What Good Are Old 3/4 Size Metal Beds?

Over the years, I’ve come across a good amount of the old 3/4 size bed frames. You might ask yourself what possible purpose did they have and their usage. A 3/4 size iron bed measures between 44″ and 49″ wide. An antique  twin size measure between 38″ to approximately 41″. A Full/Double size measures right…

Industrial “Finishes”

Although antique faux’ finishes are still the most popular we do, “Industrial” finishes, along with more modern styles have been gaining in popularity more than any other style or design. Industrial finishes include any finish that have  a new “unused” look. They can be “powder coatings”, which is a type of coating that is applied as…

Furnishing: Determining Gender & Mood Through Color

Regarding your home, color has long been used to create feelings of comfort, peace or space. Not only on interior walls, but also on furniture. Throughout history predominant colors have given us insight into a societies mores and beliefs. The Victorian Era was dominated by oppressive dark colors. Primary colors were unheard of. Iron beds were…

What Determines a Beds Value ?

So you’re hunting for a bed….. not a “replica” or “reproduction”, and you want to know where to start. You should first know that there is no comparability between an authentic old antique iron bed and a reproduction. They are constructed very differently, the reproduction being produced with aluminum castings and thin wall tubing and the original…

The Craftsman Era

Sometimes referred to as the Arts and Crafts movement or the American Craftsman style, this period in design history became popular toward the end of the 1800’s and  continued until the 1930’s. It is probably one of the more “revived”  schools of design and to this day experiences a larger share of popularity, than all…

Refinishing Your Antique Bed Where To Start

If you bought your antique iron bed earlier than 1977, you can count on on it having been painted with lead based paint.  Back in the 1800 s, when these beauties were being made,  lead based paint was being used on all furniture and pretty much all iron beds of that period.  Lead was added to paint to help the speed…

Louisiana Foundries and Antique Iron Beds

Pittsburgh was the focus of steel production in this country back in the 1800’s. So if you owned a enterprise that depended on steel and iron ore, like antique iron beds, for the production of what you created, it behooved you to locate that enterprise as close to the supply of those needed materials as possible.…

“Green” Decorator’s and Their Choice of Antiques

Antique iron beds have grown to be one of the most preferred furniture items being used today with “Green” interior designers. As we all know, there are no better sustainable eco-friendly items than antique furniture. Their “atomic footprint” has previously been determined and subtracted from the environment. It’s affect, whatever it may have been, has…

How To Dress An Antique Iron Bed

If you were to come across any vintage photo’s of bedroom interiors, you would probably be amazed at how spartan they are. The factor that would probably catch your attention before anything else is the lack of pillows that were used and the method in which they were exhibited. Most of the time there was a solitary pair of pillows…

Appropriate Antiques for Cottage Design

Leisure and comfort are two of the more integral things to remember when deciding on a Cottage decor. Other schools of design base their foundation on formality and pretense. Quaint and cozy can be your catch phrase for Cottage Style. Another tenant to remember is “practical”, yet comfortable. When it comes to color schemes, stay…