I had kept an eye out for antique bedside tables but had seen nothing that I liked in several years of looking. I also was interested in a wooden headboard, but since the bed is king size, there was zero chance of finding an antique. The solution was to make a headboard with integrated bedside tables. We have an antique armoire, the design of which I quite liked, so I decided to make the headboard to match. This was a bit of a long-term project, and it took the better part of three woodworking seasons to complete. I started out by doing the carvings, which included the large leaves, the top stacked leaves, and the central "feature". I then made the turned spindles for the corners and the crown molding and various other detail pieces. The armoire had diamond-matched veneer that looked to me like it was quarter-sawn. Being unable to find this type of veneer even at specialty veneer vendors, I ended up making it myself. This was used on the headboard proper as
well as sections of the cabinets. I used plywood for the core of both the headboard and cabinets, and all pieces are veneered on both sides to prevent warpage. I used the home-made veneer where necessary, and regular-grained purchased veneer where possible. There is far more detail on the construction that most people would ever care about
here.
| Material: | Walnut, solid and veneer, plywood core |
| Finish: | 3 coats Miniwax Wipe-on Poly, Clear Satin |
| Headboard Size: | 107" x 46" |
| Cabinet Size: | 14.5" w x 12.5 d x 12" h |
| Time: | 300 hours |
| Started: | Dec 28, 2005 |
| Done: | Feb 17, 2008 |
