How to Make a Homemade Bed for Girls

Place a piece of 42-by-30-by-3/4-inch plywood flat on your work surface. Coat the surface with a spray adhesive. Place a piece of 42-by-30-by-1-inch upholstery foam on top of the plywood. Ensure the edges are flush and press down on adhesive. Set it aside for 30 minutes.

Place a piece of 52-by-40-inch fabric on your work surface face down. Choose fabric that matches the girl’s room or reflects her likes. For example, if she is a flower fan, choose floral patterns. Or, if her room is pink and brown choose a pink satin or even brown micro-suede. If she prefers less feminine options, such as skulls, choose a skull-patterned fabric.

Turn the plywood and foam piece face down and center it over the fabric. Pull the right side of the fabric over the edge of the plywood. Pull it firmly in the center and staple it to the back of the plywood. Pull the left side of the fabric over and staple it the same way you did the right side. Repeat the process with the top and bottom edges. Once the center of the fabric is stapled on all four sides, pull the rest of the fabric over and staple it to the plywood.

Attach a wall-hanging bracket on the back of the plywood along the 42-inch side. Position it 3 inches below the top edge and 3 inches in from the left edge. Use 1-inch wood screws through the holes in the bracket into the plywood. Place a second bracket 3 inches down and 3 inches in from the right edge.

Hold a wall mount bracket against the wall where you want to hang the headboard. Place it 3 inches in from where you want the left edge and 52 inches high. Use a pencil to mark the screw holes on the bracket on the wall. Remove the bracket and drill a pilot hole in the wall with a 1/8-inch drill bit on each marked hole. Press a screw anchor into each of the holes. Place the bracket back on the wall. Screw one screw through each hole into the anchors.

Measure from the outer left edge of the mounted bracket to 36 inches to the right. Keep the height the same at 52 inches. Mark the screw holes in a second bracket, drill pilot holes and insert anchors the same way you did the first bracket in Step 5. Screw additional screws through the bracket holes into the wall anchors.

Lift the fabric-covered plywood headboard to the wall and slide the brackets on the headboard into the brackets on the wall. Place the bedframe in front of the headboard and set up the bed as you normally would.