the st. paul hotel bed.

Published on by Quandie

I recently saw the ad for this twin bed on Facebook Marketplace and I just knew I had to have it.  Just check out those curves …

My sister and I headed out on a gorgeously frosty day to pick it up.  The seller shared a bit about its history with us when we got there.  Apparently her grandmother purchased this bed when a hotel in St. Paul was selling off their old furniture.  Unfortunately, she didn’t know which hotel.  Later, the seller herself used it as her bed as a child.  Eventually it ended up in storage because no one had a use for it.  The seller was hoping that when her own kids grew up one of them would want to restore the bed, but no such luck.  None of them were interested.  So she decided there was no point in continuing to store it.  It should go to someone who would put it to use.

And that’s where I come in.  I’m not actually going to put it to use myself, but I am going to refurbish it so that someone else can put it to use.

I started out by giving it a light sanding, vacuuming away the dust and then giving it a good cleaning with some TSP substitute.  As I was wiping away the cleaner, the water was slightly tinted orange.  That’s always a clue that the stain is going to be one that bleeds through your paint.  So once again, out came the Dixie Belle BOSS.  Over the years I’ve learned that it’s just easier to be safe rather than sorry and go ahead and use BOSS when I even slightly suspect the stain will bleed.

So, everything got a coat of BOSS and I let that dry overnight.  The next day I added two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  Once that was dry, I sanded the edges lightly to distress, once again vacuumed away any dust, and then went over it with a clean microfiber cloth.  I followed that up with a top coat of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat (and if you’re wondering, yes, I did add the clear coat before applying the transfer).

Have I mentioned yet how much I love that foot board?  The curve!  The scrolly legs!  The perfectly framed space for a transfer!

IOD’s Le Petit Rosier transfer was practically made for this bed.  It was just a tad long, so I cut about 4″ off the bottom that I’ll save for another day, but the width was perfect.

And the top section of the transfer looks gorgeous on the headboard.

I have to tell you guys, applying this particular transfer is not for the faint of heart.  Because each little letter is a separate piece you have to be sure that you’ve got each one rubbed on individually.  I really thought my arm was going to fall off after finishing that foot board.

But it was absolutely worth the effort.

The bed does have side rails and slats.  I really don’t have enough space in my house to get good photos of complete beds, but I gave it a shot so you could see the full effect of the bed put together.

This bed feels super sturdy to me once assembled.  I think having four feet on the foot board adds a lot of stability.

I think I’ve given this bed a totally fresh new look.

What do you think?

As always, thank you to Dixie Belle Paint for providing the BOSS, paint and clear coat used on this bed.  If any of you locals need a fabulous twin bed, check out my ‘available for local sale’ page for more details.

24 thoughts on “the st. paul hotel bed.”

    1. I used clear BOSS. I’m not a fan of using the white, simply because you can always see it if you distress the edges of your piece like I do. And even though I painted this bed ‘white’, it’s a creamy white and the BOSS would show as a whiter white, if that makes any sense. Since I so rarely paint anything in a true white, and I always distress my pieces, I just use the clear.

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  7. Wow…this is a beautiful piece of furniture and once you painted it, it is even better. Well worth all the time rubbing those letters… I bet your arm was sore!😉

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  9. Nothing better than a bed with a curved footboard!! They are enchanting! You did a wonderful job with this, but yes, part of me misses the glorious grain of the wood!

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  14. I think you are incredibly AMAZING! Your eye and talent for designing these pieces is wonderful, and I drool over your makeovers all the time. Your blog is one of my happy places!

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  16. Linda that bed is so fun. Love both head and especially the footboard. I’ve got a full size bed at my lake place with that same curved footboard. It was someone’s grandparents wedding bed. Probably from the same era. Your redo is gorgeous. Mine has original finish as does the the matching dresser. They definitely need help after seeing your makeover. Wish I would have seen your post earlier.

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  17. Very interesting history of this bed. About 40 years ago I bought a wardrobe from a antique dealer that they had gotten from a hotel in St. Paul that was being torn down. It was from about 1900. Beautiful bed. Love your blog.

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