Headboard with new Life

Meandering aimlessly through the auction house I spotted this ugly duckling of a headboard sitting in a corner. No bed rails or foot board. It looked from a distance like someone had made it with some old gray weathered barn wood. As I walked closer I could faintly see a pattern in the wood. The wood was very dirty and dry, most likely stored in an out building or basement for many years. I asked Susie if she wanted to replace our headboard, the look I received was not one of sheer exuberance but more of bewilderment.

The side boards were no longer held together with the glued joint, but nailed with stringer board on the back. The pattern on the piece was so heavily laden with dirt it was hard to really distinguish it. The middle section had originally had three rows of fabric with stuffing in it. The bottom two rows the material was all tattered and the stuffing was gone. The top row was still in place, although the fuzz was worn off and what remained looked more like a piece of burlap. When the bidding is done I paid a respectable $7 for it.

As we load it in the truck, I believe Susie now realizes the potential in the ugly duckling. At home see commences to removing all the torn pieces of fabric, and the stuffing (which turned out to be straw. She washed the boards with a stiff nylon bristle brush and sanded them smooth again. The pattern looks like it was hammered/pressed in rather than carved. We tried to re-glue the two side boards, but on one side the back part of the groove was missing, and the other side the front part of the groove was curled upwards so we could not get a snug fit for the tongue. We screwed and glued small pieces of plywood on the backs of the joints to hold them. New finish, fabric and stuffing, the renewed headboard was ready to hang.

It compliments our bedroom nicely, One of our dressers is a highboy from the mid 1910’s era the other a chest of drawers from the 1930-40’s era, and Susie has a night stand we refinshied a few years ago that is camode/dry sink with towel bar on wishbone supports. One corner has a small octagon wooden hat box. leather strap handle and all held together with round headed brass brads.

Side note: The quilt was hand stitched by Susie and her sister. They made the round patterns from old shirts/smocks that my mother had made for herself.

-- Joel Tille