A few months ago I got super duper excited because I saw a cast iron daybed at the thrift store. I had my husband rush right over and buy it before anyone else could look at it. At $25 it was a steal.
I spray painted it white and we bought a mattress for it. We disassembled Alyssa's toddler bed, rearranged her room, and set up the bed. Once we threw the mattress on top we stopped and said,"Oh s*^&." There was a good 8-inch gap on either side of the mattress--enough for my 3.5 year old to fall through and hang herself.
Mind you, I'd taken everything else apart and packed it all up in the garage at this point. So my husband jumps in the car and drives all over to try and find a new daybed spring set that will work with this bed. Come to find out that the bed we bought at the thrift store must be an antique because day beds aren't made with the mounting apparatus like ours had. Today's day bed springs aren't manufactured to fit this bed style.
So we took the thing apart (after I'd spent two weeks spray painting it) and shoved it into the far recesses of the garage. And Alyssa's new bed is a mattress on the floor. She could care less, she's so happy to be in a big girl bed.
Yes, we learned our lesson the hard way. Thankfully it only cost us $25 for the bed and maybe $10 for the spray paint. But I won't get back those hours of huffing paint fumes. Next time I'll make sure to either put the thing together before I bring it home.
