The Headboard: Before & After*

I’ve had a busy few days.

And by busy I of course mean not really busy at all. My lovelies, I finally started watching North & South.

And by “started watching” I obviously mean that I sat glued to my couch until I had watched the entire series. Oh my goodness it was SO good! I was devastated when it ended simply because it meant there wasn’t more to the story.

*sigh*

In other news, I’m now sixteen weeks pregnant and I fear the days of wearing my own clothes are limited. I’m still squeezing into my pants, but there is a growing pile of pants with top buttons who have become… unfriendly. I think it’s almost time to bust out the maternity clothes! People told me I would start showing a little earlier the second time around, but I wasn’t prepared for this! haha

So. A while back I mentioned that I had finally found a headboard for my bed! I have been looking for a while, as the ones I saw in stores were crazy expensive and it’s a “frill” I didn’t want to overspend on. I’ve been scouring Kijiji for one that I liked, and while I saw a few possibilities, it still looked like I would be spending $75 – 100.

And then we went to Goodwill.

A few weeks ago, Spart came to visit. We had a glorious sushi lunch, then decided to run a few errands and do some shopping. I had several bags of clothes to donate in the back of my vehicle, so we decided to stop off at Goodwill on the way. After dropping them off, we thought it couldn’t hurt to pop in for a minute and see what was there.

On our way in we noticed signs on the door that indicated that the store was closing in a few weeks time, and until it closed everything in the store was 50% off. While I’m so sad to lose one of my favourite thrifting haunts, I love  good deal and was hoping to find some treasures.

I did.

I hunted through my usual aisles without much luck, then decided to take a peek at the furniture as Spart was still browsing, and the Hubster was keeping Ruby busy. I noticed they had a collection of bed frames in pieces leaning against one wall, so moved in to take a closer look. At first glance it looked like a pile of mismatched junk, but as I moved a few things around, an old queen-sized headboard caught my eye. It was in rough shape, but it was real wood, and as I imagined in with a fresh coat of paint, I knew I had found something.

I had an associate come over and help me pull it out, and she priced it at $25. Cut that in half, and I walked out with a new (to me) headboard for $12.50. Win!

The Hubster went back to pick it up with his truck, and sanded it down for me as soon as he got home. I didn’t get a picture before he sanded, but here’s a rough idea of what it looked like when we brought it home from the store:

(You can click on pictures to enlarge them.)

And a close up of the detailing, which made me fall in love with this piece:

I love that it has an old fashioned feel to it, and I think the carving is so pretty. It immediately reminded me of the dresser I refinished two years ago, and I knew I wanted to paint it to match. I have white accents in my bedroom, so I knew it would be a good fit.

The best part? Fixing it up didn’t cost me a penny. We had already had primer here from another project, so once the sanding was finished, I put a coat on to get ready to paint. We also had some white paint in our basement, so I decided to put it to good use.

A few coats later, it transformed into this:

A closer look:

I am so happy with how it turned out! A fresh coat of paint made it look brand new(ish). We brought it in and it looks great in our room! I don’t have an updated picture with the bed yet, but I’ll get on that for you. :)

I heart thrifting!