Lacy wall art from an old headboard

Happy 4th of July everyone!

This summer has been crazy busy, which seems to be the case with everyone. I’ve done a decent amount of junking/thrift, and a ton of online estate sale shopping – but haven’t had as much time as I’d like to actually work on projects. I’ve had decent luck selling my no-rehab-needed antiques/vintage goods (I just found out I actually made a profit my first month at the antique mall!) but I’d really like to get back to my true passion – making old things pretty.

We needed something new to hang above our couch, and since I couldn’t find anything I liked at Goodwill, etc., this meant it was up to me to create it. However….I’m not an artist. I have next-to-no skills in drawing, painting, things like that. So I had to be creative!

I thought of this old wooden headboard frame that I had snatched from the side of the road a while back. I’m actually not even sure if it’s that old, but it was in pretty rough condition, and it only caught my eye because of it’s pretty shape.

After some brainstorming, I decided to paint it this rusty orange color and then use it to frame some pretty decorative fabric. But when reviewing my collection of fabric/linens, I couldn’t find anything that would look quite right. I moved on to my stack of curtains, and when I found this vintage lace valance, I knew it would be perfect! I just used my staple gun to attach it to the back of the frame, and I ended up putting a dark blue fabric behind it to make it stand out better against our wall. I topped the paint with a brush-on poly, and then did just a bit of distressing.

I love how it turned out! If it were up to me, I’d rather that the seam of the curtain not show under the arched part, but that was the only way that the curtain would fit, and I don’t think it really detracts from the overall look at all.

(it’s not hung yet because I’m still deciding where exactly to place it and what else I want around it)

Stay tuned – I’ll be back soon (really!) to share the yet-to-be-seen outcome of my most ambitious project yet – a cat tree made from a pair of old stereo speakers!