An upholstered headboard had been on my wish list for a few years, and finally I have one of my very own.  Here’s what my bed looks like today:

Here's what it looked like just after we built and moved into our house three years ago.  It wasn't horrible by any means, but it was no longer my style, and it just bugged me more and more as time went on.  (I get obsessive like that.)

I had seen Crate & Barrel’s Colette Bed at their store a couple years ago, but it costs a whopping $1899 for a king size.  And I've seen an identical bed for over $3000 elsewhere online.

I stumbled upon the Copy Cat Chic blog a few months back, and one of the “copycat” finds was a bed that looked like the Colette, but at a much lower price.  However, someone who had seen it in person said the quality was not good, so I kept looking.

Back in November, I was hot on the upholstered headboard trail, and I spotted an upholstered bed (headboard + frame) on Overstock.com for a price I was willing to pay, and I purchased it right away, fearing that it would be out of stock and gone forever.

Quincy Natural Twill Bed, sold at many online retailers

Once it was delivered, I realized the fabric had a "fuzzy" texture, like velour or microsuede, which I was not a huge fan of.  Oops.  I had wanted a linen-like fabric.  And once I assembled the whole bed by myself while The Mr. was at a gig, I realized the headboard was not nearly tall enough for my liking.  Double oops.  When I stood the pillows up, they pretty much covered the headboard, which is not the look I was going for. I guess I was so excited to buy the bed before it was out of stock that I didn't think to check the dimensions.

I could have returned the bed, but I would have to pay for shipping and it would be around $200, so that was a no-go.  Instead, I posted the bed on Craigslist (my first posting on CL ever).  It sold within a couple weeks to a young couple who were looking for an upholstered headboard that would fit beneath a row of high windows in their bedroom.  They got the bed at a good deal, and I got rid of it so I could continue my search.  (Unfortunately I had to eat around a hundred bucks in the process.  Let's just call it a life lesson.)

There are so many DIY upholstered headboard tutorials online, and they are totally doable, but the ones I saw just didn't have the end result that I wanted.  I didn't feel like they were deep enough or that the seams were "finished" looking.  And we would have to purchase a plain bed frame and attach the headboard either to it or the wall.  I really wanted our headboard to wow me, and I was afraid a DIY just wouldn't meet expectations.

I spent many nights searching and searching, and finally found another copycat of the C&B Colette.  Then I spent another week or so looking for the best price.  It's amazing how varied prices can be for furniture online -- not just differences between the high-end find and the lower-cost find, but even among online retailers that sell the exact same brand/model.

Aisling Cream Fabric Platform Bed, sold at many online retailers

I even ordered a fabric sample because my only worry was that the fabric wouldn't meet my expectations again.  It looked like a linen texture, and it looked like a linen color, but after the fabric debacle on the last bed, and since the color in the name of the bed is "cream," I was a little scared because I did not want an off-white bed.  After all, there would be no returnsies or Craigslisties this time.  I was going to be stuck with whatever I bought.

Up-close shot

After two weeks and two calls about the fabric sample, it still had not arrived.  Meanwhile, the Mr. and I had grown weary of sleeping on just our queen mattress on the floor since we had taken down our old bed and didn't feel like putting it back together.

I had read some reviews of the bed online by a couple people who had also looked for a less expensive version of the C&B Colette bed, and they said that this bed would not disappoint, so I pulled the trigger at long last.

I couldn't be more happy with my new bed.  Here's why:

• Classic camelback shape
• Linen-look fabric
• Silver nailhead trim
• Beefy depth of the headboard
• You can see plenty of headboard above the pillows

I'm so glad to have this process over and I'm so glad to be sleeping off the floor again!