a dream of a project

I really appreciate having unique things, especially when I can be involved in their creation. This one has a special place in my heart. This has been my Summers heart project.

Last Easter I was wondering around my grandparents (mothers parents) annexes with my aunt when we found the casted iron pieces of my childhood bed. That bead had been my bed until way in my teens and before that it had been my fathers single bed and even before that it had been his grandfathers bed. So as far as I know this casted iron bed is at least has old as my grand-grandfather Chico (from Portalegre, Portugal) born 1907. This bed is probable at least 100 years old.

When I was a child I the bed got a coat of white paint all over, I guess it was fashionable that way then. Still today there are few people from my parents generation that appreciate the original beauty of this dreamy piece of furniture. I knew I had to get this family clenod back and give it a new use restoring its glory.

This is how it looked like when we found it.

It looked abandoned, had lots of rust and the detailed flower arrangement was all blurry due to the white coat of paint it got on the 1980's. Such a shame... So my uncle helped med with the welding and the treatment it required before painting. He also followed med to a "big Swedish furniture company" to by a large bed structure (my husband is quite tall) with but no head piece attached to it and the madrases. Me being a controller freak that methodically tackles a task like putting a bed together and my uncle that is the most impulsive person I know and kept asking for a hammer putting that bed structure together could have been a really funny sketch material. 

The bed structure served well already during Easter. Still it lacked the head piece. That was the fun part of the project. So I took it to my grandparents (fathers parents) basement and carefully painted it with several coats of metal paint with quality brushes. I prepared the basement carefully so no dust or anything else got stuck on the paint during the long drying process. 

Here's the final results: 

I hope this family clenod can be loved by many more generations. Next time I will try to find worthy bedside tables, I'm hoping I get to paint them myself so they match the bed perfectly and had another uniqueness to the room. After that, maybe the lamp?