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 Draped Headboard or Dressing Table

bed with drapeMaterials:

  • at least 3 yards of fabric (preferably more)
  • 3 cup hooks
  • yardstick or measuring tape
  • pencil and eraser
  • ribbon or cording with tassels (optional)
  • dried roses (optional)
This project is the same whether you're draping fabric over your bed's headboard or enhancing a dressing table or chest of drawers. First, measure and find the center of bed or table, and mark it lightly with a pencil on the wall. Measure 3 feet to 6 feet up from that center mark (the height will depend on what you prefer, although a dressing table will need a higher mark to accommodate a mirror). At this last mark, screw one of the cup hooks into the wall. Now choose a spot on the wall that is at least 3 inches inside the edge of the bed/table and about two thirds of the way between the top cup hook and the bed/table edge. Screw another cup hook in at this point. Measure a corresponding point on the opposite side of the bed/table edge. Screw in the last cup hook here. Now the three cup hooks should form a triangle floating above the back edge of the bed/table.

dressing tableTake your length of fabric and fold it in half width-wise. Pinch the center of the fabric together and place it in the top cup hook. You could also knot the fabric in the center and place the knot over the cup hook. Now take one side of fabric, pinch it together about halfway down, and place it in a side cup hook. Repeat this on the other side. You can tie ribbon or cording around each of the side cup hook gatherings. At the center cup hook, you can tie dried roses (or slip them through the fabric knot, if you knotted it).

If you've used this drape over a dressing table, hang a mirror inside the drape. If it's for a headboard, you can leave it empty or hang a small framed picture inside. And don't forget to erase all the pencil marks on the wall!

Pictured Here: My old dressing table covered wtih a tablecloth and framed with a lace drape above. I used about 4 yards of cheap black lace, plus some burgundy wired ribbon as tie-backs.






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