Adjustable slatted bed base for British antique and Vono beds
British Antique and Vono Beds
We often get asked about the suitability of the adjustable bed base for use with British Vono beds.
Vono are a British manufactured bed, dating from the 1930s onwards.
British Vono beds which have a wooden head and footboard construction with heavy metal side irons.
The base should sit on all 4 corners of your metal frame. In the case of British Vono beds, at each corner there is a fixing nut aprox 6 cms along the side iron.
The best way to use this base with a Vono bed is to enclose the nut with a piece of wood.
You can either run a piece of wood the length of your metal side iron – it can be painted to match the iron frame – or use 4 blocks, one over each nut, in each corner.
Drill a hole in the underside of the wood to sit over the nut.
For the Vono bed in our photos we have used 4 cm x 2 cm pine, cut to 190 cm long.
Mark and drill a small hole just wide enough to cover the nut while still requiring a hammer to force it in place. If the wood is fitted tightly over the nut, the whole length of wood will not move.
Open the adjustable bed base our and lay it onto the bed frame. The bed base will sit on each corner of the bed. Tie it down with cable ties.
If you have any questions about using this or any other product, please contact us.
Click here to purchase the adjustable slatted bed base for your Vono bed.
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Fitting the adjustable bed base to French Corbeille beds
French Corbeille Beds – Brackets & Cross Bars
Continuing from our last blog, we look at the fittings on French Corbeille beds and how to modify them in order to use an adjustable bed base.
Mostly found on the sides of French Corbeille beds are the L-shaped metal brackets which would have held a fixed width, divan type base in place originally.
In order to use the adjustable bed base you need to add cross bars.
- You can use the L-shaped metal brackets to support a wooden block and then add cross bars.
- You can remove / not use the metal brackets and just add wooden blocks to take the cross bars.
Consider the height you want your base to be, and choose the appropriate option.
Providing the original metal bracket is in place firmly, keeping it adds support.
As per our last blog we advise you to add a ‘foot’ in the centre of the cross bar.
Once this is complete, the base will sit on the cross bars provided, either 2 or 3 depending on your choice.
The base will not sit squarely on a 4 ft 6 Corbeille bed due to the curve at the bottom, you will have a gap at the bottom, and a steadily decreasing one at the sides.
It will tend to look like the photos below:
If you have any questions about fitting a base to this or any other bed, please contact us.
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Making Cross Bars For Your French Antique Bed
One of our frequently asked questions is how to create a structure for a base on a French antique bed.
We will be putting together a series of blogs to show different brackets on different styles of French antique beds and how to make and change brackets in order for the bed to take a base.
It often looks a daunting task when you excitedly take delivery of your new French antique bed, but it is unexpectedly minus the cross bars and a working base, but help is at hand..
Even if you have your cross bars, we tend to find that many are fragile from years of woodworm and it is often wise to replace them with something more stable.
The photos below show new cross bars being made for a U-shaped metal bracket on an upholstered French Capitone bed which is 140 cm wide (4 ft 7″) by 190 cm (6 ft 3″) in length.
1. Decide if you will make 2 or 3 cross bars, then measure the width of your bed and buy an appropriate length of wood, measuring 7 cm x 2 cm.
- Some builders merchants will cut the wood to size for you if you measure the width you need exactly.
2. Shows a U-shaped metal bracket usually on these beds.
3 & 4. Make a template using paper, cut it out and mark your wood.
5. Cut your wood to match the template. Fit the cross bar.
6. Check your template will fit the other bracket. With one end of the cross bar fitted, mark your wood and cut it to match the template.
7. Fit your new cross bar.
8. Repeat this process so you have one cross bar by the headboard and one by the footboard.
Once you have made the cross bars then we recommend you add a ‘foot’ in the centre of the cross bars to add additional support.
1. Buy an appropriate length of wood, measuring 4.5 cm x 4.5 cm.
2 & 3. Measure where you need to cut the wood. There should be a gap of bewteen 0.5 and 1 cm below the cross bar. This allows the cross bar to bow down and take the weight of the base, mattress and you, without stressing the wood.
4. Cut and check your central support sits just below the cross bar.
5 & 6. Screw the central support in place.
7. If you screw it tight to the cross bar it will lift off the ground with your 0.5 cm – 1 cm gap.
8. Your finished cross bars with central supports.
We have used 2 cross bars, our bed fits together tightly and we are happy that it is structurally sound to now take a base.
Once you have added your two cross bars you need to decide if a third is needed and whether or not any further work needs to be undertaken to make your bed sound before you add a base. Once you are happy, your bed is ready to use a base.
We recommend our ‘Adjustable Bed Base’ and if you click here you can see it featured on this bed.
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We ship our French antique beds & interiors internationally
Just a reminder if you are looking at any of our products that we are happy to ship our beds and interiors internationally.
Please contact us wherever you are in the world and we are happy to work with you to provide safe and economical shipping solutions.
In the last 6 months we have shipped antique beds and interiors to Europe, Asia and Australia.
We are happy to make bespoke crates for internationally shipping.
Some of our recent international sales
Please contact us for a quote.
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The bare necessities….industrial French chic
Industrial chic and loft living has pushed us to discover the amazing design which can be created by sandblasting and preserving that bare metal look.
This week we are pleased to offer for sale this French 1930’s standard double bed frame which is 4 ft 6” wide.
Sandblasting creates a wonderful unique surface design to the metal which means that every bed finished like this will be different and therefore unique.
We can offer this finish for all our beds.
Click here for details of the bed listing.
Share Tweet Read MoreAdd some colour, create a bespoke bed..
Just a reminder that we can paint our French iron beds to order. Create something bespoke to match your room which cannot be bought on the high street.
These are some of the colours of our most recent stock, but the painters have a wide range of options, so just email us if there’s something that you really want.
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Beds for photographers, photo shoots & window dressing…..
We have beds in various conditions, from our pristine refurbished beds to extreme shabby chic.
This bed comes high up on the ladder to extreme shabby chic, but we love it, and love its look… This really does take years to create and even comes with its own eco-system (moss!).
The bed came from a small village called Cartelegue and was in the house when the present occupier purchased it 12 years ago. He left the bed in the barn attached to the house until we purchased it last month.
The village where this bed was purchased.
Click here for full details of this bed:
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‘Whereabouts in France does the bed come from?’
‘Whereabouts in France does the bed come from?’…..
Is one of our frequently asked questions.
So in response to your interest, we will be sharing with you some of the beautiful places we go to, stories we hear, and people that we meet.
The most memorable place on our travels in October was a beautiful building in the medieval town of Pons, just south of Saintes in the Poitou-Charante.
From Wikipeadia:
‘Pons is one of the main towns in the southern part of the Charente-Maritime.Halfway between Saintes and Jonzac , it is the largest economic center of the Land of Haute-Saintonge .
Perched on a rocky promontory which stands proudly its iconic tower, bathed in its lower part by the various arms of the Seugne , this medieval fortress and former Protestant has an important heritage together making it a leading tourist destination.’
The seller was renovating a ancient Cognac store in the old town, which sat on the bank of the river Seugne. Cognac barrels would have been brought up from the river at the bottom of the garden and left to rest in the cavernous rooms inside the building. These spaces are now being converted into a living rooms and an enviable spa area.
We purchased a few beds from the lovely owners, who delighted in showing us the work they were doing on such an amazing house.
Below is one of those beds which will be listed shortly. A large single shabby chic bed in claret, {and bottom} A 19th century glass shop sign featured in the photo.
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Dating Our French Iron Beds
During our stock buying trip to France this summer we came across this fantastic factory advertisement from 1905.
It is from a Parisian furniture shop, F J Genin, showing the various styles and sizes of metal beds they were selling in April 1905.
Many of the styles we buy and have in stock are illustrated on the page.
We are often asked for beds larger than 4 ft 6 (or 140 cm). We never see them; wider beds are a more modern trend. We stock the size options shown in the advertisement – 90 cm (3 ft) ; 100 cm (3 ft 3”) ; 115 cm (3 ft 9”) ; 125 cm (4 ft) ; 140 cm. (4 ft 6”). Over the next few weeks we will be posting examples of some of our beds, past and present which represent the styles in the advertisement. Below is style no 182 and a couple of photos showing our beds in the same style.
For more iron beds click here
Share Read MoreBefore and After – 1940s Repainted French Bed
Its always a joy to see new life in one of our French beds. To see discarded and unfashionable items turn into something we would love to have in our home is such a bonus of our business.
The ‘shabby chic’ look is very much in fashion, but not for everyone and a cripser, renovated finish is chic and elegant.
Here are the before and after photos of a 1940s Louis XVI style bed we have listed this week. It has been sandblasted, powder coated in matt grey, and heat treated to leave a durable finish. The brass has been cleaned but left with an aged look and a base has been added, so all you need is your mattress.
The bed will take a small double, 4ft by 6 ft 3″ mattress so is ideal for a luxurious single bed, perfect for a small double for your spare room and great for any smaller bedrooms.
We hope you like the results…..we love them !
BEFORE
AFTER
Here’s a link to the bed with more photos and details.
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Sign up to our newsletterAbout Us
My name is Elena and I established the company over 10 years ago. I travel throughout France each year to find beautiful beds and vintage decorative items and furniture. I love the items I buy and spend many hours bringing them back to life so they look stunning in your house. I hope you enjoy them too.