A 3/4 bed is I think 48 inches wide and sometimes shorter than today's beds.....and you have to have a mattress specially made or use a full and sit it above the rails...or get one of those "adaptor sets....but the head board never looks wide enough.
Most antique beds do seem to be doubles....and sometimes you can have them modified to fit a queen mattress....but one of those thick pillow tops really look too tall for an old bed to me. Go with a regular mattress or perhaps memory foam on top of a smaller mattress.
Linda C

Our 3/4 bed is 70" long --- they seem to vary a great deal in length.

We recently replaced the mattress on our antique full-size bed --- you should measure to know exactly where you want the mattress height. We used a pillow-top mattress (but not a "flippable" or extremely tall) and then used a low-profile box spring. Worked great. But we did a lot of measuring!!!

I personally, don't like the looks of "adapted" beds. As Linda says -- the headboard looks too narrow. My thought is if you want a queen or king size bed -- buy antique dressers and find a good reproduction bed so all the proportions are right.

I do have a bed from 1922 -- has a curved footboard. I need a new mattress for it but it has to be much smaller than anything I have found. So it is in the attic for a while. It is easy to have mattresses made and the cost is not prohibitive. But this is for a guest room and I have plenty of other beds!!!!

it all depends on the bed frame you choose...when we bought our antique double bed many years ago, although the width was fine for a full size mattress, the length was too short...our antique dealer, who was also a master woodworker made duplicate rails that exactly matched the originals, but were several inches longer...if you are really in love with your head and footboard this may be an option for you...in our case the side rails are almost always covered with bedding anyway....our headboard is about 6 feet tall so it also accomodates a higher mattress...

So many of the new beds (headboards/footboards) do not seem to do a good job on proportions on reproduction of older styles...They made changes that I have not really liked. Are there any furniture companies who make good reproductions of antique bed styles that you feel do a better job than the majority?

Help! I have a iron bed that will accomadate the width of a full size box spring, but the length where the corners of the box would fit from head to foot is 69 1/2" to 70". Any recommendations? I don't want to alter it in any way as it already has been abused...

I have an antique bed now that is too big by about 2-3 inches for a full and too small for a queen. The length is 75 inches but the width seems to be the problem.

Wow! Another thread from several years back, pops up.

I have an antique bed. Had a custom mattress made for it. No way a standard mattress would have fit.

@Hounds_x_two were did you get the custom mattress made?

Cantwell Mattress Company in San Antonio, TX made my custom mattress and box spring. (210) 824-0201

Website is cantwellmattress.com

A good solution for a antique bed is a lower end memory foam mattress. Not as deep and the sides are soft so they won't put undue pressure on the side rails if your bed has them. Get a lower end box spring also and add a Bunky board between to help firm it up if needed. Grandma's old mattress and box springs were shot and a new one was just a hair too wide and long (full size). This option retained the flat look (instead of todays rather overstuffed bed look) but gave great support.

Yeah it's a word bed, too big for a full but too small for a queen. I have considered just shortening the side boards so it fits the full. The guest room is pretty small so a full works much better than trying to convert it to a queen

Most larger cities have mattress factories. Where I live, not a large population, but lots and lots of tourist hotels, and many buy from the local manufacturer. They'll make special sizes. Just do some research locally.

Thanks. That's what I have been trying, but if I ever want to replace the mattress I run into the same problem of a normal size not fitting. I still can't even figure out the size of this bed. I can only assume it was someone's custom piece.

I don't think they had "standard" sizing for beds like they do now. Probably used home-made mattresses stuffed with hay and topped with a feather bed. If you love the bed, it might be worthwhile to have a custom mattress made. I was afraid a custom mattress would "cost a fortune" to have made, but it didn't. They even came out and measured the bed and recommended a low profile box spring. Will have another one made when this one needs replacing.

I have an antique double size bed that has an elaborately carved head and footboards. When I wanted a new mattress (I opted against buying a kit to widen it to accept a queen mattress), I did want a new deeper mattress. I found the stores offered a shorter / shallower box spring, so the 2 when stacked together did not cover any of the carving. That does not solve a length issue for anyone, but this could be useful for someone.

Now if only I could find double bed sized sheets....none of the stores here offer them. I have to use queen and try to tuck them in around.

Same as 'full' size. Amazon has them.

They say a full and double are the same size, but you sound like you had the problem I had of too small for a queen but slightly too big for a full. I was told my bed was a "true double" bed, but haven't been able to find any information about that, since everything says a double and full are the same. I intend on shortening the sideboards to make it a full size rather than buy a custom mattress.

I have an old French bed that roughly corresponds to a Twin. I placed wooden runners across the bed and placed twin-size box springs and a regular (not thick) mattress on top. The mattress extends past the headboard about two inches on each side (barely noticeable). So far, I've used this bed for years with no trouble. I did have to periodically make sure that the box springs weren't about to slide off of the side rails. Then I bolted small angle irons to the rails so that's no longer a problem. Ironically, I once tried to sell my bed in a local shop, but there was no interest because the shop owner told potential customers that "you can't use a modern mattress on it." Oh really?!

Thanks so much craftslady1 for adding a picture... that really helps me. I have a queen size bed that is 59 inches wide and saw an antique headboard I wanted to buy that is 57 inches wide... was worried the headboard would look too narrow even though it's only an inch on each side and I have a duvet that would fluff out anyway...

Carolyn Ross, this won't apply to your situation, but I should mention that on several occasions, I have seen people adapt a double headboard and footboard (made of wood) to accommodate a king-size mattress. They sawed the footboard in two, vertically, and attached one piece to each side of the headboard. Even when the heights are different, the effect is symmetrical and it looks fine. I suppose this could also be done with a metal bed if you were working with a good welder.

If you live near a Verlo store, they will make a mattress in any size or shape that you need.

Is there a way to contact Miracle Mongolia to ask more questions about the French bed?

Yes, but it's Miracle Magnolia, not Mongolia. Look up Mama's Miracle Linen Soak and you can contact me through my website. I would rather not put my personal email on this site.

You can get mattresses that are narrower but not shorter. My husband extended the rails on our 3/4 bed to fit the length of a full. A local furniture store got us the mattress set.

Didn't have any trouble keeping the sheets on. I enclosed pics.

Although the original post was from 2007 and the next to the last one was from 2017 the last post is wrong. There are companies such as Hawn Bedding that will make mattresses of any size.

I have an antique bed 53" wide with slats, length is 75" long. A 54" box spring will not fit by 1"!!. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

HU, it would be better to start a new post with tour question. More people will see it and you are more likely to receive an answer.

I had to get a box spring and mattress made for an antique bed. It's a 48x72. They just don't make that size anymore.