We just made a twin sized headboard for my daughters dorm room. I saw a million ideas out there made from foam core to wood covered in fabric. She wanted a rustic wood headboard with some space between the planks. So, together we made the headboard she had in mind.

Weight was a major concern in case it fell on my daughter! I looked at picket fence wood which is rustic and inexpensive BUT it was a little thicker than we needed and heavier. I wanted to use the lightest wood we could find.

Headed over to the lumber yard and we bought a sheet of 1/4″ 4’x8′ pine plywood and had it ripped lengthwise every 8″ with the grain. This is what I use for faux shiplap cut the same way (6″ or 8″ depending on your preference). We also bought a 1x2x8 furring strip which we will use to hold the planks together. All in you are looking at about $21.

A twin mattress is 38″ wide. You can add a few inches to each side to beef the width up which I usually do but plan is for the bed to be against the wall in the dorm so we don’t have the freedom to go crazy for impact.

We added an extra 3″ hoping she’ll have 1.5″ wall to bed frame. I cut 6 planks 41″ long using my miter saw.

My daughter sanded all of the edges and stained the planks with Minwax Early American stain using a disposable foam brush.

We read lots of posts on Pinterest regarding how to secure the bed frame since dorms are usually cinderblock and you aren’t allowed to drill into it. It seems popular to make the headboard extra tall to rest it on the bed frame then push the mattress back against it to hold it in place.

I bought some heavy duty Velcro that I thought we could try on the back to assist in securing it.

Hoping 2 strips that support 10 pounds x 2 may help it hug the wall. We will let you know how that works out next week!

We had to take it apart to for it in the car then reassemble at the dorm. Added Velcro to the back of each slat and pressed to the wall. Hoping for the best!

Dorm, sweet, dorm. She’s all set up and classes begin today!

Time to fly baby girl! Best of luck to any of you who have sent one off to college this year.

Here’s to studying lots and partying lightly–

Kristen