Antique Iron Bed

The Butlers Iron Bed

Not something traditionally seen in this country…….but the Butler’s bedroom was a common setting amongst the upper class throughout England. Because the butler held a rather important role in the families day to day living, it was important his private sanctuary be befitting his station in life. Often great pains were taken to make his…

Antique Iron Bed

Packing & Shipping Your Iron Bed

What is the best way to pack and ship your antique iron bed. The first thing to remember is that your bed isn’t a mirror that needs to be bubble wrapped with  Styrofoam peanut’s. It’s thick wall steel tubing and heavy cast iron castings. But……with that being said, there is a degree of fragility to…

Antique Iron Bed

Casting With Sand

So what is “casting with sand”? Especially when it relates to antique iron beds. It’s a process whereby a mold is taken of an object , by building a box around the solid object  and then packing a dense  mud sand mixture into the box that forms around the solid object. On beds this has…

Antique Iron Bed

Iron Bed on Wheels

I usually don’t go too far afield from iron beds in the majority of my blogging. And if you take into consideration that there actually is an bed in this “log cabin” on wheels, then I guess I’m still on track. I just couldn’t pass up sharing this particular photo a client emailed me last…

Antique Iron Bed

Bed Sizes Antique Iron Beds

When it comes to iron beds that were being made back in the 1800’s, there were 5 specific size categories. Yet even within those five categories  beds could vary in width quite a bit, especially in the Twin Size category. The five different categories of beds were: Crib Size : These usually were very close…

Antique Iron Bed

Rusty Iron Distressed Carckle Finish

For people looking for a really old distressed finish for their iron bed, let me suggest our Rusty Iron Distressed Crackle Finish. Although this is one of the more labor intensive antique faux’ finishes that we do on the beds we sell, it offers one of the more distressed looks we offer. I should let…

Antique Iron Bed

Fancy Iron Daybed

This country was not known for their iron daybeds. Daybeds were something the Europeans did more of. In this country we did more regular twin size  beds. So when someone wants an iron daybed with and American made  bed, we take a twin size and cut the head down to the height of he footboard.…

Antique Iron Bed

Iron Bed Pin Rails

I’d say close to 85% of all the iron beds that were being made in the 1800’s used side rails that had a conical shape on the end much like that of an ice cream cone. They would drop down in to the reverse image that had been cast around the  beds side tubing. Although…

Antique Iron Bed

Bunkie Boards…..Eliminate That Tall Box Spring

As you’re all probably aware, iron beds elevate the mattress and box spring off the ground an average of 8″ higher than a conventional modern bed frame. There were a number of reasons people back in the 1800’s choose to elevate their mattresses so high. They were certainly not for aesthetics ……… but instead were…

Antique Iron Bed

Iron Bed Tubing Sizes

There are a number of different size iron bed tubing sizes. The two beds in this photo are the most prominent. They are the most traditional 1″ diameter thick wall tubing, the blue one, and the 2″ diameter thick wall tubing. The 1″ tubing was used on probably as much as 80% of all the…