Hello there upcyclers!
A couple of weekends ago, I worked on putting together a fun coastal headboard for the master bedroom at the beach house.
A friend of ours is a contractor who often works in old Philadelphia houses where some of the best features of the structures are usually slated for the dump like doors, windows & molding. Fortunately, he also sees the potential in these pieces deemed “trash” and salvages them. He offered me a couple of old doors including this petite 3 panel number. See how short it is? Ryan can see right over the top. Were people really that much shorter 100 years ago? I would think maybe it was a closet door but there are marks left where the deadbolts were.
The height of the door was exactly the same as the width of our queen size bed…perfect for a headboard. No sawing needed.
We started by removing the hinges. The door had about 5 layers of paint on it which I liked. Why add another coat? I decided to work with the old white as a base and then accent in sea glass colors to coordinate with the blues and greens that are already in the bedroom.
I cleaned the door, lightly sanded and painted the 2 small panels.
Here is the continuously growing seaglass and bottle collection that was the original inspiration for the room and now the headboard.
I heavily distressed the upper right corner to give it a worn-by-sea look like driftwood. I love how the dark paint shows through.
The piece sat outside overnight and it happened to be very humid. When I came back to it, I found that the white paint peeled right off for me revealing an even older layer of creamy yellow paint.
I applied a coat of clear semi-gloss polyurethane to the entire headboard. This sealed in all of the layers of paint. It is assumed that the old paint most likely has lead in it so this was an important step to take. I don’t want any of the painting flaking off.
Then the fun part…accenting with driftwood, sisal rope and starfish.
I really didn’t have a pre-meditated plan for the coastal layout. I just rolled with the punches and came up with this…
I’m not gonna lie….this definitely makes an abstract headboard that might even be a bit too eclectic for my taste.
But we’re “down the shore” afterall. There’s no need to be serious or to have a stately and symmetrical headboard, right?
Anything goes!
Linking to:
Circa Dee 
Very nice! Great job…..
Ryan looks like Wilson from the sitcom “Home Improvement”…now that is ironic……
How neat! I love the creativity you displayed here! As I was reading I was relieved when I got to the poly part…. I too was thinking about lead paint! Phew! 🙂 Anyway, I love the costal vibe you are creating in your bedroom! Great job! I’m so glad you linked up to Roomspiration!!
This looks fantastic-I LOVE IT!
dana, that is awesome!!! i LOVE the colors and the beachy additions! it’s unique, and so pretty!
wow! it looks fabulous! love the idea of a door as a bedhead 🙂
Kate x
Looks great–love your color choices-Thanks for linking to Share the Love Wednesday
Mary
Wow! I love the asymmetricness of it! (yes, I did just make that word up, kind of) The detail of the driftwood and starfish are wonderful, and it seems to be a great match to your bedspread! I can’t wait to make a cool headboard, my room looks so lame without one!
Such a fun creative headboard!! I think doors are perfect for that, horizontal like yours, as well as lining up a couple of them vertically. Mine is a door too, but I upholstered it.
What a great headboard, I am luvin it. I am a lover of the ocean, and sure do wish I had a beach house.
Hugs,
Ellen
I love it! It looks amazing, very creative!!
Hi Dana, don’t you just love taking old things and making something new out of them? I bet your door was from a dormer room or attic room and that’s why it was shorter than a normal door, or it could’ve been a cellar door and that’s why it had a lock. Anyway, great job repurposing it. The great thing about these types of projects, if you really don’t like it or get tired of it, you can always repaint.