We finally got our Heywood Wakefield bed done. I restored it a while ago but it took some time to sell our old one. We are really happy with the way it turned out. The finish has that usual warm glow like caramel.

This is what Mel and I love about this style HW bed. We love the cut out in the foot board. It is basically a larger version of the back rest on the HW dog bone chair (M154).
We love this bed! It sits lower to the ground which is nice compared to what we had before. We have been on the hunt for cool vintage chenille bedspreads. We found this simple but cool “popcorn” chenille spread that is this soft pink color. We have been hunting for really cool peacock or flamingo bedspreads but have not found one we like yet.

Mel’s mom made these pillows out of some cool barkcloth fabric we found online. She did a great job!
You might have noticed the Dahlberg AM radio above the headboard. I got it back from Luis over at Stereoadvisor last week and it works great. I had to make a wall stand for it to mount to. I can just imagine having the pillow speaker under your pillow listening to Perry Como or Bing Crosby crooning you to sleep.

It looks right at home just hanging above the bed, I wonder the last time it was in that position….years and years I bet.
I think it all ties together and looks marvelous. We are soo happy with how it has all turned out.
We hope you all like it too! If anyone out there has any really cool chenille they want to sell let us know!
Just loveyour home. Really cool pictures, antiques etc.
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We appreciate it. Mel and I have been working hard at this for almost a decade. Thanks for your support!
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Have you tried VermontCountryStore.com for chenille bedspreads? I know they have some multi color florals & some tone on tone spreads.
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Thanks Shannon, we will check it out!
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Bed turned out great but I’m not surprised as you do a great job with your H/W pieces! I’m sure you’re aware that the new H/W company offer these in a queen and a king now although not inexpensive. I had a king I’d picked up from them for a bit of a deal that was refused by one of their customers that I refinished in wheat. That’s the first and last time I’ll strip the new finish off one of the new pieces. That stuff is like liquid iron and will not sand. Spent many hours with one of the nastiest strippers I could find and finally worked back down to bare wood. If you have a customer that wants you to match, order the bed bare with no finish. It voids the factory warranty but is worth it.
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Good to know. I know the re-released HW beds are not cheap. I am glad you informed me about the refinishing of these beds in case one of my customers asks me to refinish a piece I can say no thank you. Refinishing is hard enough without that kind of challenge.
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What size is your bed? I see chenille all the time; I just left a peacock at the store because it was $45 (more than I wanted to spend, but still cheap for these). I have a couple for our bed that are full/queen that I rotate from time to time so they don’t get too worn out. One time I bought one from a garage sale for $2- the lady was using it to cover her snowblower, and couldn’t believe I actually wanted it.
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We have a Queen size bed. The peacocks are tricky, there are some really good looking ones with good color choices and there are others that are a little too wild. We have about 3 Chenille blankets right now, just the simple solid color ones. We saw that Flamingo one on Ebay a few moths back but it was too small for our bed. It is amazing what people do with some things, they don’t realize that it is too nice to be used as a snow blower cover.
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Wow! You have wonderful stuff! I have been collecting HW and vintage rattan over the years too; I appreciate your “fine” taste!
I have a question: do you refinish HW for others as a business? I am looking for a refinisher. Years ago I went to Penny Lane, but now that she’s retired, I’m at a lost. Please let me know if you have the time/energy to do some refinishing.
I also have HW pieces I would be willing to sell/trade too! btw, I have the whole Rio set also – I love it. it’s great, isn’t it? Yours is beautiful, and oh, I’m envious of your dogbone bed 🙂
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Hi Mimi,
It’s nice to meet other people who are into HW. I don’t typically take HW restoration jobs because of how involved the process is, unless the pieces are going in my booth at the Antique mall I’m at. Also, currently I’m pretty full on HW that needs to be restored :). You can reach out to my friend David at A Modern Line, he does great work too http://www.amodernline.com.
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Thanks for your reply. I checked out amodernline.com, but it’s in Florida, and we’re in Los Angeles. Any help for us in the LA area, in terms of finding a HW refinisher? Thanks for any help! Mimi
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Hi Mimi,
Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with a restorer in the LA area.
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great sight/info! i am a referred to (by the current heywood company) restorer of heywood wakefield in the greater chicagoland area and operate a shop in benton harbor, michigan called retroseksual.com. i would be happy to share my service and/or expertise with you or any of your followers. cheers.
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Thanks Scott. It’s great to meet another Heywood Wakefield restorer.
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What is the mattress and box spring set up you have?
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Hey Austin. It’s a 2 inch slim box spring with a queen Tempurpedic on top. A normal box spring will sit above the headboard.
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Is there room under this bed for storage? Like can you fit standard under-the-bed Rubbermaid containers under this? I think they’re roughly 7″ high or so.
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It’s a little over 6″ high
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Thanks!
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