DIY painted fabric headboard

Do I believe in love at first sight?
Not until I laid my eyes on this headboard at a yard sale. I wouldn't consider my design style eclectic, but I do enjoy eclectic pieces. This. Was. It. In its pink and gold glory. I had no need for a headboard at this particular time and it was listed for $80! So you think I would move on to the nearest $5 item I could put to use right? Nope! I batted my eyelashes and put on my whiny voice for my negotiator husband. $20 later were loading it into the bed of the truck. From that point on, she sat in the spare bedroom for a good year.

When we bought our house last July, we knew we wanted to downsize our cali king and this headboard was the perfect size. However, the color was not. After searching pinterest, I found some informative tutorials on painting fabric. Me being me, I never follow things exactly. I must always do something a little different. I figured I would share that with you all. Before you read on, I must preface and tell you that you will need patience.

First, I gave the headboard a good cleaning. It was quite dusty, especially in the tufted areas. I dry brushed as well as used a cloth with disinfectant. Thankfully I was able to remove the fabric part from the wood so I could clean it thoroughly. I kept them separate and moved on to sanding the wood. It took me much longer than expected to sand down the gold paint. I never was able to get it perfect but that's okay! Once the wood was free of dust and debris I started to paint. I used annie sloan chalk paint in French linen. From this point on it was a process of painting, letting it dry, sanding some areas and applying liquid stain.

For the fabric, I used annie sloan chalk paint in old white mixed with water. I did a 2:1 ratio. Two part water to one part paint. It was barely visible at first, but I spent many hours and around 10 coats to get my desired result. Once it was completely dry, I lightly brushed it with an old rag to make it smooth. You could give it a coat of clear wax to keep it from cracking. I had intentions to do so but honestly, mine has not cracked at all without it. I did do a coat of annie sloan dark wax to the wooden portion for a little more weathered look. I applied it with a wax brush which you could purchase at lowes to save some money.

If I am being completely honest, I probably applied different colors of paint and stain I had around the house. Personally, the more tones I use in "weathered" or "distressed" projects, the easier my mistakes can look intentional. Just have fun with it!