i have an antique brass bed, in a guest room, with the same kind of side rails. i think they might be put in upside down (in the photo) and, therefore, are on the wrong side of the bed. my bed was put together like that by my last mover and was recently discovered by my daughter when she was here visiting. she wasn't able to get the mattress and springs off so just put short boards at the corners to keep them from falling off. i got new carpet since then and i asked the installers to put the rails on correctly when they reassembled the bed. sorry this is so long!..... i don't know if that was done or not and the bedroom is on a different level of the house than i am on and i am in a wheelchair so i can't go check. regarding the length of the mattress, yes, today's mattresses are too long. i bought a used one about 25 years ago, when i bought the bed, since it was shorter than new mattresses at that time. i hope this makes some sense!

Thank you! My husband isn’t a huge fan of the glass but I think a dark railing will just add some “clutter” to the exterior. We are definitely trying to modernize it while keeping a contemporary feel. Thank you for your suggestions!

We found a custom iron worker to build our steel railing. Google ornamental iron gates, etc. It ended up being a little over 2k. Many folks wouldn't even come bid as the job was too small. We thought about diy, but in the end I am so glad we paid.

Something white that looks like wood, but won't rot. Anything black seems like it would be out of place here, despite the black front door. Also, this is a fairly traditional design, so you don't want anything modern looking.