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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

 When we were planning out our Rustic-meets-Industrial bedroom makeover, we knew we wanted an awesome headboard to really make a statement.  We thought about a bunch of options, but I kept coming back to the idea of metal.  We decided we’d go with corrugated metal, but we didn’t want it to look shiny and new- it needed to work with the rustic style as well.  We used a fun, and simple process to age the metal and were so excited with the results!  Check it out…

Metal Headboard

Gaahh! I love it!  For under $50 we create a huge and unique headboard that works perfectly within a Rustic-Industrial Style.  Aging the metal was the key in making this work!  And we used a secret ingredient… toilet bowl cleaner!  Ha! Yeah, I did a bunch of research online and tried a few methods at home and toilet bowl cleaner was the winner!  So here’s how we did it…

DIY Headboar materials

The first thing you need to do is take your metal outside.  I’ll admit I spray paint indoors, but for this project you’re actually creating a chemical reaction, so outdoors it is.

Before we could add the cleaner, we needed to remove a bit of the rust-proof coating on the sheets.  We just lightly rubbed it down with steel wool.  It doesn’t have to be perfect and it didn’t take long at all.

There’s not a whole lot of technique… we just opened our toilet bowl cleaner and squirted it all over.  Some areas we let puddle more than others.  We let it sit in the sun all day- you can see below that some areas started changing with a dark color and the blue areas are still wet with cleaner.  Those areas got the deep red rust after a full 24 hours.

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 This picture shows the difference after just an hour or so… left side untouched. right side aged.

We went back and added some extra cleaner about 6 hours in and moved it around a bit with a sponge.

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Once we got the colors we wanted, we sprayed it with a spray sealant, just to keep all the chemicals locked in.  Then, we screwed the sheets directly into the wall.  We overlapped a bit, so it looked like one solid piece of metal.

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I just love how simple it was to take shiny, new metal and age it to look like something reclaimed from an old, industrial building.  I think this would be a really cool accent wall in a loft or modern room.  The red rust tones are my fav!

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If you missed this episode, you’ve gotta check it out!  You can watch the full episode online here.

There were a lot of cool projects in this makeover and we included lots of them in our room makeover post. Here are a few of the other projects I loved in this room.

reclaimed wood shelves

You can check out the tutorial for this plywood map here

Plywood art

faux fireplace

 

This week we’re working on a fun, shared boy girl bedroom for “Knock It Off”- if you don’t follow me on Instagram, you should @eastcoastcreative… I always post lots of fun sneak peeks of our makeovers!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!!

 

The comments +

  1. Cara says:

    Just wondering…did you rinse the toilet cleaner off of the tin before sealing it? And what type of sealant did you use?

  2. Caycee says:

    Where can I find the metal you used to do this?

  3. […] corrugated metal headboard (via eastcoastcreativeblog) […]

  4. independent.academia.edu

    DIY Corrugated Metal Headboard – East Coast Creative Blog

  5. Veronica says:

    Hello,
    I am working on this cool project now for my house. When I applied my second layer of toilet bowl cleaner, I wiped off the dark rusting that was their from the first treatment while rubbing with a sponge. It came off so easily. I have applied more cleaner, hoping that the look will come back. Do you have any reassuring tips?

  6. kerri says:

    Hi! I need help getting cheap ideas on how to decorate white walls in a yellow and white themed bedroom.

  7. […] DIY Corrugated Metal Headboard – East Coast Creative Blog =) __________________ I'm not a bitch, I just play one in your life […]

  8. […] DIY Corrugated Metal Headboard from East Coast Creative […]

  9. Janey says:

    A few things are wrong here. The balance is way off. The headboard shouldn’t be higher than the windows. The drapes are too short and should be a little wider to work better with the large headboard. and the rug is too small it should be larger than the bed by about a foot at either side of the bed.

  10. Bobbie says:

    Aging Galvanized Roofing

    First time I poured Clorox bathroom cleaner all over and then used a paint brush to be sure and get it everywhere.
    Then left it in 100 degree weather for two days. Rinsed and it’s still shiny as if new.

    Second attempt (not giving up) I used steel wool all over to rough up the surface and again applied the bathroom cleaner. Left it for two days in 100 degree weather. Just rinsed and it’s as shiny as if new.

    Building a workshop, hay storage and wanted to use this siding for the sides and roof. HELP What am I doing wrong. Directions will be much appreciated.

    • Monica says:

      Hmm… That’s really interesting. I wonder if your particular roofing has some kind of extra coating on it. It sounds like it might. You might need to try an orbital sander on it first to rough it up and get that coating to come off. Sorry it’s giving you trouble. Keep at it and let me know how it turns out!!

      Mon

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