Old Window Shutters

If you find some old plantation shutters at a rummage sale or antique store (or, in my case, if your mom has a few extra taken off the windows from her 1930s home), consider this simple project.

1) Clean with a mild bleach solution and consider repainting depending on the shutters' condition.

2) Hinge the shutters together to span the desired length for your wall hanging. I wanted my shutters to afford our queen-size bed a more substantial-looking headboard, so I had my husband attach 4 medium width panels and 2 small width panels together.

3) Drill pilot holes in wall, and using anchors, screw in all four corners. You'll need to add more screws in the middle of the wall hanging if you want it flush. Otherwise, leaving it loose in the middle will achieve a more multi-dimensional look (almost like there is a window behind the slightly ajar shutters).

Double Duty

Admittedly, at two years old, my baby girl is no longer a baby, so we recently transitioned her out of her crib into a full-size bed. We used her old crib to make a headboard for the new bed, even though it wasn't a convertible crib, per se.

This repurposing project worked out great because even though we have a baby on the way who will need a crib, our old crib was a drop-side, used crib that we were no longer comfortable with due to all the crib recalls and safety issues. I feel perfectly justified buying a new crib for the new baby, especially since we were able to repurpose the old one instead of tossing it.
Here's the finished headboard. Basically, my husband took the two ends of the crib and used metal brackets to attach them at the back. Then, he used furniture wall straps to tether the headboard to the wall--nice and secure. This headboard could fit up to a queen-size bed, and I love that my daughter still has a piece of her babyhood with her as she sleeps.