Incorporate romantic elements into a bedroom with a graceful bed canopy. Purchase a ready-made canopy, or make your own with a decorative metal shelf hung with gathered sheets and drapery panels. DIY Decorating & Design host Nancy Golden demonstrates this simple project. Materials:
Decorative metal shelf
Plywood
Two twin-size flat sheets
Piece of coordinating fabric large enough to cover one side of the plywood
Two drapery panels
Two drapery tiebacks
Spray adhesive
Scissors
Staple gun and staples
Saw
A demi-lune-shaped metal shelf is used as the base of this twin-bed canopy. Two twin-size sheets form the back of the canopy, and a pair of drapery panels form the front. The fabric is gathered and stapled to a piece of plywood cut to fit the bottom of the shelf. The canopy can be made without a metal shelf, which forms its decorative coronet, by using a half-moon-shaped piece of plywood as the shelf. - Trace around the half-moon shape of the shelf to create a template for the plywood base (figure A). Cut the piece of plywood a little smaller than the template to allow for the thickness of the fabric that will be gathered around its edges.
- Cut a piece of fabric about 2" bigger all around than the plywood, and attach it to the plywood with spray adhesive as follows: Place the fabric face down, and mist with spray adhesive. Center the plywood on the fabric. Turn the piece face up, and smooth the fabric flat. Cut slits in the fabric around the edges of the wood, turn the piece over, and smooth the hem in place on the back of the form (figure B).
- Two twin sheets, gathered and stapled along the straight side of the form, become the back of the canopy that hangs along the wall. If you're not using sheets, use a piece of fabric four times the width of the canopy to form lush gathers. With the fabric-covered plywood face down, use a staple gun to attach the sheets along the straight side of the plywood, gathering the fabric as you staple (figure C).
- Two drapery panels form the front and sides of the canopy. Pleat and staple them along the rounded side of the plywood half-circle (figure D), making sure they meet in the middle so the canopy can be drawn open.
- When the entire canopy has been stapled to the plywood, attach the form to the bottom of the metal shelf. The fabric-covered side of the plywood will face the bed, with the unfinished side facing the bottom of the shelf. For this project the plywood was attached to the bottom of the metal shelf with washers that spanned the latticework of the shelf bottom (figure E).
- Attach the coronet canopy above the bed with the hardware provided. If you're using the plywood alone as the shelf, attach it to the wall with an L bracket (figure F).
- Install a drapery tieback at each side of the bed to hold back each front panel of fabric.
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