I’ve literally been talking about getting Lucas a new bed for years now.  YEARS!  The bed that we’ve been using for him was a hand-me-down gifted to us from Joey’s grandfather.  It was a simple metal bed frame with a trundle bed beneath.  No headboard or footboard.  Useful for sure and much appreciated, but very basic….

As functional as his bed has been, I’v been craving something a bit more stylish to help set the tone for his room. A good, chunky “boy bed”.

Back when we were in the process of buying our house, my uncle graciously offered up an old bedroom set that was previously used by my cousin Bryan. It was a simple, solid wood set including bed, dresser, and nightstand. For free. Um, Sold!

We didn’t need the dresser or nightstand in Lucas’s room, so we’re utilizing them in other parts of the house. But the bed, oh the bed. It was exactly what I wanted for him in terms of style and simplicity. The only issue was the oaky tone that didn’t quite jive with my plan for his bedroom….

I was originally planning to use Polyshades to darken the wood tone.  I’d assumed that the pieces were oiled or finished with something that would prevent stain from penetrating without prep.  But, after a little experimentation, I realized that the wood readily accepted the stain WITHOUT a stitch of prep work!!!  Total miracle, right??? (Insert victory dance, circa the Snoopy dance from A Charlie Brown Christmas.).  So, with that, I proceeded to apply 2 coats of Minwax Ebony stain that I had on hand….

I left about 12 hours between coats to ensure that the first coat was dry, thus allowing the second coat to fully penetrate the wood. Then, I applied two coats of my newest obsession tung oil following these steps. The result was a beautiful, ebony stain with a luscious, natural looking gloss. I really love that the tung oil lends a beautiful finish without any drips or brush marks.  And it’s basically foolproof!!  If you can wax-on you can achieve a beautiful finish. We’re total BFFs now.  Me and tung oil.  Picture us twirling in a field of daisies.

Anyhoo, the bed didn’t come with hardware, so we purchased some corresponding bolts and washers from Lowes.  Then, we assembled the bed and proceeded to bask in its glow of awesomeness…

I’m ecstatic about how well the bed coordinates with his dresser.   In these pics, the dresser appears a bit more red-toned due to the lighting, but in person, the two pieces coordinate perfectly….

A little before and after bid-ness…

REAAAALLLYYY Before:

Before the bed (after we changed the carpet and painted)…

And now…

Sorry about the insane glare in these shots… I’m planning to retake them in better lighting soon and post them to Our House tour page, so keep an eye out for that.

Another view…  Before

After:

The bed is a total game-changer for this room.  It’s streamlined and masculine with bonus storage beneath!  It gives the space so much style and function. Plus, the bed is lower than his last, which means he no longer needs a step-stool to get in it. I’m changing out the wood drawer handles beneath the bed for stainless knobs to mesh better with the other furniture in his room, so I’ll post a little update once that’s done.  Now that the main-players of the room are in place, I can focus on wall-art, his desk area, adding curtains and otherwise fine-tuning the space to bring it full circle…. And the fun can REALLY begin!!!!  (Insert crazy cackle)