When I got the bed I had really inspected it until a few days later I was moving some of the iron beds from that particular shipment and I happened to notice it. The casting is of a mythical character I was able to pull up on the web called “Old Man Winter” the drawing…
DetailsThis happens to be a bed we converted to a king size for a client a number of years ago. I’d received photo’s of it after it was set in their home and just saw this picture of it “on-line”. When you think about things to decorate during the holidays, few things are more suited…
DetailsShoshone Indian cemetery, Wind River Reservation, Fort Washakie, Wyoming. Most remarkable among the graves in this high plains cemetery are those made of old iron bed frames. Many believe that Sacajawea is buried here, though another grave claimed to be hers exists at Fort Manuel in South Dakota. Throughout history, iron beds have used in…
DetailsYou know …….. the one that instantly turns a new place into my home when it is set up. For me it’s always been my iron bed. As soon as I set it up, I start feeling like I’m in “my place. My iron bed has always given me that secure feeling that’s suppose to…
DetailsWhen I lived back east I’d make a point of trying to coordinate one of my buying trips up North with the week the leaves were changing colors. There was a window of about a week when the leaves would change to beautiful burnt orange and yellow coloring…….. then they would drop for the winter.…
DetailsThe absolute most important thing after finally finding great old iron beds you’re happy with, is to select a custom antique faux’ finish that is really going to bring your bed to life. One of the more attractive elements to owning an antique bed is their flexibility in being able to be painted and refinishied…
Details“Where do you get your iron beds ?” ……… I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked that question and how many ridiculous answers I’ve come up with over the past 40 years. My favorite is…….. “there’s a small town close to Three Mile Island that is a toxic waste dump. Over the…
DetailsMany people aren’t aware that iron beds that were being made back in the 1800’s were never larger than today’s double/full size. There were no queen or king sizes. But people were much smaller then and the luxury of space wasn’t a strong necessity. Although 90% of the bed market was made up with full…
DetailsMost antique iron bed casters, are worthless. Why you ask? Because they were made back in the 1800’s with no ball bearings. Iron beds are traditionally very solid and heavy, due to the poured cast iron castings and thick wall tubing that most all beds were being made with. The casters that were being made…
DetailsThere are few memories as strong as those spent at Thanksgiving time with my parents. I had moved to the west coast back in 75′, from back in Ocean City Maryland. After finishing school at GW in Washington DC and starting my iron bed business in Georgetown , I decided to move to California and…
DetailsFor over thirty years people have been asking me how it is that I had come by the name, Cathouse Antique Iron Beds for my business. Although you wouldn’t think it would take much of an imagination, the true origin is actually pretty funny. While living in Georgetown, Washington D.C., and attending George Washington University,…
DetailsIt’s hard to believe that the big strong iron beds you see gracing the cover of magazines, continually being used as a focal point in movies and plays…….has an Achilles Heel. Well it’s true. In this photo you’re looking at the cast iron drop-in eyelet “hitch”. What you ask is the functionality of these piece…
DetailsOne of the first things that comes to mind when you picture a iron bed in the tropics is mosquito netting and an antique canopy bed. Probably because the were light and airy and with a canopy framework, great for draping curtains or netting over. Because of the abundance of flying insects, throughout the tropics,…
DetailsFew images conjure up a romantic setting like that of a canopy iron bed. Even when the iron bed is not an authentic antique iron bed, the setting, canopy top, and way it’s dressed will determine the effect the owner is trying to achieve. Over the years I’ve converted countless iron beds to canopy and…
DetailsMost all of my blogs have to do in some way shape or form with iron beds. That’s the purpose of company blog……to enlighten people on what your company deals in. In this case iron beds. But I’m departing from that traditional format to pay respect to someone who I grew up watching in he…
DetailsHaving dealt in antique iron beds for close to 40 years, it always drives me nuts when I see a nicely staged room that has a old bed that is missing pieces. You’d be surprised how many decorators don’t give an incomplete iron bed a second thought. To me it’s as bad as a dresser…
DetailsAlthough I’ve written blogs on this topic in the past, I always like revisiting it for the benefit of new parents or young people getting their first place. Storage is almost always an issue. Apartments are usually smaller that what you were use to growing up and there’s never enough space for all your clothes,…
DetailsIn this particular photo’s the designer/owner has chosen a “Shabby Chic” distressed chip paint setting and included a very Austere bed. Not necessarily the style bed I would have chosen for this particular setting. Occasionally, if done properly, a room that has been decorated with a very feminine flair, can handle a more straight Austere…
DetailsWhen refinishing an antique iron bed, there are few things that can “make” or “break” the look of the finished job more than how you treat the brass. Nearly 50% of all the iron beds that were being produced back in the 1800’s, had some accent of brass on them. This brass was not without…
DetailsSo what did small independently owned foundries of the 1800’s do when iron bed sales weren’t bringing in the revenue need to keep the doors open for business? Obviously other aligned items that they could make that required similar skills to that of making beautiful beds. One item that had many of the same design…
Details
