If you like mid century modern furniture, you have probably been on the look out for bedroom furniture at some point.
We frequently hear the question, "Can you let me know when you get..." Sometimes it's a request for a pair of nightstands or a complete bedroom set. Other times it might be a queen or a king headboard. Or the question might be "How often do you get xyz in?"
What's the answer? We don't know!
Now available KING headboard and bedrails
If we have something you have been looking for, we can not guarantee when we will have it again.
With sourcing vintage, it really matters what the buying habits of the past owners were. We source primarily from estates and sometimes from people who purchased the items second hand. When we source from estates we have a better chance or purchasing a complete set. But sometimes the original owner only selected part of a set from the store or catalog they ordered from. When it comes to buying from a person who purchased secondhand, the pieces are sometimes piecemeal. So to assemble a complete collection, we have to source from multiple sources.
A complete bedroom set we sold that we sourced from one estate
Sometimes we are able to get a complete bedroom set, but the headboard is a full headboard or there is only one nightstand. We very rarely get two nightstands and/or a king headboard when we source a bedroom set. Why does that happen?
This full-sized headboard was adapted to fit queen bedrails by the original owner. Their original Bassett Aztec bedroom set included the tallboy dresser, lowboy dresser, this headboard and a single nightstand.
It seems that many working families did not splurge for matching nightstands or even a queen headboard. They purchased the full option and maybe one nightstand. We have noticed some of the more well-to-do estates are the ones that may have the full suite with a king headboard or matching nightstands. Also bear in mind, bookcase headboards acted as a place for people to stow away their glasses and a good book, set up their alarm clock or even a lamp. They weren't charging their phone, like we do today.
Take a look at some of these vintage ads to try to get an idea of what the buying habits of customers were when our favorite mid century modern furniture pieces were new! Of course stores and furniture makers wanted customers to buy as many pieces as possible, but as mentioned earlier many families opted for fewer pieces.
Notice how this Bassett Tempo ad is advertising a "four-piece bedroom" set. That includes the two dressers, the bed and a single nightstand.
No nightstands pictured in the parent's room in the Kent-Coffey Teakway ad, but maybe the bed is a queen.
Is there a second nightstand in this bedroom?
This Sears Contempo ad shows a queen bed with one nightstand.
What do you think of this arrangement with the Drexel Parallel piece between the two beds?
Is that a California king at the bottom left of this Bassett Showcase ad? Not uncommon two see two mattresses together with such a large headboard for the time. And two nightstands are shown!
My in-laws have this set in Walnut. But I don't believe we've been able to source the nightstands, yet.
Bookcase headboards were perfect for phones :).
I hope this was helpful in understanding more of the background about the availability of nightstands and headboards for queen and king beds. Please check our website and visit our store often for the best chance of seeing that perfect addition to your bedroom furniture!