somewhere between shock and horror …

My Husband and I are really fortunate to have such a fantastic bed.  I remember so clearly the first day I saw the bed.  My Mother and her boyfriend had gone out to Buffalo, New York antique shopping and I had stayed home studying for finals {yes – this bed predates my Husband by quite a few years & goes all the way back to my Junior year of high school.}  We were in the midst of redecorating my bedroom that Spring which was LONG overdue.  I had originally wanted a gorgeous carved Eastlake Victorian walnut bed, but we couldn’t find one that was affordable or that would work in my bedroom {the curse of the classic Boston Cape Cod house with sloped second floor ceilings.} A headboard and footboard much like this one …

Eastlake Victorian Bed

That was definitely NOT the bed that my Mother and Richard brought home that day.  My Mother proudly carried the footboard up the driveway from the truck, so happy and excited that she had negotiated the price down to only $20.  I was shocked because my Mother is the worst negotiator {usually that is my job when antique shopping} but then I saw Richard with the headboard and I couldn’t believe the seller didn’t give my Mother the $20 just to remove it from their barn!  It was absolutely the ugliest bed I had seen.  It was an old metal bed from the turn-of-the-century that had been painted a crappy matte brown and some overzealous crafter had painted a floral arrangement on the headboard and footboard panels using lovely colors like sea foam green and peach.  I think the look on my face was somewhere between shock and horror.  My Mother realized that the bed was not going to work and said that at least I would have something when my mattress arrived.  Well the word of my ugly bed must have spread because there was some sort of warehouse glitch and my mattress wasn’t redelivered for another month.  Every time I went out into the garage I saw this god-awful bed, but one day I had a really good idea.  Always one to see the forest for the trees I realized that the overall shape of the bed was fantastic and original, but that the only truly hideous parts were the color & country artwork.  What would the bed look like if it were just the plain, simple metal?!  Everyone thought the idea was great and well worth the try so we bought paint stripper and removed all the paint down to the bare metal which looked amazing until the next day when the bed had rusted completely over.  {Apparently metal that hasn’t been exposed for 100 years doesn’t fare so well once you remove its 7 layers of paint!}  Richard suggested that we sand off the rust down to the bare metal again and then clear coat it with matte polyurethane.  Great solution except that it took him forever to sand the entire bed – almost the entire summer!  My bed was perfect and I have been absolutely head-over-heels in love with it since!!!

Unfortunately 12+ years later my perfect antique metal bed has started to rust again now that most of the protective clear coat has been worn down and nicked off.  The Hubs and I thought of buying a new bed when we decided to redecorate our apartment, and we stumbled across the exact bed I dreamed off originally {but better!}  Enormous dark walnut hand carved Eastlake bed complete with the original bed rails for under $750 with delivery from the North Fork of Long Island.  Wow indeed, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy it and replace our metal bed.  Then there are the to-die-for beds that are just completely out of our price range like the Presidio Bed, Fairfax Bed and the Westport Bed all from Williams Sonoma Home which are not available in full size either only queen.

Williams Sonoma Home

WS Home - Fairfax

WS Home - Westport

We had wanted to upgrade to a queen size mattress when we purchased our new mattress & boxspring, but our apartment just would not accommodate one with our tiny 8 foot by 9 foot bedroom nook.  Honestly, I do actually love the patina that the rust gives to the bed, but there is a bit more of it lately as it seems to be appearing more frequently.  The Hubs thinks we should sand the entire bed again, but then again he has no idea what a process that was in the first place.  I think that there must be an easier method since it is only slightly rusty.  I did some research and have found out that I can use CLR diluted with water with either a sponge or a wire brush.  I have also heard that you can use a paste made from baking soda and water for a green eco-friendly option or even coke {the drink not blow!}  Has anyone ever tried any of these methods before?  I think maybe after the holidays are over and before the cold and snow start I might send the Hubs up on the roof with the bed to try out the baking soda and CLR methods.  Wish him luck!

~ by David DuRocher on December 17, 2009.