Remember how I was trying to figure out what fabric to use? I thought a lot about the color...
Then I stumbled across this really pretty cotton velvet when we were in Arizona this summer, for only $13 a yard at Home Fabrics in Mesa. I bought six yards and had to carry it on with me on the plane right home -- it was so heavy! (and I had too many Last Chance finds stuffed in my suitcase)
I used this basic approach to the upholstery process after pulling off the old fabric, but I actually removed some of the footboard so that it would be easy to climb over in our small room. I also used the same nailhead trim roll. This time, after tapping in the nailhead strips, I quickly colored over the nailheads with my gold leaf pen. (see how bright the bottom few are here?) The key is to not color too perfectly. A messy job looks more real.
I'm in love with how low the head and footboards are - it feels more modern to me. The top of the headboard is about 38" high. It's nice because my head sort of rests on the top edge when I'm reading in bed and my back can be supported by the euros and standard shams. It's really comfortable.
PS In case you are struggling with the corners of a piece like this, I did the reverse approach I shared in this project. Corner strip first, edge pieces last.
PPS More photos of how this bed used to look a couple years ago HERE (including a folding screen DIY)
