There are pluses and minuses. I have slept in '80s brass beds, 1880s brass beds, and a more modern wrought iron bed. Here are some things to think about. - Metal beds originally became popular as a precaution against bedbugs. Bedbugs hide in wood furniture, so if you get an infestation simply replacing the mattress won't suffice. For most of my life, bedbugs were a quaint old affliction remembered only in good-night sayings. However, they are now back in a big way. If you travel at all, your luggage can carry bedbugs from a hotel (even a very nice hotel) right back to your own bed. If so, you may have to treat or replace the mattress but at least your bed will be easy to sanitize. - You need to plan out where your head goes. Banging your skull on metal is unpleasant. That means you need good-sized pillows for sleeping and extra fluffage for reading. And yes, pillows do have a tendency to slip behind the bed. - I found it pleasant to touch the cool metal with my hands when I was warm in bed. It sounds like nothing, but it actually made a difference in comfort . - By all means get a well-made bed if you go metal. Cheap metal beds flex and move and bend even more than cheap wooden ones. A poorly made bed will make you feel like you are sleeping in a lifeboat on open seas.

Where do you live? I found bunkbeds from a dealer on E-bay for $199. When I saw where they were located I called asked if I could pick up. It is a furniture store called Lindies Furniture in Norristown PA & bunk beds start at $189 or $199. They have different finishes. Not sure about quality & such as we nixed bunkbeds due to kids age, but if you are interested & trust us DH (who refinishes & repairs furniture for a living) could go down & check out the quality vs. $$$ for you. They do ship. I also don't know about reputation as I didn't nd. to use them after all - but you can check it out. Here is a link that might be useful: Lindies Furniture

How wide, meaning how high, is that headboard? Assuming that's a 26" Euro, it looks like if you raise the headboard just another couple of inches, it'll be a good height. If you do end up with a gap, you could either add height to the mattress via a thicker mattress pad, or you could add a trim piece to the top of the headboard before upholstering. Actually, the thickness of the batting around the edges (depending on how much batting you use) will add another 1/2" to 1" to the overall dimensions of the headboard. You could do a cleat, btw, if you mount it on a furring strip OR use beveled lumber as your cleat, which is how my headboard is mounted!

I know this post is from last year but wondering if you happened to find the Bassett bed you posted above? It's funny because a consignment shop where I live has it. I've been eyeing it. Just can't get past the ornateness of the headboard. Also I'm not really wanting anything upholstered in the headboard. I once saw an upholstered bed at an estate sale and the headboard had these gross body stains on both sides.