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Not sure what your price range is, but that West Elm canopy bed is currently part of their Spring sale on their website.

Their price is about the cheapest you'll find one. Wood beds are at least double that, and if you want solid wood with no veneer, you'll pay a couple grand or more. The West Elm bed is a steal by comparison at around $500 plus shipping.

That said, check Craigslist often. You never know, you might get lucky. I furnished half my place in lucky Craigslist finds.

I was lusting after one for a while, and I found them regularly on Craigslist. If you're patient, I think one will turn up. I searched "Room and Board" and waited to see the Architecture bed. I found one about a month ago, and then decided to go in another direction with the bedroom.

Also, there was this, in person, at Ikea, for $399ish. I can only find it on the Canadian site, but I saw it at Elizabeth, NJ.

http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/52083_PE152388_S3.jpg

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15558&catalogId=10103&storeId=3&productId=61025&langId=-15&categoryId=16173&chosenPartNumber=S89830392

here is another option: http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?page=proframe&prod_id=2039750&IID=prod2039750

it's not exactly what you are looking for but is does have contemporary lines and is just 200 bucks!

Hey apartmenttherapy gods - I'm trying to send in my own question, but I keep getting it bounced back. I promise the address isn't typo'd. editor(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com. Help?

that ikea bed was on sale in january for $155 in canada. it's kind of wobbly though.

I own the West Elm bed you're considering, and before buying it last summer, I owned a bed similar to the one Nisha linked to on overstock.

I have to be honest here... the West Elm is really sexy! But it's also really wobbly compared to the cheap bed I owned before buying it.

If you're used to a bed that rests on bedrails, you'll notice the wobble. Geez, just go to West Elm and shake the bed. You'll see.

The reason it's wobbly is because bed rails connect at two heights, like this:

|>-------
The West Elm canopy bed only connects the part of the frame the mattress rests on at one height.

|----------|

That makes the bed wobble as the vertical bars can pivot a little. I don't understand why West Elm didn't create a T at the end of the bars the slats rest on. It would have been a really easy way to make the bed rock solid.

Also, if you're considering hanging curtains from the bars, think again. Once it's set up, the bars are in place and not easily removed. A friend did me a huge favor and made me loops that matched my curtains so I could hang curtains from my bed. It looks awesome!

I need the curtains because I live in an open studio loft and like the feeling of having a bedroom even though I don't have one, plus, I never need to close the blinds on my windows, which is good since I'm fortunate enough to have a TON of windows!

Overall, I love how sexy my bed is, but I don't recommend it.

A couple ideas:

Take a picture to a metal shop and ask them to give you a quote (just to see if it's lower than West Elm);

Ask around to see if a family member or friend could put this together for you with stock parts from an industrial metal supply shop (it's easy to recreate);

Or haunt Craigslist and eBay because West Elm furniture comes up constantly on both sites (and then I'd still take it to a metalworker to have that wobbly problem fixed before setting it up).

It's a great looking bed, I just have really small rooms, and wonder if a canopy bed would make the room feel even smaller? My bedroom, for instance, is 10' x 13' with 8' ceilings (standard building style post-WWII in my area). I can't quite visualize something like that in there, just not gifted at spatials, would hate to buy it and find out I'd made a terrible mistake. Any thoughts anyone? Think this would work in a room of those dimensions? TIA.

Doesn't West Elm have an outlet in Brooklyn?

a small custom metal shop is going to have about $200-$300 in COST on something like this. and then they need to add some profit... so the price at west elm is more than fair, but a custom version will blow it away in quality. find a welding student and offer to buy the materials plus some pocket cash.

-ian

Methinx that WE has a store in Brooklyn in DUMBO, but not exactly an "outlet".

Rucy, I have an iron canopy bed, and though my bedroom is larger than yours, it does close things off if I hang things off of the canopy.

I do have fabric on the head end, but that's it. Leaving the other sides unadorned keeps things airy.

However, if you like a cozy feeling when you're IN bed, why not? Most of the time you spend in your bedroom is probably actually in the bed, so that view is what matters anyway.

We have not been happy with this bed. Squeaky as all hell, and impossible to fix.