IKEA MALM Bedframe Hack

Cool look for a boring MALM bed - painted in charcoal grey with an extended upholstered headboard!

After assembling and cleaning the previously owned bed frame, I pre-treated the dark brown veneer with LIQUID SANDER (using a scrubby sponge) to take off the sheen. Give it some time to dry and get your DIY Chalk paint prepped in the meantime. I am using the same Chalk Paint Recipe for 3-4 years now and it works exceptionally well:

CHALK PAINT RECIPE: this recipe is good for one 8 oz sample of paint, enough to paint six drawers on a dresser

-Mix 2 1/2 tbsp of Plaster of Paris with 1 tbsp of water until you get a nice smooth consistency with no lumps

-Next pour your Plaster of Paris/water mixture into the paint sample and stir. Make sure paint is smooth as before

My most favorite paint is BEHR Premium Plus - Paint & Primer in one (FLAT) - color: CRACKED PEPPER - a nice charcoal gray (I already painted several pieces of furniture in cracked pepper and I am always amazed how great this color looks).

This photo has been taken after the first coat. I have also painted the MALM nightstands at the same time. I did not put too much effort in painting the headboard as you can see due to the fact that the existing headboard will be completely covered with vinyl. After two coats of chalk paint and two coats of Wipe-On-Poly the painting part was already done.

Extending and upholstering the head board: The MALM head board is not really very high and after seeing many MALM Hacks on Pinterest it didn't seem too challenging to a) extend it and b) upholster it.

I went to the local hardware store and they cut some plywood to size for me to add another 25 inch to the existing MALM head board.

I also bought 1 inch thick foam and some batting and cut everything to size before we attached the plywood to the existing headboard (using three L-brackets, two flat brackets and some scrap wood).