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Antique Door Bed Frame | All About That JUNK

All About That JUNK· DIY

21 Jan

Junk Banner

My mother and I enjoy “junking.” This is not to be confused with antiquing. Antiquing implies you’re shopping for mint condition collectibles. Junking means you’re digging through old barns and at the back of salvage yards to find the diamonds in the rough.

Nearly every piece in my house was at one time considered junk. Everything has been repurposed, upcycled or DIY’ed. Do I consider my style “shabby chic?” Or “country rustic?” Absolutely not. But I find beauty in these rusty, old, painted, one-of-a-kind treasures. I guess I’ll call my style something along the lines of “modern farmhouse meets eclectic crap.” As in, I have a stained glass rooster in my kitchen and I kind of love it.

Yeah.

Some of your comments have inspired me to start a new series. I want to show you how inexpensive it can be to have that Restoration Hardware look with just a little bit of elbow grease. I want to give you the tips you may need to re-do your own furniture and create your own decor. I want to show you a few of our favorite junkin’ stores in central Indiana, and maybe a few places we’ve dreamed of visiting.

So, without further adieu, welcome to All About That JUNK. Coming at you now, and every Wednesday for the foreseeable future. πŸ˜‰

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Junk Title

DSC_1035

My husband and I graduated college in ’09/’10, and decided we needed a decent bed. We had diplomas, therefore we deserved a headboard. Problem was, we were still too poor for a bedroom suite. Womp, womp.

For whatever reason, around that time my grandfather was replacing a few doors in his home – a house that was a large part of my childhood. These original doors from 1949 were solid wood, in excellent unpainted condition, and were the perfect candidates for a king-sized bed frame.

junk details

Obviously our doors needed some engineering to become a proper headboard and foot board. With the help of four 4x4s and some illegal work in the University of Indianapolis wood shop, we (read: my husband) had built ourselves a sturdy frame.

IMG_0051

As you can see, once we had our frame prepped, we needed to fill the glass panes with something a little…softer. I managed to find a bolt of textured faux leather (on sale!) at Joann Fabric to match our paint color. We wrapped the fabric around some quilt batting and a plywood board, and stapled it into place. Then, we simply attached the covered plywood to the back side of our doors. If someday we want to change out the fabric, we can easily do so by just removing the panels.

I wanted to keep the “door” characteristic in this piece, so we kept the original brass keyhole in the foot board. It may just be my favorite part of the whole bed.

So, a lot of sanding and a little paint later, and we have a custom-made bed that is sturdy enough to survive two apartments and two houses.

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comparison

The best part about this project? We saved ourselves a TON of cash. Our bed cost approximately $100.

DSC_1034

Or… you can buy the same thing online. For 100x the price.

Door Bed$1,900.00 | $1,800.00 | $820.00

Granted we did have access to power tools to make our lives easier, but there was nothing too incredibly difficult about this design. I can’t even imagine paying the above price PLUS SHIPPING for the exact same thing.

Cottens – 1, Etsy – 0.

—

So, what do you think? What kinds of pieces or tips do you want to see? Are you excited for the next crazy edition of All About That JUNK!?

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4 Comments

Previous Post: « The “Formidable 14 Months”
Next Post: Inspired by the Museum: The Fun is Just Beginning! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bethany says

    January 21, 2015 at 11:49 am

    Love the name πŸ™‚ Can’t wait to see what you include in this series!

    Reply
  2. Katrin says

    January 21, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    Wow, nicely done (the bed and the blog post)! We are not college students anymore but still don’t have a bed frame, with this post I might have gotten some ideas πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  3. Darlene Perry says

    June 26, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    Do you have instructions for making a bed out of old doors? Interested in how to make the frame the mattress sets on. Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Beth says

    June 16, 2016 at 12:45 pm

    Hi, I would love to know what paint color you used on this bed!

    Reply

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Hey there, I'm Samantha. Recovering SAHM, and aspiring competitive dance mom. I have a passion for travel, am known to say it like it is, and I most certainly do not have it all together. Currently on a journey toward self love and discovery. Join me. 2021 | Bloom

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Have a magical day! ✨ #waltdisneyworld #magicki Have a magical day! ✨

#waltdisneyworld #magickingdom #springbreak #butdidyoudie
Post-competition hangover is REAL at the Cotten ho Post-competition hangover is REAL at the Cotten house today! πŸ€ͺ I’m still teary-eyed over how grown up our babies looked on stage. πŸ₯Ί So, so proud of them and their @talent_factory_ Company teammates! #dancemom @iddancecomp

The Sanderson Sisters | Dorothy
πŸ† Iconic Platinum, 1st Overall Junior Novice Duo/Trio 
***Special Award: Costume Award

Sweet Scoops | Frances
πŸ† Iconic Platinum, 3rd Overall Mini Novice Small Group 

Cabana Cuties | Dorothy
πŸ† Iconic Platinum, 2nd Overall Junior Novice Small Group, 
***Special Award: Artistic Execution 

The Addams Family | Dorothy
πŸ† Ultra Iconic (highest achievement), 2nd Overall Intermediate Teen Production
ID ICON BUZZER 🚨
***Special Awards: Costume Award, Technique Award, Trendsetter Award
I bought a 2,000 piece puzzle thinking it would be I bought a 2,000 piece puzzle thinking it would be β€œfun.” 8 days later - with HOURS of help from @kadstewa, @saworkman2012, and @andrewni88 - I retire from puzzles forever. πŸ˜‚πŸ˜³πŸ˜œ
The Doc is in! πŸ’œ We took a surprise trip to @ch The Doc is in! πŸ’œ We took a surprise trip to @childrensmuseum last night to preview the new Doc McStuffins exhibit. Frances loved caring for the stuffed animals, and Dot is on her way to becoming a surgeon specializing  in toy dragons. Do you have doctors-in-training at your house? 🩺 The exhibit opens to the public TOMORROW, so don’t miss it! #attcm #childrensmuseum #docmcstuffins
We ate brunch in a traincar diner πŸš‚, explored S We ate brunch in a traincar diner πŸš‚, explored Salem πŸ§™β€β™€οΈ, froze our faces while wandering colonial forts and lighthouses on the Atlantic 🌊, and ended our New England weekend seeing this gorgeous girl finally marry her love in a 1901 stone mansion πŸ‘°πŸ»β€β™€οΈ. Who knew hiring Nikole as my assistant director in 2017 would lead to a friendship like this? πŸ’›
These. Three. πŸ’ƒπŸ•ΊπŸ’ƒ @talent_factory_ #tfadh These. Three. πŸ’ƒπŸ•ΊπŸ’ƒ @talent_factory_ #tfadholidayshowcase21
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