-
Create the look of a window behind your bed with a cornice headboard with an attached curtain. To make a simple cornice, measure the width of your mattress plus the width of your bedside tables. If you make the cornice long enough to include your bed and the tables, the curtain fabric will encompass them both for a more custom headboard design.
A wooden cornice is basically a box; you have a strip of wood running parallel to the wall across the face of the cornice, one wood strip at the top perpendicular to the first and attached to the wall, and two sides that create the depth of your cornice. Consider adding design interest to the face of the cornice with a scalloped bottom edge. You can staple the fabric for your headboard directly to the inside of the face board of the cornice for a simple but dramatic headboard. -
You can create a headboard by repurposing an old cornice to fit your bedroom's current design. Repaint or restain the cornice and attach it to the wall just above your bed for a block-style headboard. Or, cover the cornice in fabric to soften the look of the block styling and to create a custom design to match your linens.
To cover the cornice in fabric, you'll need fabric and batting cut to fit around the face and the sides of the cornice, a staple gun and spray adhesive. Lay the fabric on a flat surface with the batting on top. Spray the face, the top and the sides of the cornice with adhesive and place the face board in the center of your batting. Wrap the fabric and batting up over all of the sides and staple it underneath the cornice. If you plan to hang the cornice headboard high enough so that the underside will be visible, cover the inside with fabric and batting as well.
For an effect that's even more dramatic, add lighting to the wall above your bed before you place the cornice. -
Consider building three equal-sized cornices to create a 3-D effect for your headboard design. Cover the face and sides of the cornices with mosaic tiles. Glass mosaic tiles like the ones you'd see in a kitchen backsplash will work beautifully for this project. Remember to use a white thinset with added bonding adhesive to apply the tiles so the glass will shimmer for years to come.
Before you hang the tiled cornice boards in a stacked row on the wall behind your bed, attach a strip of mirror tiles equal to the length of your cornice boards in the space between the cornices. Placing strips of mirror between the stacked cornices will increase the impact of your headboard and reflect the shimmering tiles.
