Once again, our first-born was on her way and baby needed a place to sleep. Fortunately, we had some friends who had a classic German crib, complete with dropside, they were willing to part with. It needed a bit of work, but I love a restoration project. There were a few spots on it that looked like a previous baby had tried to gnaw their way out of their confinement, but most of the issues were age, dust, and rust.
As with anything I restore, I take it completely apart and start from scratch.
The undercarriage was in good shape. None of the springs looked terribly worn or like it had doubled as a trampoline at some point. There was a good deal of rust on all the parts. Technically, you could have probably thrown a sheet over it and pretended it didn’t exist. That’s not really my style. All of the pieces got taken apart, sanded as best as I could, primed, and painted in a high-gloss white. I’m sure I have some pictures somewhere of the painting process, but I can’t find them at present. You’ll just have to cope with missing pieces of the puzzle…
I had built a portable paint booth for a few other jobs and decided to set it up in my garage to paint the rest wooden parts of the crib. I had a great picture of my wife posing inside the booth with her pregnant belly stretching her sweater to its limits, but she told me I couldn’t post it for the world to see. Give me a little time, I’ll work on her and get permission to put it out there…
I think the crib turned out just fine. All three of my girls have spent time in this little gem. It’s probably time to pass it on to the next family… one that doesn’t live in California…
