apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The flea markets will start up again soon... that would be my reco.

I love the shape of the canopy on that bed - I totally agree! While I have not seen a cheaper bed, I have seen a cheaper solution to achieve that shape.

It was a bed I saw, perhaps in domino. The frame was black Iron like this. The difference was that while the bed itself also had the wrought iron look, it's canopy was made not of iron work, but of fabric, and the fabric was in that exact beautiful shape you pictured

Above the bed was a black iron-ish looking ring, just as you pictured. Loosely draped around the ring were sheer, thick strips of white fabric. In your picture, four iron frameworks extend out from the ring, dip slightly, and fall along the corners of the bed. In the set I saw, there was not iron frameworks doing that - but the white fabric instead. Four strips of thick sheer fabric extended from the ring above the bed, dipped slightly ( I assume by a transparent thread like fishing wire) and then fell along the corners of the bed to the floor.

I know it is not the same as your picture, but the shape and framework were identical, the shape made by long lengths of fabric rather than ironwork.

And it was really elegant. I am sucking at explaining it, but the strips of material really did resemble your picture, making the same shape and framing the bed in the same way.

just a thought. and a lot cheaper, I would think, but would still achieve that unique shape.

When you're combing ebay and craigslist, keep an eye out for PB Teen's Maison Canopy Bed as well. It was available in black iron, and retailed for a little less than half the Anthro bed.

Do you live near an art school? In university I studied metal sculpture, and could easily modify an existing bed frame to look like the one above, with very reasonably priced materials.

Post something like this on Craigslist, and you may find an art student looking for extra cash who is willing to help you out. If you're in Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has a great metalworking program with plenty of students who could easily achieve this.