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January 2008

Special Contribution from Kevin Gibbons, Managing Editor

My wife and I have been discussing getting a new bed. Our antique sleigh bed from the 1930’s has served us well over the past 12 years, but it is in need of some professional repair. One problem with owning old furniture is that, at some point it will have to be repaired. If you want to preserve it, you need to be very skilled, or find someone who is.

We stopped at a “going out of business” store after running errands Sunday morning and found a nice walnut bed, normally $1200 bed on sale for $500. They had a queen in the showroom, but said they had a double at the warehouse. We ordered the double bed, feeling very proud of ourselves for getting such a good deal. Now, I should stress that while we had liked the bed, and agreed on it, we weren’t ecstatically in love with it. It was nice and well made and the price was right.

When we got home twenty minutes later they called and said that our bed “wasn’t exactly like the one we saw in the showroom.” It did not have the leather padding on the headboard. We cancelled the order, because even though it was a good deal, it was not what we wanted and we would have had to live with the compromise for the next 13-20 years. We’ll keep looking for what we really want. Maybe I can talk my wife into taking the money we would have spent on the bed and investing it in new woodworking tools so I can repair the sleigh bed….

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