Restoring old furniture can be a daunting task, especially if you have never done it before and know absolutely nothing at all about how to go about it. Of course, if you have great instructions to go by, then it is entirely possible that you could do some refinishing and have it turn out great, that is if you have the right amount of patience to go along with your instructions. The trick to any furniture refinishing is to take your time and never get in a hurry. You never want to destroy the value of an antique piece of furniture, so know all about the piece you have before you touch it in any way.
Iron beds are a popular piece of furniture that people will often refinish. It is because when the paint on the metal has been all chipped off and there are rusty spots, it is not as attractive to look at as perhaps wood furniture in the same condition. You should first determine how old your bed really is before you do anything to it. You will not want to ruin it by refinishing it when it might have been better off left alone. There are ways you can find out the age if you do not know.
If you need to find out how old your iron bed is because you are not at all sure, then an antique professional might be able to help. The reason you should know is because iron beds were made differently during the 1800’s than they were after the first decade or so of the 19th century. You might not be able to tell the difference yourself, but a real professional will be able to show you the difference.
A professional antique dealer should be able to tell if your iron bed was handcrafted using a sand-cast mold with high grade iron of the time. The beds that were made in later years could be considered less valuable because they were manufactured in a factory with a lesser grade iron and in a much faster and more modern manner. This does not mean that the manufactured beds are worthless, it is just they are not the same as the handcrafted beds.
You can always check your old iron bed yourself to see if you can find any old markings or labels that you can research on the Internet to help you determine the age yourself. If there are no marks, then it could be that only a professional can give you the answer. Even then the refinishing decision will be up to you, but you might be more comfortable knowing that you will not be destroying the value of the bed.
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Tags: bedroom furniture, furniture, Home Furniture, Interior design, Iron Beds