herz9160's Profile

I live in a rural area and I found a solid wood antique one on Craigslist for $20 a few years ago and painted it. It turned out swell. A few years and another little girl later, I wanted another so my girls could have matching twin Jenny Lind beds. I debated the Sears option and the Land of Nod version, but I was diligent about watching Craigslist (for about three months) and low, and behold, I found the EXACT SAME Jenny Lind style twin bed as my first $20 bargain! This time they wouldn't go below $90, but hey, I got a set for less than the price of one new. Both are about 40-60 years old and I haven't had any problem with mattresses, both measure out as a standard twin and have held up very well.

Estate sales are a good resource too.

If you have a large antique dealer/antique mall near you, describe what you are looking for to the person in charge and he/she will you a call you if a Jenny Lind style bed comes in, or contact their "peeps" to try and find one for you. Make sure you include what you are willing to pay, and they might do the haggling for you.

Good luck!

Thanks for the handy post, lots of good info. I have been speaking with my local stone expert and after a lengthy discussion I would like to highlight a few things:

1. American culture prefers things to look "new" forever, hence the popularity of granite. The attitude toward marble is thus to preserve its pristine state. The European attitude is to live "with" the stone, not “for” it; and thus prefers the "character" the marble acquires with a history of use. After an exchange to Italy during architectural school, I have more of the European attitude.

2. To preserve the pristine state of marble as a countertop, the installer recommends a sealant, and my local installer prefers a DuPont product called “Bulletproof” which I understand is a solvent based sealer; it penetrates the pores of the stone and “seals” them once dry. It has to be reapplied every 6mo-3yrs… why? Where does it go? Into my food? Bulletproof will scrape off over time via repeated knife use and similar. My supplier implied even letting warm cookies cool on sealed stone would allow the sealant to wear away, presumably, to leach into my fresh baked cookies. Eek!

3. She also told me marble can also be sealed with mineral oil. It would create a darker color in the marble, similar to what it looks like when wet, and would obviously need to be reapplied regularily.

Thus, my conclusion is this; I prefer the “seasoned” look of marble to that of lifelong pristine granite and with two small children, I am planning (gasp!) to not seal my counter with anything more than a mineral or vegetable oil. I am going to let my Carrara marble age with the memories of cookies, pie crusts and pizza dough just like the century of Europeans before me.

Wow, thanks for all the great ideas everyone. I have to say kettunainen, that book sounds like the perfect gift, I ordered two already!

Yes, veganmomma, us too! We scored a restaurant high chair with a tray at our neighbor's garage sale for $8 and it has served us well. Solid wood, and we haven't had any problems with the height, it fits perfectly under our table so baby can eat with the rest of us. Plus, when toddlers start climbing all over it, it is stable AND bombproof.

Love, love, love that bed. I wasn't sure of the quality of the Kmart furniture. Is it solid wood? I found one similar to yours at a garage sale but need another for babe #2's big girl bed...

Where is the discount coupon code?

Really, nearly $200? I think I'll pass.

So cute! You had me until the foam pad came into play... not only am I worried about off-gassing but how do you put sheets on it? And is it really supportive?

Baby Bjorn, Ergo Carrier, Beco Butterfly?

I agree tartanfrog!