a never ending bedtime story.

Published on by Quandie

Back in August I purchased this full size bed frame at the MacGrove garage sales (there are metal side rails included, they just aren’t pictured).

Aside from being a bit orange, it really is made out of rather pretty wood.

But this sort of look isn’t a hot seller just now as is, so I decided to give it a new look to try to make it more marketable.

I started with some basic prep, a light sanding followed by cleaning with some Krud Kutter and rinsing with clean water.  The I painted the bed with three coats of Fusion’s Limestone, a beautiful creamy white.  Once the final coat had dried overnight, I pulled out a new transfer from Prima Marketing’s re.design line called Never Ending Story.

What I noticed as I was applying it is that it isn’t really a story.  Instead it’s a collection of fabulous quotes such as ‘never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore’, ‘strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value’ and  ‘all of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them’.

How inspiring to sleep near such wise words.

This particular transfer comes on three sheets that are 10″ tall by 22″ wide each (for a total of 30″ tall by 22″ wide).  I used two of the sheets side by side on the foot board, and just a portion of the third sheet on the headboard.

Then, because I just couldn’t bear to leave them blank, I used a couple of the re.design knob transfers on the little raised rectangles on either side of the headboard …

This one is from the French Maison set.  It’s the one in the upper left portion of the sheet …

I trimmed off the little curlicues at the top and bottom so that it would fit, which left it looking less round too.

It’s a tiny little detail on the headboard that is barely noticeable, but I still love it.

Another detail that I should point out is that this transfer isn’t really meant to be placed side by side like I did on the foot board.  The quotes do not read all the way across the full foot board.

But the transfer has a distressed, faded appearance anyway … it’s not like the wording is crisp and meant to be easily legible, so I don’t think that matters much.

I love the unique look of this bed now, and it’s perfectly themed for a bookworm!

If you’re wondering where to purchase the Prima Marketing re.design Never Ending Story transfer or the knob transfers, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

If you’re wondering where to buy the Fusion paint in Limestone, check out their ‘where to buy’ page.

And finally, if you happen to be local (Twin Cities, MN) and in need of a Never Ending Bedtime Story bed, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.

Thank you to Fusion for providing the paint for this project, and to Prima Marketing for providing the transfers.  And a special thank you to my sister for squeezing this bed into the back of the already full SUV that day at the MacGrove sales 😉

21 thoughts on “a never ending bedtime story.”

  7. I love that bed! You just keep out doing yourself! I think you should quit the day job and become an itinerant furniture painter, then you can travel around painting furniture for all of us! You love to travel and paint furniture so this could be a great new career! Seriously, wouldn’t that be fun! Ken would have to be on call of course! 😯

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  9. I loved the original bed and wondered how you could make it any prettier (other than the orange-yness). Well, now I know because it is prettier! The transfer on the footboard not reading appropriately all the way across would drive me crazy,though. It looks beautiful but I am obsessive about things matching up right – I think it’s the mathematical part of my brain always expecting or looking for perfection. I spent weeks looking for a french love letter stencil that would read the same horizontally and vertically when matched up. Even though I don’t read French, I had to know that it would read correctly. I’m trying to learn to suppress that part of me because art isn’t about perfection – it’s more about the beauty in the imperfections of life. I love the way the transfer looks on all the bed, especially on those little parts. I really do love how it looks all faded and aged on the footboard. You do beautiful work!

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    1. Maybe the reason the transfer not reading straight across doesn’t bother me is because I would have to put on my reading glasses to be able to actually read it. So with my 50+ (OK, fine, I’m 54) eyes it really could be a series of cuss words and I wouldn’t be any the wiser without my cheaters 😉

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      1. I like the idea of a string of cuss words! LOL! I just obsess about stupid things – maybe there’s a medicine for that! I love the way it looks and you can’t tell by looking that it doesn’t read straight across. There’s no obvious breaks where one transfer ends and the other begins. There’s just a few random spaces like you get with a written paragraph. I really do like the way it looks. I envy the way you can see the way things should be instead of just seeing them the way they are. I’ve trained myself to see past the flaws to see the beautiful bones of a piece but it takes me awhile to see what I can turn it into. You seem to quickly see what should be. Pure talent!

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      2. Actually I think it took me a while to get here too Christie, so just be patient. I used to really stress over specific details too, but I’ve found that most people really don’t care about them so it’s wasted energy.

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      3. I’ll be obsessing over some random, tiny, pinpoint-sized white fleck, trying to touch it up -even though it’s located under the edge of the top & I know that touching it up could cause more problems than it cures. After 1/2 hour messing with it, I’ll look at my husband and say “know one will even notice this anyway, will they?”. He’ll laugh and say he was just waiting for me to figure that out on my own. I was a nurse for half of my life where obsessing over the details could mean life or death or obtaining the proper diagnosis & treatment. I have a very math/science oriented brain (I love math because it is perfect. It’s either right or wrong. No in-betweens) and am working hard to learn that art can be in the imperfections. I’m also trying to learn that if I know no one else will notice the flaw then I just need to leave well enough alone and not waste my energy. Besides, once it’s topcoated, most little flaws disappear or blend perfectly. I swear I didn’t get obsessive until I got older! :~) Techniques I can learn fairly easily but I struggle to stop looking for perfection and knowing when to just stop, that a piece is complete.
        I never dreamed I’d be switching from the sciences to art and I thank people like you who are kind enough to teach me the huge variety of painting techniques, how to decide which to use on what type of piece, and for being ever so kind to talk me down off the edge of insanity from striving for perfection. A perfect technique is not necessarily beautiful while the chippy, blended, streaked, or crusty French aged looks are gorgeous and far from “perfect” in symmetry and individual brush strokes. My new motto/internal chant should be “perfection is flawed” and to “leave well enough alone!”

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