My son loves sports. His room is all sports, all the time – which is what he asked for when I redid my son’s room here. So when I found wood from an old gym floor at my favorite salvage store, I knew that it would be perfect for his room. It’s now his headboard!
Just as a reminder, before he had a plain wood headboard:
That headboard actually belonged to my father-in-law when he was a bachelor! That was many moons ago.
Now my son has a headboard that fits with the sports theme of his room and, as a bonus, is just plain funky cool.
To be honest, I didn’t start the day with the headboard project. Oh, no. I started with a project involving some solid wood drawers that my neighbors threw out.
The problem was that it was so humid that the spray paint I was using on these drawers was not adhering well. It was just too damp outside. So, I packed up the drawers and began work on the headboard.
Materials for DIY Headboard from an Old Gym Floor
Here are the materials you’ll need (these links are affiliate links; for my full disclosure policy, please click here):
- wood from a gym floor – check local salvage stores;
- pliers to remove nails from wood – this link is for my favorite;
- tape measure
;
- pencil;
- nail gun
- miter saw
if you are going to cut the boards (mine were already cut);
- level
.
I got the gym floor wood at the Lifecycle Building Center, a great salvage warehouse. They had these maple planks that were once a gym floor in a school near our area of Atlanta. I loved how the floor was finished and still in pretty good shape, and how the boards had stripes on them – yellow, blue, and green – my son’s favorite colors.
First, I removed or cut the nails from the wood planks.

(Ignore the spray paint and wood filler – that was from the drawer project!)
Next, I planned in what order I would put the planks on the wall, so that the headboard would be tall enough and wide enough. For all this planning, I ended up not really following it because I wanted a variety of the stripes and colors in each row of wood.
Before starting, I marked the positions of the studs on the window trim above where I was putting the headboard. That way, I could nail into the studs.
Yes, I nailed the boards directly to the wall. Why? Well, I knew the wood planks would be staggered (a look I wanted, to resemble the pattern of a gym floor), and I didn’t want it to be perfect by framing it on a piece of plywood.
To start the top of the headboard, I was lucky and just started underneath the trim of the window above my son’s bed. If you want to do a project like this, and you aren’t lucky enough to have a window, make sure that the first board is level when you nail it to the wall.
Because the floor boards were tongue and groove, I could just hook them together before nailing them to the wall. That ensured the boards fit together snugly.
As I went, I made sure that I liked where the stripes on the wood were. I wanted a random pattern.
As an aside, never let your six-year-old near your camera, or you end up with something dreadful like this. Anyhoo…
Here’s all the wood nailed up on the wall:
I removed his old headboard/footboard combo, put the bed (on a regular frame) back in place, and here’s the finished bed:
Now Mr. I-Love-Sports has a sports-themed headboard, too – straight out of a local gym!
You could also repurpose gym flooring for a table top or as the back for a set of hooks. The wood has character, and usually color and a thick finish!
Karen, what an awesome idea! I’ve been around Pinterest and have sprung upon dozens of sites where headboards are made from recycled wood, etc but this is really unique! Way to go!
We are in the midst of re-decorating my son’s room (11 yo) and I showed him this post and the first thing he said was, “Is that the floor Michael Jordan played on?” haha!! I said, “No, someone better…..you never heard of the guy.” 🙂 lol!
Ha! That’s awesome! I TOTALLY should have told my son that Michael Jordan played on that court!! Since it came from our town, I doubt he’d believe me, but what a great story! Thank you so much for your kind words.
So fun. The headboard’s cute and so is your picture!
Thank you, Cheryl! I am never leaving my camera in my daughter’s reach again!! 😉
I love the photo of you! Adorable room. Cool project! I’m still looking forward to what you are going to do with those drawers . . . this is becoming a suspense blog for me!
Thanks, Geralin! I know – I’m ready to finish the drawer project, too! It’s kind of fun to keep everyone in suspense, though!! Have a great weekend!
So fun! I love it!
Thank you!!!
Very cool headboard solution Karen!!!
Thanks, Brittany! It was fun picking out the boards, finding the stripes and character in the wood.
What a fantastic idea! I love how you used recycled materials to make the headboard. I bet your son loves it! The stripes add such a fun detail as well.
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Thanks, Lindsey! Yes, he loves it. He liked the idea that no one else had a headboard like his, and he wondered who had played on that court. How cool is that? Thank you again!
That’s a sweet new project! I’m sure you guy loves it and most of because it was made by you. Great job!
Thank you, Larissa! He LOVED it, for sure!