cathouse beds

Refinishing Your Iron Bed In Sandblasted Pewter

Occasionally I’ll get a person who loves antique iron beds, but doesn’t want an antique   finish. There are many people that want a new modern clean look, almost industrial in nature. As I’ve mentioned many times, the beauty of a metal bed is in the castings the foundry designed back in the 1800’s and…

cathouse beds

Iron Bed Refinishing Finish Number 1 Black Smyth

The photo you’re looking at is our most popular  finish…….our Black Smyth. Why is it called that and how did it come about? Read on…….. One day I was in the store cataloging and arranging a new shipment or iron beds that I had just gotten in. It actually had some of the prettiest beds…

cathouse beds

Refinishing Finish Number 2 Two Tone Crackle

Iron beds were not just painted white back in the 1800’s.  That is what most peoples concept of a bed is……..white. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Most  beds had a variation of colors or accented castings. Many beds of the day were painted with two colors. Generally the  perimeter was painted in a…

cathouse beds

Character and a Past

From the days when Lincoln was in office and Billy the Kid roamed the wild west to when two brothers named Wilbur and Orville took to the skies at Kitty Hawk, and when President Woodrow Wilson announced our entry into the 1st World war, iron beds offered people the handmade craftsmanship and quality they had…

cathouse beds

Iron Beds and Copper Pots………

Over the years I’ve had customer want me to do finishes on the iron beds they’ve gotten from me, around everything under the sun. I’ve had child’s parents send me comic books with colors circled that their child wanted their bed painted like. I’ve had the Ralph Lauren Co. send me material swatches, paint chips,…

cathouse beds

A Bed for “Extreme Home Makeover”

One of the more enjoyable things I’ve had the privilege to be a part of in my business, was being able to do a bed for a needy family on Extreme Home Makeover TV series. All of the items used on the show are donated. Donating antique iron beds for silent auctions or causes isn’t…