How To Attach A Headboard To A Bed Frame

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A standard bed frame may look quite simple, but it's equipped to hold practically any headboard. The bed-frame's headboard brackets usually have four horizontally oblong holes or slots, one above the other. These accommodate various headboard designs or allow you to raise the headboard up a couple of inches, to accommodate an extra-deep mattress, for instance. Frame-mounted headboards compared to wall-mounted headboards are especially handy when you plan to angle the bed in a corner, place it mid-room or against a window, or simply prefer not to drill holes in the wall every time you rearrange the furniture.

Step 1

Pull the bed a couple of feet away from the wall so that you have room to work.

Step 2

Stand the headboard in position against the frame with the finished or good side facing the bed. Center the headboard legs with the bed frame's headboard brackets. The holes on the legs must align with a least two of the holes in each of the brackets for secure mounting. Lift the headboard, using durable blocking, such as stacked books or short pieces of lumber of the same height under each headboard leg, if necessary. Hold the headboard upright temporarily by pushing a heavy object, such as a bedside table, against it, if you don't have a helper to help hold it steady.

Step 3

Slide a washer onto a bolt, from the headboard's included fasteners. Insert the bolt through the bracket and the respective headboard-leg hole. Slide a washer onto the bolt if it protrudes through to the other side of the leg. Screw a nut onto the bolt until it is just finger-tight. Repeat the single bolt process on the other leg. Add the remaining bolts to each leg in the same fashion as the first. Check that the headboard is still centered, side-to-side, by eyeing the distance from the edge of each bracket to the edge of the legs. Tighten the bolts, using a wrench or pliers.