The Whiskey Barrel Project: From Broken Barrel to DIY Headboard

I tried my best to preserve that old barrel. I had a few ideas, but until those ideas became reality, I decided to just start off with how it all began!

That was an old Jim Beam whiskey barrel from the fam. It had been in an old family shed and stored for who knows how long. Decades? I sanded and stained it, then applied a coat of polyurethane to protect it. It made a pretty good side table for a bit, but while functional, it was awkwardly tall.

In the latest move, it took a turn for the worse as, per usual, I was trying to transport it. The whole barrel fell apart like pick-up sticks on the floor. Y’all, that thing had been sitting in a shed outside for who knows how long before I revamped it. I wasn’t even going to let you know what came out of it when it fell apart.

Luckily, because of my obsession with saving absolutely everything I could in hopes of later upcycling, I kept the barrel. When the time came for me to add a headpiece to my bed, “The Whiskey Barrel Project” was born. I documented this process because I knew myself. I was more than aware that more than likely, I eventually would lose track of my thoughts and it all. Remembering wasn’t my thing unless ideas were tracked.

It Was Gonna Be A Headboard

I knew I needed a headboard. I had known for an over-extended period of time. I had ignored getting one mostly because I knew I could make a better one, given due time. Well, due time came and I thought I had an idea. If I up-cycled that old whiskey barrel and gave it new life as a headboard, I figured it would look most excellent behind my bed. I decided that The Whiskey Barrel Project would become a headboard, eventually.

In most past project planning, I usually used one of two methods. One required more time planning, less time struggling, and more time enjoying. The second required no time planning, more work, and less time enjoying.

Palmer’s Proper Method #1: Pinterest

Digging deep into the Pinterest archives for “Pinspiration.”

Palmer’s Proper Method #2: Just Winging It

This method was much more complicated and involved no planning and oftentimes much more headache.

Obviously, I went for Palmer’s Proper Method #2 as it was the most reasonable course of action. In fact, it was my default method in most of my DIYs because I loved not listening to myself and making things way more complicated than they needed to be.

The Vision

So here was my thinking: If I laid the wooden barrel staves face side up and stacked them together, it should have formed a large rectangle resembling a potential headboard. I planned to attach them together somehow with a frame of some sort to help maintain structure. The final piece of the puzzle would be figuring out the feet of the headboard—the part that touched the ground and would also attach to the back of the bed frame.

If all went well, I would have a pretty sick headboard for my bed. The length of a bed to fit a headboard for my queen size was about 5 feet. This was found with a quick Google search on “queen size beds.” With the whiskey barrel already dismantled due to a moving mishap, I ran off to the hardware store and returned with 2x4s and construction screws. Muh hahahah. (In my head I had a sinister voice and lightning bolts were flashing behind me in the distance.)

Making the Lip & Attaching the Staves

I kicked off the project by building out a resting spot for the staves. I called it a “lip.” The lip was what all of the whiskey barrel slats were attached to and served as the top of the headboard. Using 2 pieces of 2×4 wood, I created a perpendicular “T” section with the wider length of one 2×4 to the thinner side of the other 2×4. These were drilled into place with five 3-inch screws.

I hit a slight bump in the road when the staves were finally laid in place. (I also had to google what those pieces were actually called because wtf knew that kind of information?) I realized after I had placed a few slats together flat on the ground that the whiskey barrel, when fully constructed, was round. I didn’t think that would work too well for a flat headboard.

I opted for an alternated pattern using one stave face side up, followed by one face side down. This made the structure flat and also filled up more empty space from the previous concept. I finished the first part of the headboard with a repeat of the “lip” section, which was used for the bottom of the headboard.

Pro Tip: When drilling the oak staves, I found it was best to first make a drill hole. This made adding the screws a much easier process.

The Mistake

Things got bumpy for this DIY when I realized, as I did with most things, I had designed this DIY backward. I started the project first with the visual components. I did this before building out the framework, which made the final design much more complex than it needed to be. “The Whiskey Barrel Project” quickly became the “I Wish I Didn’t Project” before I could even get down a Whiskey Neat.

However, I didn’t believe in mistakes; I only believed in learning lessons. Choosing to apply that lesson or not was where I often found my problems. But I wasn’t making whiskey out of corn here. This DIY wasn’t rocket science. Some things just took a little longer to DIY than anticipated.

Palmer’s Properly Lessons: DIY 101: The Framework

“To build upon anything, the foundation must be built first.”

If I had built the foundation first, I would have made a frame by first using two 5-foot 2x4s for the top and middle section of the headboard. I would have then used two 4-foot 2x4s as the side ends that held the framework together. It made perfect sense to do this first because I would then have had something to build out the whisky barrel section on.

As I typically did, I missed the most simplified solution and did the reverse.

The Solution

Working backward a bit, knowing that I did royally f*ck it up, I managed to redesign a framework that fit onto the backend of the visual component (the Whiskey Barrel section) of the headboard previously built.

I did this by using the backside of the piece’s top and bottom sections as the existing framework. I then added 3 additional 2x4s measuring 4 feet each. One in the middle, and 1 on each end. Using 2 ½ inch screws, the 2x4s were drilled into place using 2 screws at each intersection where the newly built framework and previously built top and bottom sections met.

Another Road Block

Letting the piece rest for the night, I woke to find I still wasn’t back on course with the anticipated concept design. The structure seemed wonky after its rest overnight. Who was I kidding? I worked in data; it couldn’t have been my numbers. The screws used to attach the 2x4s seemed to have pulled away from the section mounting the barrel. So the problem must have existed within the design of the screws. Obviously.

Knowing this mishap wasn’t me, of course, I pulled together an idea to counteract the wonkiness. A final piece of 2×4 was added as a brace to the back section in hopes of better stabilizing the structure. That seemed to work.

It Looked Great!

Despite the few misguided detours along the way, the piece still looked incredible from the backside. The anticipation of seeing the final design was tugging at my curiosity, so I gave in and flipped the day’s work over to gaze upon my creation.

From the front-facing side, I was overwhelmingly pleased with the result. The piece was starting to come together. A few more minor touches were needed before attaching it to the bed because even the smallest detail should never have been overlooked. Those finishing touches were what made pieces like this go from ok, to OMG.

Using wood putty to fill in the drill holes of the barrel staves, the top and bottom sections were covered to blend seamlessly. The whole component was then sanded down and stained with a dark oak wood stain. In my personal opinion, this project turned out way better than anticipated.

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How It Came Together: The Final Steps

After catching up on the mistakes and detours of this DIY, if you wanted to try it yourself based on how I should have done it (the right way), here is a look at the exact materials and steps I ultimately used to secure everything.