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Here are just a few little tips and tricks to keep in mind when shopping to build your  bedroom furniture collections. If you plan on shopping in the used furniture markets where some of the best deals can be had then be sure to take a couple of items with you to make the right purchase the first time.  If shopping for your bedroom furniture beds be sure to take along a non warped, strait yard stick. If you have a challenge finding one that is wooden that is still strait most hardware stores sell the metal variety that will stay strait for years unless you bend them. Also unscrew one of the slot connectors from the end of one of your bed rails and bring that along.

Why? For what purpose do you suggest this? Well, if you plan on buying used wooden furniture one of the things you will want to check for is warping. The best and easiest way I know of to do this is with a metal yard stick. The technique is very simple. Let’s say the item you’re looking at is one of your beds headboards. Along the bottom and the sides place the yardstick flush against the edges of the head board along some of its longest areas. If you see any gaps or raised areas that make the yard stick balance like a teeter totter on a play ground then chances are you have warping.

Once you find a little warping then you have to decide just how bad it is. I mean if you have a period piece that you’re able to pick up for pennies on the dollar you may have a few things you will have to overlook. Next look at the joints and see if there is the start of any pressure splitting going on. Pressure splitting is when the twisting action of the warping puts so much force and pressure on the wood joint that it starts to slit or crack. Look for dark marks at the corners of the joint where someone may have put a little wood filler in the crack and stained it again. You should be able to notice this as it’s challenging for even a good woodworker to match old faded stain colors with new ones.

Now for the reason you brought your end connector for your bed rails. If you’re out shopping for a new bed head board  there are a lot of times in the used market where the side rails simply do not come with it or are not even available for purchase even if you wanted too. And depending on a lot of variables such as where the piece was made I.E. which country, what period it comes from and many more you find it just as variable as to what hardware was used.

Bring your bed rail hardware in and match it up. Most of today’s modern furniture has slots where you simply push a metal tab into the slot and push down to lock it into place. I am quite sure you will not find this to be the case in the antique market. Usually in that market get ready for some nuts and bolts. Now if your current bed rails do not fit it’s not the end of the purchase. If you really want this piece just search out appropriate rails and fittings or remove your fittings from your current rails and install new ones that will fir this piece. No matter what you want to accomplish there is likely a way to get it done. The used furniture market is only limited by your own imagination and creativity.