Salvaged marble I have looked at for possible DIY kitchen countertops/altar/personal empire.
Most of the marble at the salvage yard that is large enough for kitchen counters or an islandĀ is reclaimed from bathroom walls… Public bathroom walls.
Is this repulsive? It is.
Could I somehow block that out of my mind and prepare food on it? Yes. I could.
This makes no sense to Paul, seeing as how I will not let people wear their shoes in our house.
But contamination issues don’t matter anyway because the marble isĀ no bargain. It’s beautiful and subtle and the perfect shade of grey and out of a historic building… butĀ Philadelphia’s salvage yards have becomeĀ a mecca for every designer-spending-someone-else’s-money/restaurateur/people who could afford to do everything new, but instead decide to pay EVEN MORE to have everything be old.Ā Basically peopleĀ just like meā¦ butĀ with money.
So everything is expensiveĀ and people buyĀ it anyway. Which I understand completely for a GFT… but even the dime-a-dozen-on-Craigslist-nothing-special-other-than-being-old pedestal sinks are pricey.
And it makes me sad thatĀ IĀ will not be the one to have my kitchen counters sanctified by the Catholic Church.
Not only are these slabsĀ CRAZY thick and SUPER white… you ALSO getĀ the cachet of being associated with The Holy Roman Empire– dubious social mores, but plenty of flair.
If these were my countertops, when Paul and I got in an argument I could say things like ā bring me the flaming cannonballs. The ones with chains.
Or possibly just have him beheaded.
Plus. There isĀ a special spot to store snacks for Elvis.
Keeping with the religious theme, I also tried to convince Paul that we should buy the entire marble altar from a church, (on Craigslist).
But I could not get him to engage with me except to say ā that would be a LOT of marble.
Which, obviously is the entire point– if we bought this, we would have ALL the marble we would ever need… NoĀ matter what, we would NEVERĀ RUN OUT OF MARBLE.
Another thing I took a picture of at the salvage yard were these steel casement windows. Ā At the time I thought they would be interesting upper-cabinet doors.
But Paul said ā not everything needs to be interesting, Victoria.
I am pretty sure he is wrong about that. But I do agree that the cabinet-idea didnāt stand up to scrutiny.
All right, that’s it for this week. I have this huge, boring, anxiety-inducing thing hanging over my headā¦ Which I can no longer procrastinate.
I have even looked on New York Craigslistāmy favorite way to waste time and dig myself a bigger hole… There is no way I want to drive five hours to upstate New York for anything. But my brain would RATHER do that than sit down and finish something.
I suffer from some bizarre form of self-loathing. Where I choose toĀ distract myself by digging a random, pointless, giant pit in the desert. Even though the entire time I am asking myself ā WHY AM I DIGGING THIS HOLE IN THE DESERT?
IT IS SO HOT.
THERE IS NOTHING HERE BUT SAND.
June 19, 2014 @ 3:17 pm
I think the prior blessed on marble might fit in with the Duchess of Devonshire’s idea of upcycle: she had cheese boards made out of old oak toilet seats.
June 20, 2014 @ 10:42 am
saw this today on CL and instantly thought of you! CT is not much farther than NY š
http://hartford.craigslist.org/fud/4504335651.html
June 20, 2014 @ 10:35 pm
You know what our pocket of Craigslist has? IKEA furniture. For like $5 less than I can pick it up at the store. Mind you this is a poor argument coming from me who paid way more than she should have for her mini kitchenette cabinet off of CG from IKEA. Love those windows!
June 25, 2014 @ 4:03 am
I think that the idea of a marble kitchen counters is great. However I am not sure that you have to use pieces that were in a public restroom. This just don’t sound right for me. May be if you were planning to use them in your restroom it could make sense but for the kitchen. I don’t know… After all the choice is yours but please don’t listen to Paul and make it interesting š
July 1, 2014 @ 12:02 am
I live in LA and our Habitat for Humanity ReStore has great marble slabs (and tile) that have never been used/installed. We have three H4H Restores – one specializes in windows/doors, another in used furniture/appliances and another with tile, light fixtures, sinks, vanities, and granite and marble slabs. Maybe you can find a H4H ReStore near you!
p.s. you are a funny chick. you need your own treasure hunting/decorating show on OWN.
August 5, 2014 @ 10:26 pm
Funny that I am just now reading this. I toured a friend’s home that she is just about finished having built and she used granite from an office building’s walls on all of her bathroom floors. She absolutely scored in that her contractor knew the contractor that was working on the building and they gave them the marble for FREE. How crazy is that?
October 11, 2014 @ 12:38 pm
I figured by now that you’ve gotten the idea of using marble rescued from public restrooms out of your system. I used to frequent Hippo Hardware in Portland in their reasonable era. One of their staff told me about someone who used restroom marble as a FP surround and had that room smelling like a urinal as soon as the fired up the FP. BTW your Big Kitchen Manifesto s/b required reading.
October 13, 2014 @ 2:29 pm
Hi, I’m looking for a piece of salvaged marble exactly the type and size in your picture, can you please point me toward that salvage yard?
Thanks so much!
adam
August 27, 2015 @ 12:58 am
Everything is supposed to be interesting. I swear life without intrigue is just empty. I have found myself feeling like I am –what did you say digging a pit in the desert? I make craft projects for myself. Sometimes they are way pricier and more difficult that I thought they would be. And I think what the hell am I doing this for???? WHY? Because sometimes the results are so awesome I –you everyone gets that high when you feel like a genius and everything in the universe conspired to help you make something so beautiful it makes life worth living.
Last year I went looking around an old empty mansion in my neighbrhood. The door was open. It was naughty but thrilling. There were little black fish in the pool. Marbley banisters outside. The house felt like a Gatsbyesque scene.
August 27, 2015 @ 12:58 am
Everything is supposed to be interesting. I swear life without intrigue is just empty. I have found myself feeling like I am –what did you say digging a pit in the desert? I make craft projects for myself. Sometimes they are way pricier and more difficult that I thought they would be. And I think what the hell am I doing this for???? WHY? Because sometimes the results are so awesome I –you everyone gets that high when you feel like a genius and everything in the universe conspired to help you make something so beautiful it makes life worth living.
Last year I went looking around an old empty mansion in my neighbrhood. The door was open. It was naughty but thrilling. There were little black fish in the pool. Marbley banisters outside. The house felt like a Gatsbyesque scene.
March 29, 2016 @ 11:13 am
I’m so glad you linked your ‘chalkboard-fancy’ back to this – I read it for the 1st time and it made me smile and laugh! Thank you – you’re the queen of my day š