Yesterday, I saw the cutest little bed at a garage sale. Like many vintage beds, it was a bit of an odd size. It looked pretty narrow to me, and I thought it could pass for crib size in width. But it was very long. I hoped that if I cut the sides down I could use it as a toddler bed. I wasn't sure, but I took a chance and bought it. When I got it home my guesses were correct. It fit a crib sized mattress perfectly, except that it was about 20 inches too long. Because of the way it was constructed I decided not to cut the length off the ends. But shortened it a bit further up.
After I cut 20 inches off each side, I used wood glue and mending plates to put the side rails back together. Ideally, it would have been best to cut the ends off, then screw the hardware back in place. But this bed did not have hardware attached, but it had pegs carved from it to fit the head and foot boards. I decided not to chance an ill fit by bothering with the ends, and went this route instead. I knew I would fold a quilt on the bottom of the bed and my seam would not show.
The bed in my daughter, Eliza's, room is also an odd size. I bought it at a garage sale too. It is bigger than a toddler bed but smaller than a twin. For this bed, I had a mattress custom made by a local mattress company. Generally, a mattress company can cut any size mattress down to fit. It costs a little more than a regular mattress but it was still pretty reasonable, even by my standards.
So, I guess what I'm saying is; if you see really cute little bed that you are tempted to buy, but aren't sure if a mattress will fit, take a chance, and get it. I love these odd little sized beds. They are so unique!
Cute! Now you have a bed for Lukie when he comes to visit!
ReplyDeleteYes! Send him over right away! It's the perfect size bed for Lukie. I wish I would have had it when you were here last fall.
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