What can a couple of old planks and a gate post make you? A stylish replacement bed for our flagship Balebarn eco lodge.
Waxing the bedframe These old planks came up good! Re-installing the upcycled bed in Balebarn Lodge
At Wheatland Farm we have a policy of repair before replace, and upcycle where possible. So when the old bed bent in the middle on one side it was time to get creative with what might otherwise have been wasted.
The previous bed came from freecycle when we were initially furnishing Balebarn Lodge. It was nice enough, but was of modern steel tube construction, which isn’t always strong. The replacement fits better with the rest of the furnishings in Balebarn Lodge – most of which came from reclaimed Devon furniture maker Chunky Monkey near Exeter.
Basically, Ian kept the slats ( the bent steel frame went for recycling), constructed a new frame from reclaimed timber (some grey and green planks we found in a shed, see the image), made legs from an old gatepost, connected it up with coach bolts from the local hardware store, stripped down the headboard, and re-waxed the whole lot.
There are a couple of other advantages too. The replacement bed doesn’t have a ‘foot’ bar, so is easier for really tall guests to use comfortably. It is slightly higher than the previous bed, which many people find a bit easier, and it will be straightforward to raise even further on blocks if needed, as part of Wheatland Farm’s accessibility strategy.
All in all, an improvement for Balebarn Lodge , which has a big group party (a birthday celebration) in it this weekend.