Here is a “Before and After” king conversion photo of an iron bed we did for a client in Laguna Beach Ca. It was a bed we’d never seen before. So it must have been made in very limited numbers…..possibly only a few before the foundry decided not to make it any more ……or……it could possibly have been a “commission” piece. That means the foundry could have been commissioned by a customer to make only “one”, and that it was to be an exclusive iron bed no one else would ever have. When that happened the foundry would often break the molds that were made to pour the castings, so there was no chance of there ever being another duplicate iron bed made. Making it a real “one of a kind”.
It was not uncommon for small independently owned foundries to offer their customers the exclusivity of having a “one of a kind” bed that either the client could design or have the help of the foundry designer.
When we convert an antique double size iron bed to a modern king size……we strive to maintain the symmetry and original design by adding only what we feel would have been intended if iron beds had been offered in king size back in the 1800’s.
As you can see from the photo, an iron bed with such beautiful design and symmetry, doesn’t need a helping hand to redesign an already beautiful design.
I’ve seen many iron beds in the past that I feel could have been enhanced with a little something different to punch up a “flat” design. But I’ve resisted making any changes to the original design for fear of changing the design of the iron bed my customer s had fallen in love with.
