Shutter Headboard

These lovely shutters were found via Craigslist Free. It was an awesome find since I've been wanting to try out some of the creative shutter ideas floating around out there.

But, being the indecisive type, I couldn't decide if I wanted to convert them into a bench,            or a coat rack,
     a shelf,                                      a towel rack
                    a magazine holder,
                                    a creative photo display,                                                                                    
 or use as an actual door for my bathroom closet....

So they sat on the basement stair landing for months.

Came with a layer of grime. Honest, it wasn't my house that added that! :)

Then I came across this awesome photo 

from Life With The Hawleys.

And the light bulb turned on and my mind screamed, "I want that!" 

Usually it takes me a while to go from having an idea to actually creating it. Not this one. The shutters were immediately thrown into the shower for a good scrub down.

Here is the old headboard, also found via craigslist free, or was it freecycle? Anyways, I grabbed it because I thought I'd have fun refinishing it but was running dry on excitable options. Not a project I'm that enthused about for the time being. 

My daughter was very concerned that the new headboard would cover up her My Little Pony picture that she colored and hung up just for us. We discussed new homes for it...now it'll hang by my night stand. I love her sweet heart! 

 The shutters were too long for our bed and had damage on the bottom of one shutter. To keep it visually pleasing, only 6 inches was sawed off, creating a "frame" around the indented portion of the shutters. Its still longer than needed but it "fits" the space better.

Using my favorite homemade chalk paint recipe, one side of each shutter was painted a refreshing white. You can see the difference below. The shutter on the left looks new compared to the dingy one on the right. These shutters will match the dresser re-do I'm working on...reveal coming up!

Left shutter: new coat of paint
Right shutter: original coat of paint 

Screwed to the wall.

What I used to "seal" it. My polyurethane would add a
 yellow ting (yuck!) and I haven't
personally worked with wax yet.
Didn't want to experiment on this project. 

the two comforters we use
What to do with all that space between the headboard and the vaulted ceiling?

Seriously, what to do with all that space from the headboards to the vaulted ceiling?