do above the bed

Suggestions are welcome, because I have absolutely no idea what to put up there. Maybe I should paint a “His Lordship sleeps here” sign and see if I can get that kitchen staff thing moving along.

 

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*This post was sponsored by the BHG Live Better Network. All opinions are 100% my own.

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20 Comments

  1. YAY for underbed storage! I have one of those depression-era iron bedframes that are crazy high (because of course back in the day they didn’t have boxsprings) and I can fit six rubbermaid totes under it. It’s where I keep all my crafting stuff, fabric, sewing projects, even off-season clothes. Just FYI, when you have that kind of space under the bed, little ones like to hide there. I found my niece after twenty minutes of panicked searching; she’d pushed two totes further in and was under there with her blanket and her tablet watching Finding Nemo with her headphones on.

    As for the plank wall…..maybe family photos? Because instead of one big piece of art, it’s a bunch of smaller pieces that you could reconfigure to hang somewhere else in the new house.

    1. Why are box springs even a thing? Before the two crappy mattresses we have always had the frame and box spring, and the underbed storage is barely usable. This new set up is amazing, I was able to empty the overstuffed master closet of all Adams old military things and put them under the bed (along with the vacuum). Amazing! You’re right about the kids too, the boys have already spent quite a bit of time hiding under there (not quietly like your niece though…they never do things quietly).

  2. I think the plank sign would look just fine above the headboard…. nice dark color to correspond with the drawers of the nite stands. but I totally love the planks and I agree that the natural look would have looked just as nice as the painted. I’m going to show your photos to my better half and see if the likes the plank idea for our master bedroom. You are so inspiring!

  3. Love the wall, I did like the raw wood but it looks good painted too! I’m a fan of circular mirrors over the bed, like in your guest room, or maybe a long picture ledge so you could swap out pictures and art easily if you wanted a change? A quick and easy thing to do would be to buy a big canvas or a couple of small ones and just go to town on them, impressionist style, using some of the colors from your bedding.

    1. I’ve been looking on pinterest hoping to find something I love for above the bed, and there is just to much! I like the round mirrors too, or art, or plates…. impressionist art sounds like fun though, Jackson Pullock style. Back when Adam and I were first married and didn’t have a computer or TV I would paint all the time. It was always super abstract since I don’t actually have any talent when it comes to painting, but always fun!

  4. I have those exact same things! They were so much cheaper and convenient! And when my husband and I packed up and moved cross country taking only what would fit in our Expedition, it was great that they could fold up meaning we’d only have to buy the mattress. We’ve had them for several years now and I honestly think they’ve held up great.

    1. Good to hear that they are holding up! When the UPS man dropped them off in a relatively small box, Adam was like “grrreat, now I get to spend all night assembling a bed frame”. But they just popped right open in one piece and we were done!

  5. I love the wall! It adds so much warmth to the room, even though it’s painted white. ;) And I love the bedspread in the picture, too. What if you were to collect a number of decorated plates–different sizes, different patterns, but similar in colors to your bedspread and to each other–and hang them above the headboard? Similar to the interior decorating style I’ve seen in two Olive Gardens recently–one in MA, the other on the opposite end of the country in MT–where the plates on the walls feature different patterns, but their similar colors tie them all together. :)

  6. It looks lovely. What about a circular mandala hanging above the bed, to pick up the quilt? Something like this: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Indian-Star-Mandala-Boho-beach-Bed-Sheet-Hippie-Bedpread-Wall-Hanging-Tapestries-/261925730993?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cfbfd7ab1
    If you framed it in a square you could even tip it so it was diamond shaped, like the quilt.
    The bedframe looks great, too. We made one out of very heavy wood that we can store stuff in, but this looks even better.

  7. Hi Ashley! Can you share which plywood you used this time to plank the wall? My husband and i love your plank wall idea but having hard time finding the one you used for the kitchen from Home Depot even though you posted the photo of price tag!

    1. Yumi, The plywood is standard underlayment, I believe it is sized in millimeters but should be around 1/8″ thick. I noticed Home Depot has 2 different thicknesses. The stuff I used in the kitchen was slightly thicker and slightly cheaper than the bedroom stuff. If I had to choose one again i would go with the thinner one.

  8. Your wall looks great and I love that bed frame and all that storage! What about the sunburst mirror you made above the bed??? Or something like it. I also like the family photos idea.

  9. OK off topic but funny story, I had a dream recently that my parents bought your house only I didn’t realize until I went over and was given a tour. They were talking about changing some stuff and when I realized where I was I was like “NO keep everything” I then had to explain to them how I follow your blog religiously and loved all your projects….. I’m pretty sure I ended up with the house by the end of the dream. of course other things dreamlike things happened like dinosaurs and flying people .. .hahaha anyway super funny, weird and I had to share.

    1. Ha, I love it! Thanks for sticking up for my projects :) I have similar dreams where we sell our house and the buyers tell us after closing that they bought it because of the location but are going to tear out everything we did. And part of me is like “Nooooooo!” and the other half is like “whatever, we got paid”.

  10. Hahahaha. You crack me up! “His Lordship…” My hubby watches Downton too. And he likes it! I absolutely love the plank wall and the headboard. I need to get one of those but I keep thinking I’ll just make one. It’s not very hard to do especially since I’ve already done it once. :)

  11. I love this! I was just doing a search for the headboard and came across your blog. How are the headboard and frame holding up after two years? I love your bedding as well, where did you find it?

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