It makes sense that we had a dresser and balcony furniture before having a bed, right? Priorities!
Nah, the bed took a while, because it's a few centuries old and had to be restaurated carefully. It's from the 30s/40s and once belonged to my parents old landlord & landlady in Berlin. It's a so-called matrimonial bed and it had two mattresses divided by a wooden board in the middle. Since we live in the modern times I wanted to find a way for it to hold only one mattress.
But let's start at the beginning:
Nah, the bed took a while, because it's a few centuries old and had to be restaurated carefully. It's from the 30s/40s and once belonged to my parents old landlord & landlady in Berlin. It's a so-called matrimonial bed and it had two mattresses divided by a wooden board in the middle. Since we live in the modern times I wanted to find a way for it to hold only one mattress.
But let's start at the beginning:
The first thing we did was to rid it from spiders webs and dust, because the beds resided in my parents attic for quite a while.
Then we used wood stain on it to mend dents and darken the wood a bit. Age has lighened up the wood and it took a couple of coats to bring out that nice dark pattern.
Then we added wood blocks to the already excisting blocks on the sides that hold up the spring bed frame. This ensured that the mattress would lie on top of the bed without bending in the middle, because the frame was moved up.
The spring bed frame still had its label on it. Unfortunately it didn't say exactly when it was build, but I'm sure the 25 years guarantee are long passed.
As a final touch I oiled the bed to seal the wood stain and for protection. I let the oil sit for a day before putting the mattress in and putting sheets and pillows and blankets on it. So far it hasn't stained anything, so it was enough time to soak into the wood. The oil also darkened the wood a little more and made it shine all prettily.
I'm pretty satisfied with the final result. It is a huge bed and a huge improvement to our sleeping couch we had for the past 3 years (an interim solution that lasted...). I also like the contrast between our modern dresser and the vintage beauty of that bed. Now I only need to get my mother's vanity from the attic and the bedroom will be finished. Feels good to hear that. Moving is no fun, but new is good and goodness takes time.
This post will be part of Nina's Upcycling Tuesday and the Creadienstag.
This post will be part of Nina's Upcycling Tuesday and the Creadienstag.
