Ye Olde Brass Bed

Here's a few before pictures of the lovely early 1900's bed I picked up on Ebay last month. So far I've gotten the footboard top rail and sides cleaned up, although I will have to go over the details with a Q-tip and some brass cleaner to get all the gunk out. There are some gouges and dents, surpisingly less than I expected given it's age. R is eager to try his drill with a brass polishing attachment, though I am somewhat reluctant to let him use anything high-powered on this old beauty. All I've been using to clean it so far are an old penny, a pair of disposable gloves, some ratty undershirts and a can of Brasso. Seems to be working wonderfully at taking off all those layers of metallic paint and tarnish. It is a little time-intensive, but I don't mind in the least. Stuff like this just gets me warmed up to do all that wood stripping I'm dreaming of for our new/old house. I've already started accumulating old textiles again in preparation, including this lovely green chenille bedspread which works perfectly in my son's very spring green room. BTW, in case anyone else loves this color as much as we do, it's Calyx by Behr (Home Depot), and I think they only have it in their computer colorbase now, not on paint chips. I will be sad to see it go, but now is a good time to upgrade to a more big-boy version of it.

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Zoo And D.C. Voyeurism

We took a day trip down to our nation's capital this past weekend and let the boys run around the Smithsonian's National Zoo.

Lots of fun until the crowds and 80+ heat arrived. Then we hightailed it to the nearest Safeway for picnic lunch supplies, which we noshed on in the Takoma Park Historic District.

I especially wanted to see their bungalows after reading Bungalow Nation. I did take a few pics of nice ones, on the whole I'd have to say it was pretty disappointing driving around the area. Not that many of the houses looked cared for, or even historically accurate. Afterwards it was off to Herndon, VA for the real reason we went on our trip. A 1910 solid brass full-size bed for our lucky 5-year-old! Still needs some cleaning, but overall gorgeous and HUGE. The headboard is about 5'2", and the footboard 3'4". I'll post some before and after pics once I get it polished. We loaded it up onto our roof rack, strapped it down with rubber bungees, and headed off for home. Where we happily collapsed.

It's exhausting having fun!