- 1). Cut the plywood or a salvaged wooden door to the size and shape you want for your headboard with a circular or saber saw. Make sure it's no wider than the width of the bed.
- 2). Lay the headboard face down on your quilted batting. If you want it softer, you can lay a piece of foam between the batting and the headboard. Wrap the edges of the batting around the bottom edge of the headboard and staple it into place; pull tightly over the top and sides before stapling in place.
- 3). Lay out the fabric you have chosen to cover the headboard. Pull the bottom edge of the fabric over the bottom edge of the headboard and staple in place. Pull the rest of the fabric over the top edge of the headboard and staple in place, and then pull around the sides and cut the corners to eliminate wrinkles.
- 4). Trim the canvas cotton backing cloth to the size of the headboard. Lay the backing on the back of the headboard; fold down an inch of the raw edges as you staple first the bottom edge, then the top and sides, stretching as you go.
- 5). Cut two 1-by-4 legs long enough to reach from the bottom of the side of the platform bed that's toward the wall to at least two-thirds the way up the back of the headboard. The legs attach to the back of the bed frame and the headboard to hold the headboard upright behind the platform. Predrill screw holes with the pilot bit -- three evenly spaced into the top part of the legs where they screw to the back of the headboard. Screw the legs to the back of the headboard with the lower part of the legs that will screw into the platform hanging below the headboard.
- 6). Set the headboard on the back of the platform frame, then drill three evenly spaced holes through the lower part of the two legs into the platform frame. Make sure the screws don't press through the inside of the frame. Screw the lower legs to the platform frame. If the frame is metal, drill holes in the metal frame and supports, and bolt the legs of the headboard into place through the metal frame at the bottom.
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