Here is a photo of a slight adjustment we did to an iron bed finish we did for a client. We have made a habit of emailing our clients what we refer to as “final approval” photo’s, before we ship their bed.
Because all of our antique “finishes” are hand applied to our beds, there is a certain artist interpretation involved with them. Someones concept of slight “distressing” and what we consider to be slight distressing can be worlds apart……even with the initial photo they selected their finish from, everyone has a preconceived idea of what they want their bed to look like. That’s why the “final approval” photo’s are so helpful in being able to dial in a finish to exactly what our clients want, prior to it being shipped.
The section you see in the following photo is one we’d done for a customer. The “final approval” photo’s were of the darker castings. When she say the photo’s she remarked on how much darker they were than what she had wanted. The section with the lighter “rubbed off” castings were what we’d then done to her bed to make it lighter, as per her wishes. She is now happy with the finish……as are we. As you can see from the two individual samples…. the changes are subtle , but significant.
An beds personality is determined not only by its shape and design, but even more so by it’s finish and color. For example…..we have three different “black” finishes. So how, you say, can you possibly have three finishes that are done with black that look different. There are many subtle things that can be done to one color to make it appear different when applied to a bed. Some techniques we use include acrylics to warm up the black, or acetone to rub some of the black off and expose the metal underneath. On other black finishes we do a subtle amount of gold guiding of the castings.
When refinishing iron beds, the key word is subtle……..those who try and go over the top n an attempt to achieve a particular unusual finish, usually end up with a bed that looks like someone did their “final exam” in refinishing on it and failed miserably.
Take your time…. experiment on small sections before you attempt the whole bed. That way any mistakes you make will be small ons that can be corrected.
I hope you’ve found this blog informative . I invite you to revisit my website
to answer any and all questions you might have about antique iron beds.
I also invite you to take a look at our company Face Book page for multiple photo albums on Custom Finishes, Canopy Conversions and a comprehensive “Before & After” King Conversions album.
