Fine Furniture Shopping

Los Angeles, CA – February 26, 2008 – FineIronBeds.com and Just Fine, Inc. President Ward Poulos toured the Wesley Allen, Inc. manufacturing facility and walked away with a new appreciation. Having been personally invited by Wesley Allen Director Wesley Sawan to see the process of creating their high quality iron bed frames first-hand, Mr. Poulos was given full access to all of the various stages of production at the enormous Wesley Allen complex near downtown L.A., where they have been for over 31 years.

“The quality and craftsmanship of these iron beds is truly outstanding,” said Mr. Poulos, “The artisans at Wesley Allen have an amazing eye for detail and go above and beyond to make sure that they are proud of every iron bed that goes out through their doors.”

The first part of the tour consisted of seeing how the raw cold-rolled steel begins its journey into becoming a bed. Long steel tubes are cut to the proper length for each section of the particular bed that is being made. Skilled craftsmen then bend the steel on specially designed templates to match the often intricate and ornate curves and flourishes that make up many of the Wesley Allen beds. The next step involves the precise welding of the various pieces together to make up the frame. Welders along with a high-tech welding robot make sure that every seam is exceptionally strong and made to last a lifetime.

After welding, the finials and other decorative elements are cast onto the bed frame. These beautiful designs are conceived and then sculpted in clay by Wesley Allen’s talented artists, some of which have been with the company for decades. After the clay model is perfected, a mold is created and the hot metal is poured and cast directly onto the tubing of the bed for strength and durability. Once the decorative elements are attached to the bed and cooled, the entire frame is sanded and prepared with an electro-static primer for the hand-finishing. With more than 40 finishes to choose from, Wesley Allen has specific finishers that specialize in certain finishes, so their quality remains consistent. “One of the most interesting parts of my tour was seeing an Artist apply one of the Textured Gray Mocha finishes,” said Poulos, “It really is a very manual process, with him hand dabbing the finish onto the frame over and over to create the complex textured look.” Another key ingredient to the Wesley Allen finishing process is the highlighting of the decorative elements. Without individually applying a highlighted color variation on each decorative area on the bed by hand, it wouldn’t have the rich and dynamic look that Wesley Allen beds are known for.

After the iron beds are finished, checked and double checked for quality, and ready for shipment, they are packed with styrofoam blocks specifically made to cover the corners of each individual bed. This protects the vulnerable areas of the bed while in transit. Wesley Allen also triple wraps the other key areas of the bed and packs them in very strong corrugated boxes to make sure they arrive to their destination unharmed. The tour wrapped up with a discussion about Wesley Allen’s impressive commitment to making a minimal environmental impact. They have installed a huge array of solar panels on their facility’s roof, along with using efficient lighting systems and relying on natural light where possible. They have also implemented a sophisticated filtering system to clean and recycle the air from the building where finishes are applied. “I walked away with a real appreciation for what a unique company Wesley Allen is. Their commitment to quality and the sheer size of their operation is astounding. Owning a Wesley Allen bed is really owning a piece of artwork, and one that will serve one well for a lifetime!”

About Just Fine, Inc. Founded in 2004, Just Fine, Inc. is a specialty Internet retailer focusing on premium/luxury furniture and home accessories for the discriminating customer. Their online stores are designed to provide shoppers with a better way to browse and purchase discounted products that would normally only be found in high-end specialty stores.