A couple months ago we made the transition from a queen bed to a king. It took us a while to finally come to this decision because we could not fully commit to the idea of a king bed in our small (11x11) bedroom. I took a poll on Instagram getting everyone’s opinion on queen vs. king and 99.9% of you said a king bed would change our life (and that losing a few extra feet in our space wouldn’t be a deal breaker). I put my full trust in my Instagram audience and ordered our very own king mattress from Saatva. We had just a few weeks to figure out our bed design before our mattress arrived. When we were first considering a king, we went back and forth on frames and headboards. Quite honestly, there was nothing out there that really spoke to us. But then I remembered I had willing and talented handyman at my disposal…and a custom design became far too tempting for me. However, it took a LONG TIME for me to convince my handyman (husband) to commit to this bed. “This is going to be harder, more expensive, and time-consuming than you think.” And he was right. It turned out to be the largest, most complex and custom item in our home but it’s something we are EXTREMELY proud of. So all that to say, we are quite happy with our decision and our design (as well as our mattress choice!). I wanted the bed to be pretty, he wanted it to be functional. And this design checks all those boxes. Our design was inspired by the recently discontinued Mandal headboard by IKEA, but with a more luxurious, permanent feel to it like this motel bed featured on Domino. Our wall sconces are operated by a smart plug, so they can be activated by our voices and the Home app on our phones. And here’s where we get real geeky: the shelves wirelessly charge our phones! Jarrod embedded this charger from Amazon into the underbelly of the shelves. We didn’t want to put so much effort into a modern and minimal design and then have to see cords. Cord clutter can kill a minimal vibe pretty quickly.

So here’s the bad news: our headboard isn’t technically a “DIY project.” Although I’m sure some of you handy folks could pull it off! There are actually many complex components in this minimal design even though it appears to be simple and straightforward. Jarrod designed a French cleat and bracket system - which support the 10 1/2 ft long maple boards. The bracket was cut on a CNC router, which we outsourced to a friend. Having help made this project move along so much more quickly and allowed Jarrod to spend more time on the design of the shelves and installation of the headboard.

So hopefully you didn’t come all the way to this post to be frustrated that it may be a little more complex than you realized. Our hope is that you feel INSPIRATION to create something custom and unique in your own home! And for those that want to shop the look of our bedroom, I have sources for you, don’t worry! If you plan on attempting a similar style of headboard please - we’d love to see it! Comment below and show us YOUR version! Here’s a fun video showing how our “smart” shelves and sconces work! And if you keep scrolling I’ve also included some fun behind the scenes photos of the making of the headboard!

A special thanks to Saatva and The Citizenry for partnering with us on our bedroom makeover. We can’t say enough good things about our mattress and our perfect lumbar pillow.