Secondhand Score: Free bed frames & what to do with them

Monday was the longest day of travel I’d had in years; hence the lame-ass post title.  Thanks to plane repairs and then flight cancellations I spent a good 8 hours at the Baltimore airport, and arrived very late into Dallas, TX.  There went my afternoon/evening of exploring the area.  I’ll be in a class all day for the rest of the week, and then will have to take a test – so I have no chance to see Texas on this visit.

It’s now Tuesday night and I’m apparently fighting the world’s worst internet connection. But hopefully I can tolerate this long enough to show you the newest addition to our house. But then it’s back to studying for me.

During my last visit to my parents’ house I snagged two new-to-me twin bed frames.  I don’t know much about them other than the fact that they’re solid old wood, who knows how old – they came pre-loved with the house my parents bought back in the 70’s.  However, they’re also beat up and desperate for a new finish.

I’ve decided that I will really have some fun and play with this space as I decorate it. It’s my chance to do something totally different from the rest of the house, and I think these bed frames have inspired me to go for sort of a French provincial / modern country / B&B vibe.

But I couldn’t formulate a plan until I knew if the bed frames would fit in the small room without making it feel too cramped. I quickly tested it out before I left town, and I think I can make it work:

The view in the above photo is what you see as you enter through the french doors. I didn’t put the second headboard in yet, in case you’re wondering.  I’ll have a smaller-scale nightstand between the beds, and cozy carpet on the floor.

Why twin beds?  First, I’ve got two really comfortable, almost-new twin mattresses.  Secondly, we  have a few people who visit us together but are not couples, like my mom and her good friend.  They don’t really want to share a bed.  Sure, twin beds are small, but we’re not the Hilton – we’re working with what we have.  And we’ll make our guests comfortable, which is what matters most.

The footboards of the beds have loose parts.  And their high posts are a bit too tall  for the tiny room.  So to fix both issues, I plan to essentially shorten them while keeping the pointy finials on top, so that they still have the same style as they do now. Just shorter!

I tested it out to see how the beds would look without footboards, and I think that would look too silly:

Yeah, going sans footboard just looks silly and totally off balance.

So miniturized footboards it will be!

I’m super excited about this room.  Hopefully I’ll have nailed down my vision more specifically in a week or so, and then we can let the decorating begin!