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 island 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 is no bargain. It’s beautiful and subtle and the perfect shade of grey and out of a historic building… but Philadelphia’s salvage yards have become 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. Basically people just like me… but with money.
So everything is expensive and people buy 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 that I will not be the one to have my kitchen counters sanctified by the Catholic Church.
Not only are these slabs CRAZY thick and SUPER white… you ALSO get 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 – bring me the flaming cannonballs. The ones with chains.
Or possibly just have him beheaded.
Plus. There is 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 – 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… No matter what, we would NEVER RUN OUT OF MARBLE.
Another thing I took a picture of at the salvage yard were these steel casement windows. At the time I thought they would be interesting upper-cabinet doors.
But Paul said – not everything needs to be interesting, Victoria.
I am pretty sure he is wrong about that. But I do agree that the cabinet-idea didn’t stand up to scrutiny.
All right, that’s it for this week. I have this huge, boring, anxiety-inducing thing hanging over my head… Which I can no longer procrastinate.
I have even looked on New York Craigslist—my 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 to distract myself by digging a random, pointless, giant pit in the desert. Even though the entire time I am asking myself – WHY AM I DIGGING THIS HOLE IN THE DESERT?
IT IS SO HOT.
THERE IS NOTHING HERE BUT SAND.
June 18, 2014 @ 1:05 pm
My heart breaks in a million pieces to see that altar piece in a scrap yard. The small hole in the top is for a relic of a Saint. At the very least, it is good to see that someone removed the altar stone before scrapping the marble.
The beautiful high altar needs a home as well. I do know of a group of priests who rescue altars. If you be so kind as to email me the listings for these items, I might be able to find them homes. Proper homes.
June 19, 2014 @ 10:43 am
For what it’s worth, it really isn’t a scrap yard… some decorator will buy that for her client’s high-end project and it will get a new home. (Although not too sure the church would approve, but they are the ones who had the salvage place dismantle it in the first place…) There aren’t listings for the items, it’s a huge warehouse where you go and gawk.
June 19, 2014 @ 10:45 am
I just realized you were talking about the cl listing, (duh). I searched for it, but it’s not coming up. Hard to believe someone bought it, so if he reposts, I’ll let you know.
June 18, 2014 @ 1:07 pm
Hi Victoria 🙂 I say GET that church altar because it (the marble) looks wickedly beautiful and very nicely white 🙂
June 18, 2014 @ 1:26 pm
Now I can’t get “Dig It Up” out of my head. For your procrastinating pleasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLsCR2RMBak
June 18, 2014 @ 2:29 pm
I would rather look at pintrest ideas about cleaning your house than doing that exact thing. One day my husband caught me reading the blog “hooked on houses” and said to me, Can’t you get hooked on our house? I also hoard books on procrastination which I prefer to doing what needs to be done. Rock on Victoria!
June 18, 2014 @ 3:56 pm
Funny because I looked at your comment and said, “Did I write that? Guess not, I don’t have a husband.” But everything else could be me. Including a shelf full of books on how to simplify your life. A little unclear on the concept, perhaps…
June 18, 2014 @ 2:33 pm
Those steel casement windows, perfect for the cabinets or what? I read an article in Old Home Journal a few years ago about these “historic” windows and how millions of historic windows like these are being tossed in favor of “new, energy efficient” windows. However, the new windows are no more energy efficient than the historic window. The issue of historic window loss is so great that there is a foundation that actually tries to locate, preserve and install in historic homes. This article showed how this man restores the steel framed windows, etc. Including a circa 1920″ s house where they removed the “new” windows and replaced them with the historic steel casement windows. The change was breath takingly beautiful. You don’t want a kitchen that screams today while the rest of your home says yesteryear – stay strong it will come together for you. Kate
June 18, 2014 @ 2:45 pm
How sad that the local salvage yards are over-priced! Especially when one obligingly coughed up actual used church bits. Given the popularity of announcing “my [room X] is my SANCTUARY” in shelter magazines and HGTV shows, it’d be enticingly meta to have genuine, authorized church sanctuary parts installed.
not everything needs to be interesting
True, in the sense that plumbing should not be interesting. Electrical strongly benefits from not being interesting. Roof joists? Dull and predictable FTW!
Cabinet doors, on the other hand, do need to be interesting. It’s not like you’re asking to have them roll up like garage doors in response to a remote control or open from the top in wings like a DeLorean. The steel-framed windows would probably be too heavy for cabinet hinges, as well as oddly sized… but a legitimate desire to not have the cabinetry collapse is not sufficient to indict the entire concept of “interesting.”
June 18, 2014 @ 3:12 pm
My parents kitchen island was the local St.Mary’s Catholic church’s alter. It isn’t marble, but it has the carved wood and 24 kt gold edging. It’s pretty amazing!
June 18, 2014 @ 3:27 pm
I cringed when I read “Public bathroom walls”. But then again, you do put a bit of style into nearly everything you find on craigslist. Looks like a great find for the kitchen.
June 18, 2014 @ 4:00 pm
If you could tell which gender of bathroom the walls came out of it would help. When we remodeled the ones in our church it was only the metal stalls in the men’s that had rusted.
Speaking of which, you could always ask a priest to come and bless your house. Not quite the cachet of a massive marble altar but easier to transport.
June 18, 2014 @ 4:26 pm
You’re kooky but sweet. Also we all have bad days and you just have to somehow pull yourself out of the pit. Not sure how, but this too will pass I always tell myself.
June 18, 2014 @ 7:31 pm
Hello Victoria,
I enjoyed your post. Funny thing, I have a slab of carrara marble that I’m trying to get rid of. I’ve tried to sell it on Craigslist, with no luck. Would you like it? To get you started on collecting your slabs? To get you started on your Victoria Elizabeth marble collection drive, perhaps. Would you be open to the possibility of doing an item swap of some sorts? You would, however, have to drive out to Long Island, NY, aka The Hamptons. The piece that I have would be perfect for a vanity countertop or a small kitchen island. It is roughly 30″x42″x1″ thick. Let me know.
June 18, 2014 @ 7:51 pm
Victoria, I know Paul is an eminently sensible man (with the patience of Job to boot), but he is wrong wrong wrong about those casement windows. They would make AMAZING cabinet doors! If they weren’t so damn far away, I’d drive down and get them myself.
June 18, 2014 @ 8:53 pm
In case you didn’t know, the little niche in the altar is for relics! A little marble pocket formerly filled with dead bones is SO much better than peed-on marble!
June 18, 2014 @ 9:20 pm
Just think about how very light you’re going to feel when the weight of this thing you’re dreading is lifted. Just having it done, no matter the outcome, will have you feeling light as a feather. At least it does for me, and I hope it does for you!!!
June 18, 2014 @ 9:23 pm
There’s a stone and marble store (?)/ fenced in yard with marble slabs everywhere in Clementon on Erial-Clementon Road. I feel like their inventory hasn’t changed in the six years I’ve been driving down that road so maybe their supply/demand ratios will work in your favor.
June 18, 2014 @ 9:41 pm
How big a piece do you need for the island? I may be able to help….email me.
June 18, 2014 @ 10:20 pm
BEWARE!!! found a 24×48 inch marble with a sink already undermounted on it for $100. I then took it to the marble man to have it cut to fit my bathroom vanity. (Found out it was high quality) They polished the sink and the marble and it was beautiful but it cost over $250. I didn’t save but I did get a free sink. Marble is pricey! And porus, and soft! I love the look, however. For what you have in your kitchen just buy new. The fabricator will cost so much to cut and polish and you won’t save much if any. If anything ask a marble guy what it would cost to reuse your marble finds before you buy them. Have fun, I love your blog.
June 19, 2014 @ 3:02 am
“I dreamt I dwelt in marble stalls…..”
June 19, 2014 @ 9:22 am
Don’t forget Lancaster’s Craigslist. It’s 20-30 minutes from Exton, so not far at all! 🙂
June 19, 2014 @ 10:20 am
Just caught up on all the posts I had missed recently (way too many, but the good part about that is I could plow through loads of blog posts without stopping!). I laughed and laughed and then laughed a little bit more, which is exactly what I needed this week. I’ve missed the adventures of Victoria and Paul as they navigate Philly’s kingdom of GFTs together, and when I saw my blog subscription pop up saying “DIY mining my own marble”, that’s when I knew I had to get it together and catch up. Having met the bed troll and watched all the videos you’ve done recently, I feel infinitely more fulfilled and motivated to take on more exciting projects I most likely will never finish. Yay VEB blog!