Turn your blah Fjellse into a FAB upholstered bed

Materials: Fjellse bedframe (double)

Description: Now that I'm living like a grown up after college, it's time for my sleeping situation to look the part too. So although the Fjellse bedframe has great bones (solid pine, not particleboard!) and the price at $50 cannot be beat, it's just a bit too plain and cheapie-college looking for my taste. Although I could just slap on some nice paint and call it a day, my inner interior decorator really really wanted a luxe upholstered bed ever since I laid eyes on them.

Here's how to do it too:

1) Prepare your wood to be painted and primed by wiping it clean and filling in any grooves in the wood knots with wood filler. Sand down the wood filler when dry.

2) Apply 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of latex paint allowing enough time to dry between coats. I used Martha Stewart Living in Sharkey Grey.

3) Build the wood frame add on to increase the height of the headboard. Use 2 inch wood screws to attach the 3 pieces of wood like so. You only need one screw on each side. For more strength, add some wood glue between the joints:


4) Now attach the plywood to the frame you just built using 1 1/4 inch wood screws. Attach that to the bedframe by screwing the plywood to the Fjellse frame using more 1 1/4 inch wood screws. Attach mending plates to strengthen the joint between the add on and the Fjellse frame. It should look like this:


5) Next, attach your foam by stapling it into the plywood at the bottom edge of the headboard and then stretch the foam over the top edge and staple onto the back of the headboard. Do the same with the quilt batting. Make sure to pull everything taughtly and evenly before stapling so you'll get nice smooth edges. When you're done, it'll look like this:


6) Lastly, align and staple your fabric onto the headboard pulling taughtly. Make sure your fabric is straight if you're using a print and take your time on this part to make sure everything looks smooth and professional.


Now you're done and your Fjellse is looking fantastic! :) If you wanna see more pictures or are confused about any steps, see my blog post where I talk about it more extensively.

See more of the DIY upholstered bed.

~ Trinh, New York