When I moved into my downtown apartment I was so excited to get new furniture and decorate the entire place from floor to ceiling. After I paid the deposit, first month’s rent and utilities I realized my budget for new furniture was slim to none.

After browsing around for used furniture I found a really classy, old brass bed for $40. After I picked up the bed, I stopped by my local hardware store and grabbed some steel wool, mineral spirits, self-etching primer, painter’s tape and oil-based spray paint that could be used on metal.

I sprayed the bed off with the hose and grabbed a handful of steel wool and dabbed it with mineral spirits and wiped the headboard and footboard to remove any dirt and scratch up the surface enough for the paint to stick.

After letting it dry I wrapped anything I didn’t want painted with painters tape. This particular bed had white ceramic balls that I didn’t want to paint so I put tape on them.

I used a can of self-etching primer to paint the first coat on the bed.
After it was dry, I used two cans of oil-based turquoise spray paint and covered the entire surface a couple times.

I let that set overnight until it was completely dry and set. I then mixed up an oil-based white paint/mineral spirits mixture using one part paint, four parts spirits and used a rag to wipe a thin white coat over the paint to give it an antique, white-washed look. I wanted a good mix of turquoise and white so I applied two coats of white wash.

After it dried completely, I put it together and added a bedspread and about 79 pillows and it looks great. Now, if I could just keep the dogs off the bed it would look pretty all the time!