Alexandra's Bed

  My daughter would possibly be leaving for college this fall and she asked if I could make her a nice bed frame. I asked her what she would like and she told me to make it like her lamp. I had made a lamp a while back of walnut and used Japanese rice paper for the shade and it turned out pretty nice. Being a prototype it naturally found a place in our house. (I plan to build another lamp soon and will post on this blog)

  I didn't have much time as I was scheduled for my surgery and wasn't sure if I could complete the bed afterwards. So out to the barn to check on the walnut pile and there I found what we would need.

  I figured I would follow the curves that were on the lamp for some inspiration. After some sketching I came up with a design that was a little to heavy and just to dark. I added some maple into the mix and went with a small center panel in the head and foot board flanked by maple pickets. Not bad. The legs were still too bulky and dark so I added some maple stringing inlayed to follow the outer shape of the legs. The mattress acutally sits on a wheeled steel frame so the bed frame does not hold any weight this allowed for a less robust set of rails. It will also make it easier for her to move to an apartment. I finished up with some wipe on poly.

  I had the bed together and in her room before I thought to take some shots of it. Oh well live and learn.

Darn blue dots on the wall, looks like Towmater.

First time I've used inlay in this way, it was interesting.

I hope you liked this post.  Thanks for looking
Ken