Creative Headboards for Kids' Rooms

Sweet Trim

Add interest to a basic upholstered headboard with textured, patterned, or colored trim echoing the shape of the headboard. This tan headboard gains interest with a darker, textured trim that matches the room's neutral decor. Adding trim is a good option for both girls' and boys' headboards.

Daybed Headboard

Frame a daybed with an upholstered fabric kid's headboard. Look for fabric with a bold pattern to add extra style and color. A padded headboard also protects kids' heads from bumping into the wall.

Patterned Kid's Headboard

The pretty rope pattern on these kid's headboards adds dimension; the blue and beige palette sets the tone for the room's color scheme. The pattern continues on the bedskirt for a cohesive look. The curves on the headboards break up the rope lines, softening the look.

Deep Color

Turn to dark colors for an unexpected element in a children's bedroom. Here, light blue walls pair with dark red tufted headboards. Black-and-white bedding makes a dramatic monochromatic statement against the bold color. A darker children's headboard grounds furniture in a room with neutral or light walls.

Complementary Color

Use the headboard in a kids' room as a way to introduce complementary colors to the scheme. Burnt orange headboards gave this blue-and-white decor a modern edge. Nailhead trim emphasizes the streamlined twin headboard shape and adds an element of sophistication.

Artist's Gallery

Put children's artwork on display by turning their headboards and walls into an art gallery. For this DIY kid's headboard, simply hang art in a grid on a wood headboard painted a bright color. (Pages from a favorite book would work, too.) On the wall, clothespins hold projects on a short length of rope secured on two eye hooks.

Upholstered Pattern

Patterned fabric headboards provide a dose of color in an otherwise white room. Cover basic children's headboards in a fabric specific to your kids' space. In this room, the feminine shape of the headboard complements the delicate fabric pattern, and careful seams add dimension.

Knockout Headboard

Give a bedroom a welcoming touch with a headboard made from a door. Purchase a plain pine door from a home center, top with molding, and paint in your desired shade. White creates a fresh look; bright colors add a fun vibe, like the blue in this beachy palette.

Fit for a Princess

This massive headboard is the perfect fit for a little girl who loves to play princess. The regal scallop design recalls the look of a castle with a modern twist. A pop of pink in the center continues the room's color scheme.

Alphabetical Order

Think of this kid's headboard as alphabet soup for your tween. Find vintage letters at flea markets, online auctions, catalogs, or signage shops. Hang them like you would a gallery wall, then fill gaps with smaller letters.

Picket Fence

A white picket fence headboard completes a garden scene. For a look like this girl's headboard, attach vertical boards to horizontal supports to imitate a fence. Add decorative toppers to the end posts for finishing details.

Found Treasure

Any plain wooden headboard becomes a treasure map when painted an aged-looking off-white and decorated with small icons and symbols.

Mixed Finishes

Give a headboard a new finish with an upholstered panel complementing the bedding and wall color. The panel mimics the headboard shape but in a color that pops.

Utterly Posh

Break free from the expected square headboard for a shape like this playful wavy design. Large orange buttons complete the upholstered headboard and complement the room's color scheme.

• Learn how to upholster a headboard here.

Perfectly Framed

A bedroom with robots on the walls, stars on the ceiling, and color everywhere requires a headboard that's as creative. Two large shadow boxes at the head continue the room's creative motif. Hang multiple frames side by side to cover the width of the bed. Fill each frame with fabric or decorative paper that complements the theme on the wall.

Write It Out

Not all kid's headboards require a big makeover. Simply paint on a quote from a book in a cheery and whimsical font to match the room's theme. Hand-paint accents or apply decals that suit the quote around the design.

• See more from this children's bedroom.

On Fire

Take a fire truck theme one step further with a firehouse headboard. The fire truck bed rests against the wall as if it is coming out of the brick firehouse mural.

Sweet Canopy

Finish off a fairy-tale room with a sweet canopy. Long curtain panels fall from a cornice hung at the ceiling to frame the bed. An upholstered headboard and footboard make for cozy bedtime stories.

Theme Friendly

Homeowners used Madonna's first children's book, The English Roses, as the theme for this one-of-a-kind room. A life-size version of an image from the book decorates the headboard. If you have drawing skills, create your own instead of reproducing the image.

Sail Away

Complete a nautical theme with shiplike beds complete with sails. Waves painted on the wall and a life preserver above the pillows stand in for a headboard.

• See more about this room and boat headboard.

Young Green Thumb

Inexpensive plastic fishbowls line up to create this headboard for the kid who loves the outdoors. Simply wrap wire around the lip of each bowl and hang the wire loop from a nail on the wall. Fill each bowl with live or fake plants. To get kids involved, let them pick the plants they want.

Map Headboard

Inspire your child's dreams of future travels by decoupaging maps onto a headboard. Paper maps give a tired old headboard a fresh look. A glossy clear coat protects the DIY project.

Sleek Storage

Tweens get a built-in display room with this modern headboard. Their most prized possessions—books or keepsakes—get pride of place. Clamp a lamp on the edge of the kid's headboard or place a small lamp in one of the gaps; adhesive cord clips hide the cord.

Double-Duty Bookcases

These sleek built-ins provide tons of storage for books and sports memorabilia. A wavy shelf spanning the middle adds visual interest to this teen room. Match the shelf color to the bed frame for a built-in look.