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I haven’t done a furniture DIY in what feels like ages, so I’m incredibly excited to share this vintage rattan headboard before and after with you!  My love for rattan and the palm beach regency style runs deep, and it seems like the majority of my DIYs over the years have revolved around faux bamboo or rattan (you can read my furniture updates on my dining chairs, tall dresser, vanity, and long dresser here). The only headboard I have ever owned is a metal IKEA one that I bought after college and used for 2 years, and the past 8 years I’ve made do with nothing at all or with a vintage screen that we’ve used as a headboard.  Here is how our bed looked prior to the swap (although I had already played musical furniture and this vanity seen here is now my desk in the living room):

Vintage Rattan Headboard DIY

The other day I randomly decided to check Craigslist for a headboard after not looking at Craigslist for a year…and I found this diamond in the rough for $150!  I negotiated down to $125 and my mom and I went to pick it up the next day.  Thank goodness we have a minivan now because I easily fit it in the car with all the seats down!  Here is a photo of me with the headboard before we lugged it down 5 flights of stairs:

The style is reminiscent of Chinese Chippendale, but it’s more of an abstract pattern.  As soon as I saw it it reminded me of a Society Social chair I blogged about nearly 5 years ago!  The rattan is in perfect condition, the only problem is that it looked a little dingy.  I haven’t been able to track this exact headboard down, but the closest version I’ve found is this one, which is around $1000!  Here is what the headboard looked like in our bedroom before I painted it:

It certainly looked fine, it just didn’t pop like I wanted it to.  Part of me wanted to paint it a bright white, since that’s what I’ve been painting everything these past few years because it’s nice and crisp, but I was also tempted by navy blue.  I settled on this French Blue color by Rustoleum though, because I think it makes a statement but it’s more versatile than navy.  It plays nicely with black as well as other shades of blue, so I think it’ll work perfectly!

For the first time ever I’m happy with how our bedroom looks.  (Okay, I’m happy with how this part of the bedroom looks…the rest of it is a furniture dumping ground because we don’t have a big enough apartment for everything we own).  But at least our sleeping area makes me happy!  I also added some floral throw pillows I found at TJ Maxx, and I think they tie in nicely and also add some other colors of blue so it doesn’t seem too matchy matchy.

The natural edge table on the left is one I purchased at Red Bamboo in Kailua in 2012 when I lived here in Hawaii last time.  It’s such a unique piece and I love finding different ways to use it wherever we live.  I’ve never used it as a bedside table but it works well!  Here is a similar and affordable option.  The nightstand on the right is 10 years old (my first grown up furniture purchase after college) and I blogged about my DIY faux marble solution for the broken top mirror here.  The white lamps are old from Target (this is similar) and the bedding is a mix of old TJ Maxx finds.  And here is the link to the and sunhat that is seen on the bed.  The drinking glass on the side table is one I recently bought and included in this blog post about my favorite woven finds from last week.  I still think we need to add something over the bed, but for now I’m perfectly content and love our updated bedroom!

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Katie Vail

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