A standard queen-sized bed is 66 inches wide, but standard doors don’t come in sizes that easily match the bed’s dimensions. Using 32-inch wide doors leaves a barely noticeable one-inch space on each side of the bed; a piece of one-inch wide trim attached to each side of the headboard covers the space if you find it unsightly. Buying pre-painted or stained doors cuts the amount of time it takes to complete the project, but doesn’t allow for customization.
Choose a door style that fits the bedroom’s decor. Flush doors don’t have any decoration, so they provide a blank canvas. Panel doors have rectangular or square patterns molded into them and French doors have tempered glass panes in differing configurations. Some door and home improvement stores sell doors that have scenes painted on them.
Determine the height of the headboard. Standard doors are six feet tall. Left uncut, they make a dramatic addition to a room and provide space for shelves or artwork. For a shorter headboard, measure the desired distance and mark that measurement on both doors. Use a carpenter’s square to make a straight line for the cut. Cut the doors at the line with a circular saw and sand the cut edges smooth.
Paint or stain the doors before installing them. Bright colors add light to a room and create a focal point. Painting the doors the same color as the walls, or a slightly different tone, makes the doors fade into the background. Stains are a classic choice and add a more subdued, old world element to the room.
Set the queen-sized bed in place. Since the doors together are two inches shorter than the bed, mark the wall one inch in from each side of the bed. Measure the distance between the two marks and mark the halfway point.
Run a stud finder over the walls in the area where the headboard will be installed. Make a pencil mark or place a small piece of masking tape on the wall on each stud higher than the top of the door so the mark is visible during installation.
Line the outer edge of the first door up with the mark on the wall. Use drywall screws on a painted door, or deck screws that match the color of a stained door, to attach the door to the wall. Hold the top of a plumb bob against the stud mark on the wall above the door to ensure that the screws all go into the stud.
Drill pilot holes for the screws and then screw the door into the stud. Use the same plumb bob method to mark the other side of the door along another stud, drill pilot holes and screw the door to the stud.
Install the second door. Touch up the screw heads by covering them with a dot of wood putty and smoothing it out. Once it dries, sand it smooth and cover with matching paint.
Conceal the narrow seam between the doors with wood putty, sand it smooth and touch it up with paint or stain. If you have selected doors with a pattern, the seam may add to the installation rather than detract from it, making the final touch-up unnecessary.