Are they on a box spring?
You could get a thicker mattress...but be aware that a taller mattress will cover up a lot of the head board.
Is this an old rope bed?
Linda C

Yes, there's a boxspring. I'm not sure what an old rope bed is. This one has side railings that hook into the footboard and headboard. I have a friend that put an extra mattress on hers but it looks too tall. I wonder if just putting a piece of plywood that fits on top of the side rails (sort of as a shelf, and then putting the mattress set on top would work? Thanks for any help!

Angeldog: We spanned across the rails with three 2 x 4s and put the box spring on that, so I think your plywood idea should work, too. It will raise it up a bit, but not enough to seriously obscure the headboard.

Annie

Annie: Thanks so much! Your idea is even better and probably cheaper! Love this forum!

Another idea...do a search on "bed risers" you'll find many choices.

Glad it worked for you. So simple and CHEAP, too! 8^)

Annie

I have friends that have antique beds that are waist high or higher. You need a stool to get on, or a running jump. They probably have an extra mattress or a big pad. My guess is another mattress.

I love that look. I would do the same but my mom visits and could never get on the bed and can't climb the stairs. So, I'll keep my bed at normal size and enjoy my mommy when she comes.

Hope you get the look you are going for.

....Jane

Those that have the tall antique beds, likely have put a modern box spring and mattress on an old bed frame.
A bed that is high get's it's height from the length of the legs on the bedframe, not from piling on tall mattresses. I think it looks funny, out of proportion with the headboard.
You can get risers to put on the legs to raise a bed, but you will have to have a long dust ruffle to hide the risers.
The main reason for a high bed was in a cramped space so a trundle would fit beneath. In early American days, houses were as a rule small and bedroom space at a premium. Kids often slept on a trundle which fitted under the parents bed. You didn't see that in the plantation homes and fine houses of the north east.
Linda c

In our case, the goal wasn't to raise the height of the mattresses, it was to solve the dilemma of using a queen-sized mattress on a full-sized iron bedstead. My husband, who is a certified welder (among other things!) was able to splice in a section in the rails to get the added length we needed, but adding width would have required some tricky engineering and we were doubtful that we could reinforce it well enough to take the strain. So we use the longer rails, and lay 2 x 4s across them to support the box spring. We would NOT have done this to a bed that had any value, but this one is just plain tubular steel. I agree with Linda that if all I wanted was added height, I'd go with risers and a longer dust ruffle. I use the space under my bed for storage, so I need a dust ruffle anyway.

Annie

Hello again! The antique bed I wrote about is in a univ. town where we own a 2nd home. I finally got over there and studied the framework. The side rails looked too narrow at top to add boards or plywood across them(it could have easily slipped off either way if not nailed in, and the rails were too old and thin to nail into) I could have used L shaped brackets on the underside but that seemed like a lot of work. I found a REALLY cheap box spring at a country furn. store, bought and delivered for $65!; added to the top and it looks great! Not the solution I thought would work, but this bed has a very tall head and footboard so I still have most of the woodwork showing. Thanks for everyone's good ideas!!! PS on another bed in our condo, and on my son's bed in his house, we added the risers ($9 at Walmart/Target) and they are great! Bought queen size dust ruffles for full size beds to make sure they went to the floor. Lots of storage underneath now, especially for a college student!