Get The Look Of A Trendy Arched Headboard For Less With This Pool Noodle DIY

Luxuriously padded and tufted headboards can be a great way to immediately confer a sense of softness and glamor to your bedroom. They are, however, often expensive, costing hundreds of dollars at home retailers. DIY publication Blossom, on its YouTube channel, BlossomTV, demonstrated in August 2022 an amazingly clever hack: You can create a gorgeous tufted arch headboard in green velvet out of inexpensive pool noodles. The results are stunning and budget-friendly, immediately making the bed more elegant and expensive-looking.

Pool noodles are a favorite tool of DIY homemakers, and the trend of creating a faux-luxury velvet headboard out of the springy pool toys isn't new. Interior designer and influencer Bridgette Whitney, though she might not have started the trend, certainly made the headboard to beat back in 2021. According to her Instagram post, she used 57 pool noodles to assemble a royal-looking dark green velvet headboard for a bed. At a dollar each, plus the velvet, other materials, and a backboard, this DIY is far less expensive than just buying a luxury velvet headboard.

Whitney and the Blossom video use the same technique: By manipulating the pool noodles into an arch over a foam board and adding fabric, they were able to create a custom headboard that exudes glamour and personality. If you're keen to create the headboard yourself, you will need several pool noodles, your choice of fabric, a styrofoam or foam insulation board that will form the backing, and some upholstery padding. You will also need tape, hot glue, a utility knife, scissors, and spray adhesive to assemble the finished product.

Blossom's tutorial begins by putting the pool noodles end to end and taping them to shape the arch on the wall, cutting them down at the ends with a utility knife to the height needed when shaped into the arch. Don't worry if the color of your pool noodles isn't uniform or if you have to tape a bunch together to achieve the longer arch shapes. It'll all just be covered up with fabric anyway.

Next, cut the fabric into stripes wide enough to accommodate the foam pieces. Use hot glue to fasten the fabric to the foam for each one. Using a styrofoam piece the width of the bed, shape the pool noodles on the foam, and glue them down in the arch shape.

Using the leftover fabric, create the middle of the headboard by cutting the fabric to the size needed. Place the fabric for the middle over a piece of upholstery padding, and glue it down with spray adhesive. Cut the upholstery padding foam to the same size as the fabric and use hot glue to attach the entire middle section to the foam board inside the pool noodle arches. When finished, place the headboard against the wall behind the bed. While its light weight will allow it to be easily held by the mattress against the wall, you can also add screws or nails to attach it directly to the wall for additional stability.

With their adaptability and ability to be easily shaped, pool noodles often make popular materials for creating inexpensive tufted furniture of various varieties and other stylish headboard designs, including one cool version from TikTok user @nailgun.nelly that can provide storage by fronting shelves. You can store things along the side, behind the bed, and use the topmost shelf to hold things like lamps, plants, mirrors, pictures, and other bedside decor. You can also make a cool piece of pool noodle art with a high-end look that when anchored above the bed serves as a unique feature with pool noodle pieces of various lengths.

While Blossom's tutorial uses a lush emerald velvet, you can also use other materials like linen or cotton duck for more rustic or casual aesthetics. The cheapness of pool noodles and the simplicity of the design also make it easy to change your headboard's fabrics when styles change. While store-bought tufted headboards can be somewhat difficult to clean, you can also easily apply new fabric to the headboard if it gets dirty or damaged.

The only additional consideration for this DIY project is the lightweight design of the headboard. Pool noodles make for beautiful velvet curves, but if the backboard you use for your headboard is equally light, you might have difficulty designing your bedroom around it. So if you're going to do this headboard hack, check the durability and strength of your materials first, and don't forget the pillows!