the RED BED reveal: before and after pics!

Here we have a cold, sad, naked pine sleigh bed. Practically sanded down to the nails. Believe it or not, this is the beginning stage of "Plan B". I deleted my pics of "Plan A" in a fit of frustration and dishonor. Sorry.

I found the headboard and footboard at an antiques store for $55. I found the side rails from an online company for $250. I sanded and stained the entire bed a lovely shade of deep reddish brown. And then found out too late that I had used way too much stain. Way too much. As in four months later it was still tacky. 
So we sanded. And sanded. And sanded. I think my lungs will forever have reddish brown stain particles floating around in them. My husband and the Mouse were also great helps, so my thanks goes out to them too. We sanded the daylights out of that bed frame. No trace of deep reddish brown. And then we primed the surface with a special conditioner so all the wood accepts the stain evenly. 
On went our first coat of stain - a very light coat this time. We were very careful. We followed the directions explicitly. Staining, letting it set, wiping the excess off. It started out all right..... but after a few light coats...... wait a minute. Oh no....... something is wrong. It's not all accepting the stain evenly. Not even remotely! 
By the third coat, it was so mottled it looked ghastly! Horrible! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! She's going down...... yes, she's definitely going down. I don't think we will ever know what the problem was or why the wood turned so ugly. SO. UGLY.  
Enter "Plan C". That's when I decided paint is my friend. Paint has always been my friend and I should have remembered that in the first place. Stain bad. Paint good. I went and got a high grade primer, a high grade paint, and picked out a lovely Martha Stewart "barn red" color. I did have to sand the entire bed down yet again - ugh. I HATE SANDING! But then after wiping everything down I immediately started applying the primer. I painted more than 2 full coats of primer.
And here we are at the cutting in stage. Oh, if I had only known the FITS these slats were going to give me, I would have taken the entire thing to the dumpster. But I suppose there are some things we don't know for our own good. 
Here we are with the first coat of red finished. I went on to do 3 coats of red on the entire bed, and a 4th coat of red on the slats. If I had to do it over again, I would take entire bed to an auto body shop and have them spray the dang thing until it yelled for mercy. Seriously. But after all that work, and countless words I cannot repeat, it actually did turn out pretty darn cool........
So finally.... (drum roll please).... here is the Big Reveal. Looks pretty super fly, eh? I was definitely pleased at how well it looks in our room. It looks cozy. It looks cheerful. It looks happy to have a new life. And it's probably really happy I'm not hating it anymore.  
It took me a while to get used to how high the mattress is... I'm not so sure I'm sold on that. I would like to see more of the headboard. I may need to make a box springs adjustment, like use bunk boards instead. That would bring the mattress down a good 5 inches at least. What say you? Agree? Disagree? Comments? 
But for now I'm just really warming up to the Red Bed. And every time I go into my room I'm liking it more and more. 

You know, people always equate the color red with romance, or high energy, or anger. I'm SUCH a lover of red! But those things have never been what I see in red. When I see red, I see warmth, I see CHEERFULNESS. To me, red is the most cheerful color. It makes me so happy. And when it's paired with yellow or turquoise, oh gosh, what a winning combination. So, so cheerful :)
So "Plan C" worked! The 3rd time really was a charm. My project is done! Now I can turn the Christmas music on, make up some hot cocoa, and breathe an amazing sigh of relief. And cheerfulness :)

~ I've made my bed and now I'm going to lay in it ~