How To Abuse Newly Purchased Furniture On Purpose

An update...Jon got a Utah based job. We no longer have to expect to be transferred every 3 to 4 years. We also decided to buy the house we have been renting so that our family could stay settled.  Home ownership has had a nesting type affect on me. 

Now...about the vintage iron bed I have been falling in love with this week.  I have imagined owning a rusted, chipped and shabby iron bed for most of my adult life. They have character, history and add instant charm to a room. So when my Mother in law spied one at an Idaho consignment store I thought it would be love at first sight, but It wasn't. I like straight lines and this was twirly, I like rust and this was recently painted...but the price was right...and I thought I saw potential, so I bought it. 

Not loving it yet...but I will, thanks for peer pressuring me Di

After a lovely Thanksgiving visit with the most wonderful in-laws a girl could hope for, Jon strapped that heavy purchase to the roof of our mini van and we hauled it home to Utah. 


Once I got  home I started scheming...a hammer, a wrench and some sand paper. Yes. Hitting and scratching my new bed is a good idea. I grabbed some coarse grit sand paper and started scrubbing...on the back side of the head board. I was happy to see a beautiful rusty patina start to reveal itself beneath the bright white paint. But I didn't jut want a distressed look, I wanted chipped paint too, so I grabbed a wrench and smacked an iron flower. 
And the most beautiful chip of paint went flying across my makeshift shop/office. I can't describe to you how satisfying a feeling it was watching that paint chip fly. I couldn't stop. I kept smacking rounded corners and rods with what I imagine is an introverts version of an adrenaline rush coursing through my veins. It's fun reliving that moment right now. But if I were to depart my most helpful tip of all for you future iron bed distressers it would be.... a wrench gripped tightly around an iron rod and wiggled back and forth. The paint will crumble and fall and you will be left with the irons true story...rust. 

Grip and wrench it back and forth... worked like a charm.

The more energy I put into this bed, the more beautiful it became to me. Those twirls now look perfectly feminine and shabby chic and make me wonder about the little girl who may have slept in this bed 100 years ago. ( I couldn't find any manufacture dates or numbers at all, but an online search of antique iron beds with similar features had me conclude that this bed is late 1800-early 1900's..so cool.)



Now you are starting to look like a 100 year old bed...much better.

The biggest challenge were the bed posts. The wrench didn't work quite as well and hitting it with metal objects didn't send paint chips flying like I had hopped. So I sanded, and it didn't look natural. So I sanded some more... and some more. I still haven't decided if I added to the look or ruined the bed. But the more I look at it the more I like it, so if you look at these pictures and think " dang, she ruined it" just don't tell me, k. ( Dad;)
         

You posts were suckers...but I'm starting to like you anyway.

Once Jon and I set up the bed we realized that this bed predates standard sizes...it's neither twin nor full..crap. So, Jon cut pieces of wood for us to set the mattress atop and the twin mattress works just fine...with extra space next to the wall for improved bed making.   

Kate's new really  old bed.

                                                 
I'm so pleased with the way this project turned out. Now..on to the next feather for my nest...


P.S I used a lead test kit on this bed before I went to town on it. Three times...cause I'm cautious. We also discovered the front right post was broken in two. JB weld...works miracles.