Welcome everyone to today’s post. Do you remember curling up with a book on a warm Summer day and becoming so absorbed in the story you forget where you are? I wanted to create a bedroom where you could do just that.
The concept for this room makeover began with the installation of wide-plank hardwood. We ripped up the carpeting and put down the flooring over a two day period. The closet and threshold took the longest time. Once those two things were installed the rest went really quickly.
The next piece that fell into place were the drapes. I found them at a thrift store for about $8. They were custom made Waverly drapes that came lined and were in really good condition. Had them dry cleaned and they looked brand new. The window wall is quite a large expanse so I was thrilled to find good quality drapes that fit the space. I didn’t have to do anything to them beyond the cleaning.
A few weeks went by. We had twin beds in the room with wooden frames. They were nice but I was on the look out for some iron beds. I knew that finding a set of old twin iron bedsteads would not be easy…. but looking is half the fun. Then one day…there they were. All of the pieces were with the beds and it was a matched set of old twin iron beds. They had been repainted at least once and were dinged up but otherwise intact. We paid $75 for them and considered ourselves very fortunate.
Then began the long and laborious process of stripping the beds of their paint. We used a wire brush to remove the paint on each section of the beds. It took several days of hard, sweaty work to remove the paint.
The beds were wiped down with alchohol and allowed to dry. Then we reassembled the pieces and began the process of spray painting them with a paint used for metal surfaces. I wanted a nice bright white. We removed all of the brass fittings before starting work on the beds. In the picture above you can see the pretty embellishments in the beds. They are a series of Flour de lis.
When the paint was completely dry (about 36 hours later) the beds were moved inside and reassembled. However, they didn’t come with the original springs so a base for each bed had to be constructed. So Ron built a frame and attached cross slats to furniture webbing. (clever Hubby) Holes already existed in the frame at the head and foot so it wasn’t too difficult to screw the new mattress base to the existing frame.
The brass fittings were returned to the bed and you can see, in the picture above, the reassembled bed complete with brass fittings and the base for the mattress. You can also see the old-fashioned dresser to the right of the bed. We’ve had this piece for a long time and there is a matching Highboy in another part of the room.
Here are the two matching beds assembled in the bedroom.
I looked for an old-fashioned rug that would compliment the beds and pick-up the colors in the drapes and the bedding.. Came across this beautiful oval rug on Marketplace. It seemed perfect for the space.
The rug seemed to match the feel of the beds. The bedding is simple with white coverlets and matching yellow quilts laid at the foot of each bed (another thrift store find)
The wall behind the beds was painted one of the greens in the drapes and the carpet.
This was a really big project but I think it turned out really well. We are loving the beds and the vintage look to the room. It was well worth the effort to end up with this really pretty room perfect for dreaming and reading that special book.