How to decoupage your headboard

Here are some ideas to create a bedroom that looks like it belongs in a chateau.

• headboard template
• edge decoration
• 16mm SupaWood
• universal undercoat
• enamel paint in the colour of your choice
• paint rollers and brushes
• paint trays
• drop sheets
• modge podge and varnish
• masking tape
• craft knife
• scissors

Step 1

Draw your own edge decoration to scale on a sheet of paper if you are not using our design. This headboard template is for a three-quarter bed.

Step 2

Measure your bed’s height and breadth and adjust the template to scale, if necessary. Transfer your headboard template and border decoration to digital format if they aren’t already in this format.

Step 3

Take your digital headboard design to a specialist in routing and have it cut from 16mm SupaWood. Make sure all the measurements are correct.

Step 4

Paint the cut headboard with a layer of universal undercoat and afterwards two coats of enamel paint in the colour of your choice (we used white). Leave the paint to dry thoroughly between coats.

Step 5

Go to a copy shop and have your digital edge decoration scanned in a high-resolution format. Print it in the exact size on paper – ours fitted onto an A0 sheet of paper. Cut out the decoration neatly from the paper. Make very sure that your paper decoration fits precisely on your headboard.

Step 6

Place the cut out decoration onto the headboard and stick it loosely in position with masking tape. Cut the paper into panels so it is easier to work with and doesn’t fold when you are decoupaging it.

Step 7

Paint a layer of modge podge over the first section of the headboard, place the corresponding paper panel in place and paint another layer of modge podge on top. Decoupage the other panels in the same way and leave them to dry completely. Trim the edges neatly with your craft knife and seal with a suitable varnish.

Set the scene

Be inspired by the Louis XV era to create the bedroom of your dreams. We put together this look with paint, a paintbrush and a few clever techniques. Play with dusky blues and touches of gold, and add ornate swirls to make it your own. To finish off, hang a dramatic chandelier and mirrors and add further style to the room with decorative frames, loosely arranged.

Ornate Mirror

We transformed a silver mirror frame by adding gold leaf to the corners and giving it extra embellishments to make it look more ornate. First paint the frame gold using a dry brush, in the same way as you do with the cement pot (see facing page). Leave to dry and then paint a little gold size over the sections where you want to apply gold leaf. Allow the size to become tacky before you apply the gold leaf. Wipe away any loose pieces with a sponge brush. The ornate decorations are made from plaster of Paris. We first painted them black and then painted them gold with a dry bush, just like the frame. The decorations are also finished with gold leaf. If your mirror frame is made from wood, or is a colour other than silver, you can paint it silver before you gild it to get the same effect.

Chateau walls, decorative panels and a stencil pattern.

Use this paint technique to give your walls a romantic aged look. Choose paint in two shades of the same colour – the shade for the underneath coat will be the lighter one and the other one for the top layer will be two shades darker. Paint the underneath coat as per normal and then mix the top coat of paint for your château walls while you wait for the paint to dry. Mix one part of the darker colour with one part water and add two parts of scumble glaze. Use a brush about 15cm wide to apply the paint mixture using criss-cross brush strokes over a square metre of the surface at a time. Then use a lint-free cloth to dab the paint here and there. Also wipe off some of the paint here and there until you get the desired look. Panels are made with decorative panel moulding. You can do this before painting the walls, or afterwards, and then paint them with the same paint technique. Cut the stencil from acetate, spray a little glue on the back and press it against the wall. Dip a sponge brush lightly into gold paint and stencil the design.