Why should you consider buying an antique iron bed, when there are so many alternative bed frames on the market?
1 – The first an best reason I can offer is……I have two teenage girls. I’ve often told my wife, if I were ever to get a tattoo, I would have “ATM” on one arm and “TAXI” on the other.
OK…I can appreciate that isn’t going to make you want to run out and buy the first antique iron beds you lay your eyes on. So lets see exactly why a antique metal bed is one of the best investments in furniture you can make for your bedroom.
1-The bottom line in my book when buying anything is value. Why would I go out and buy something that is going to be worth only a fraction of what I paid for it by the time I get it home…..When I can buy something is guaranteed to appreciate in value beyond what I’m paying for it. Antiques go up in value. No one can dispute that. It’s the simplest and most basic rule of “supply and demand” economics. There was a finite amount of metal beds made back in the 1800’s. We can’t go back in a time machine and make more. So as the demand continues to go up, the supply of beds continues to go down and be depleted ……….driving the price higher and higher. This alone show make you want to consider getting an old bed.
2- Quality ……. Antique iron beds were all hand made. Craftsmanship was something people took great pride in back in the 1800’s. A mans reputation for making the best item he could was of utmost importance. The materials that went into metal beds back then are no longer being used today. Reproduction beds are made of thin wall tubing with aluminum castings. They also attach to low Hollywood/Harvard bed frames with bolts and screws. Unfortunately ,try as they have, few manufacturers of reproduction antique beds have been able to come up with the strength and durability that are inherit in original old ones . Why? Because back in the mid- 1800’s, the “heyday” of metal beds, small independent foundries used strong thick wall tubing and poured all the castings that went on every bed with cast iron…… not aluminum. Cast iron is prohibitive in price today and one of the main reason no manufactures use it. But it was much stronger and far more durable.
3- Adaptability – One of the things that makes metal beds such a favorite of interior designers is their ability to work with just about any decor ……Country French, Art Deco, Art Nouveau , Victorian and even Modern. Although all these beds were built in a narrow window of history, their designs often looked like pieces that had somehow been transported back from the future.
So there you have it……..metal beds give you more bang for your buck…….will outlast generations to come, because of there quality and durability……..and there’s rarely a setting that one can’t be found for.
