Gorgeous, Rustic DIY Headboard: $15 and easy to make!

My fence post headboard!

Since knowing I was moving to Colorado (and now that I have moved), I have been searching for inexpensive, EASY DIY ways to decorate my home. I stumbled across this blog that had a very cute DIY for a love headboard. After seeing it, I knew that Helpful Husband and I could make one of these!

Other blog's headboard

Luckily for me, my parents had just replaced the fence at their house and my dad (who always keeps things) kept a few extra fence posts in case they were ever needed. When I found out my dad had kept the old fence post, I almost did a jig! I also knew that my dad had all the tools Helpful Husband and I could possibly need to put this headboard together (thankfully, we were still at parents moving packing our stuff). This headboard took very little effort and time. Here are the instructions

What you need:
Old fence boards + 3 extra (measure how tall you want your headboard and that is how many boards you use)
2 (1x4) pieces of wood the length of the fence post
Screws
Sand paper or electric sander
Sealant
Paint brush
Saw (this is optional because Home Depot will do so many cuts for free!)

Planks screwed into boards

Up close look. One nail in each board

Decide which side of your fence boards will face out. Lay that side face down. Take the extra fence boards that you saved and cut them to the height of your headboard. These will be the planks that all of the boards screw into. Lay these 3 pieces on top of the boards (the side that will face the wall) and screw them in.  Next sand the front side of your headboard! Then put a coat of sealant on your headboard (I only did the front side but you can do both if you want). You will want to air your headboard out very well because the sealant has a terrible smell!
Once you have sealed your headboard, it should look like this:

 After your headboard is sealed and airing out, you will want to work with your 1x 4 pieces. If you have a saw you can cut it yourself or you can have Home Depot cut it for free when you buy this piece. Take the 1x4 and saw it in half at an angle. It will look like this:

Angled cut view.

angled wood cute

Once they are cut, you are going to screw one side into the studs on the wall and the other side into the headboard. Be sure to measure carefully how far apart they are and mark this on your headboard! The wood pieces on the wall will have the angles facing up while the wood pieces on the headboard will have the angles facing down. Then you just set the down facing angles on the headboard onto the up facing angles on the wall and your headboard is hung! I know it sounds complicated, but it really isn't and there are more pictures below. The hardest part is measuring everything and making sure the 1x4s on the wall match with the 1x4s on the headboard. Look below for pictures.

1x4s on the headboard

1x4s on the wall

Angled down on the headboard

Angled up on the wall

Fitted together side view from a different angle

fitted together side view

finished project up close

finished project further away!

Quick price breakdown:
Old fence boards: free
Screws: free or about $2 if you don't have any
1x4s: free or about $2.50 if you don't have any
Sealant: $8 to $9
Paint brush: free or roughly $3
Sand paper: free or if you don't have any (not sure of the price but pretty cheap)
Saw: free if you have it or free if  Home Depot cuts the woods (after 2 to 3 cuts, they charge $0.25)

 Now go tackle this project and make yourself a headboard for $15-$20 or less! Don't forget to let me know how it goes!