A Thomas Mosier’s “New Century” Style Bed

My wife and I moved into a new home and since both boys are out of the house we have two bedrooms to play with. Alaina wanted a Thomas Mosier, “New Century China” bed that costs around $6,000. I decided I’d try to sort of copy the idea using $60 worth of materials from the big box store. Then if it worked out, I’d spend real money for Cherry or Sapele. I’m no Thomas Mosier, nor am I a Marc Spagnulo… but the bed turned out very nice. Since all I had to go by were internet photos, I had to guess the dimensions and scale. Clearly I didn’t get it right, but it actually turned out to be a very attractive piece of furniture. I used my Domino XL and knock-down connectors to attach the headboard and footboard to the side rails. I used the XL’s huge tenons to connect everything else. Essentially I milled down 2×8 douglas fir and laminated the pieces to create all the parts that were thicker than 1 1/4″ (which was almost everything). Then I sat down and sketched out the dimensions for the headboard design and footboard parts. I carefully measured everything and cheated by using the domino to connect it all together. The finish was built-up using “General Finishes” products. I hand-brushed a stain-block primer and hand sanded the first coat with 220. Then I applied a second coat to stop tanin bleed-through. I lightly sanded it to 300 then applied four coats of “China Blue” milk paint topped with a single coat of Enduro Var to warm it up.