Antique Iron Bed

Texas Eclipses New York in Iron Bed Demand

For nearly forty years the “Big Apple” has been my largest market. I’ve always felt it had a lot to do with the smaller size bedrooms that many of the apartments in New York have. But in fact, many of my beds either went in to rather sizable units with large bedrooms, or homes that…

Antique Iron Bed

Converting Double Size to Twin

I am constantly getting requests from people looking for matching twin size iron beds. As you may know from reading some of my other blog’s, twins were not made in the same quantities as double sizes were. The reasons were varied…….but that’s another whole story. Suffice to say, over the past 40 to 50 years…

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…

Sandblasted-Pewter-Best

Sandblasted Details

The iron bed in this photo was covered with layer upon layer of old lead base paint before it was sandblasted and readied for restoration and paint. It’s often difficult, if not impossible to really see what detailing is under all the 150 to 200 years of paint, until they are sandblasted off. The beauty…

Antique Iron Bed

The Cornucopia of Iron Castings

There are few castings , seen on antique iron beds, which have a definitive meaning as that of the “Cornucopia”. It is rich in meaning dating back to medieval times.  The dictionary describes a “cornucopia” as a goats horn that is overflowing with abundance. That abundance is symbolized  with fresh flowers, fruits and corn. Another…

Antique Iron Bed

Straight Canopy vs. “Crown Canopy”

When it comes to converting our antique iron beds to canopy, there is often a fair amount of confusion on which type of canopy will look best with which type of bed frame. It’s a commonly held opinion that a head and foot board with a straight line top. should automatically have a straight canopy…

Antique Iron Bed

Dressing Your Old Iron Bed

Many people just aren’t aware of the proper way antique iron beds should be dressed. If the truth be told………there really is no proper way. Much of how a person dresses their bed depends on two things…….. The gender they’d like it to portray  and the setting they want it to blend with. As you…

Antique Iron Bed

Popular Oldies Being Reproduced

Over the years I’ve sold well over a hundred iron beds that different manufacturers have ended up reproducing. Sometimes that reproducing occurred here in this country. But most often it took place in China, Taiwan or Spain. All centers of low price labor. But few beds have ever experienced the popularity as the one in…

Antique Iron Bed

Altering the Height of Your Iron Bed

So you’ve found a beautiful old antique iron bed, gotten home and set it up in your bedroom only to find that once you get your big thick “pillow top” mattress and large square European Pillow Shams…….your headboard is pretty much hidden. What are your options? The first possibility is to have the headboard raised…

Antique Iron Bed

Beds & Pets

Over the years, I’ve had more customers request certain alterations to their iron beds than you can imagine. Most of the time it was to have their beds lowered so a small dog could get into the bed. As you’re probably aware, the rail system on  antique iron beds is about 13″ off the ground.…