Vintage medical table.
A while ago on a Saturday morning, Paul and I were at an estate sale… In the basement was this vintage medical table.
I posted a photo on Facebook asking you to talk me out of it. (Which I knew you wouldn’t.) Half of you said—have you lost your mind? You do NOT need a portable toilet.
But at least half of you thought I DID need the table. And at $10, it was the sort of thing that if I didn’t get it, I’d have not-buyer’s remorse.
So I said to Paul – I guess we’d better get that. And as he was carrying it upstairs he said – why do you always want to get the crappiest thing in the place?
I looked around, confused… Because, hello? I guarantee you I could find something crappier.
Paul added – if I wanted to bring home ANYTHING from this basement… There is no way you would let me.
Which is true… only one of us can be the arbiter of what disgusting things may enter our home.
I also got dishes. Because I am a dish hoarder.
Similar to the way Paul is a clamp hoarder.
He claims that you can never have enough clamps. However? I assure you that we have MORE than enough clamps.
If at some point there is a clamp-shortage in the world? We will make a fortune speculating on other people’s clamp–misfortune.
When we got home, Paul got to work on the table immediately.
I would have just added it to my growing mountain of crap in the garage. But Paul is starting to worry that he will be crushed under the impending avalanche.
Rather than use paint stripper, Paul took the grinder to it.
This was WAY, WAY, WAY faster.
And less likely to give us cancer.
It wouldn’t work for a large surface or for something you were concerned about keeping pristine, but for this, it was great.
We did a coat of primer, and then sprayed it with a white gloss.
At some point the glass shelves were replaced with mirrors and I still have to get replacement glass cut.
I’ve been waiting to do a post until I actually got the shelves… But I’ve recently remembered that any time the last 10% of a project is left to me, historically, it remains unfinished.
In the interest of full disclosure, it’s not staying in the bathroom. It doesn’t actually fit there.
I only put it there for photos because it LOOKS nice, and since this is a blog, I am contractually obligated to make you feel like my living space is nicer than yours.
See all my favorite Craigslist finds.
November 6, 2013 @ 9:59 am
Tres chic!
And yes, damnit, you’re succeeding in making me feel that your house is way nicer than mine. 😉
November 7, 2013 @ 1:19 pm
Me too; now stop it! I love the table… alot. But it would have been one of those items that, unless I squinted my eyes to see the sparkle in the diamond in the rough, I too would have passed up. Great eye… and even greater eye finding a man willing to not only carry it for you, but transform it into the beauty it is today. I’m all kinds of jealous over here!
November 6, 2013 @ 10:00 am
Looks, beautiful, Victoria. I love how you are able to see the future usefulness of something. Upcycling at it’s finest. Well done.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:02 am
I am bonding with you Madame! We have a similar affection for “crappy ” stuff that is transformed through our endless creative talents. Love the end result even if it doesn’t work in your bathroom! I enjoy your blog and share it often. Have a great grand and groovy day!
November 6, 2013 @ 10:03 am
I announced recently that we should tackle one tiny estate sale project per weekend until the garage is empty. My husband did some quick math and said we would be well in the throes of dementia before we could park both cars inside again. I feel your pain.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:04 am
I think you are living my life with my husband in my garage. Please clean it up, so we can park a 2nd car inside before snow falls. I’m inside, baking us cookies.
November 6, 2013 @ 1:46 pm
Hey girls, I not only have a two car garage, but neither of our cars have seen the inside of it, and we live in snow country!
November 6, 2013 @ 2:48 pm
Joyce, Tammigirl, Carollynn
you made me smile and grin….. since we moved to France, we DO have a very large garage but can’t use it because the entry is right in a bend of the street and anyway, it’s filled with…. well, I let you guess!
Now I have to read the rest of the comments or VEB will love me even less….
November 6, 2013 @ 10:03 am
It is darling in the bathroom! I love how we, as bloggers, are able to drag the one super-cool thing in our house around to every single spot in the house and photograph it, having the whole world believe, indeed, our whole house is super-cool.
I have a nugget of awesomeness in my house. Enough that I could have one, maybe two super-cool rooms. Wait! That’s what I actually have? The other square feet? They are jealous.
I think this shelf would fit in my master bath. Please send it to me. Also? Keep the mirrors. They are fantastic.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:04 am
You have a talent I don’t for seeing the possibilities of crudey stuff. I would have passed that right by and it’s adorable!!!
November 6, 2013 @ 10:05 am
It is sooooo beautiful! What a dramatic upcycle!
November 6, 2013 @ 10:06 am
I understand Paul’s Clamp-addiction. It’s really very practical. I can’t tell you how many projects in OUR house have been interrupted – sometimes for a LONG TIME – due to clampus-interruptus.
I think your medical cart is a thing of functional beauty and therefore a joy forever.
And you have an amazing eye for making things LOOK SO PRETTY.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:07 am
Brilliant! I am so with you on the last 10% of a project . . . hey, we are mainly here for the inspiration part, aren’t we?
November 6, 2013 @ 10:08 am
I too have suffered the pangs of “unbuyer’s remorse”. It’s the stuff I didn’t get that haunts me … and then drives me furiously to try to find the exact thing again, over and over. Hence, my collection of inkwells and ink stands; all to replace a charming inkwell bound into a book shaped travelling case. I passed it up because it was too expensive and over the years, spent 20 times as much on inkwells. Best to give in right away and buy the damn obsessive object. It’s cheaper in the long run.
I LOVE your charming table. It looks wonderful and will work perfectly anywhere in the house. Sure, your house isway nicer than mine but I have more inkwells!
November 7, 2013 @ 2:28 am
oh so true “Best to give in right away and buy the damn obsessive object. It’s cheaper in the long run.” I have lots of non-buyers remorse and lots of ‘make up for it’ objects
BTW that table is a great grab Victoria and you can continue to stage it all over the house
November 6, 2013 @ 10:09 am
Clearly, you are meeting you contractual obligations! Your house looks way better than mine. Very much enjoy your blog in spite of the massive inferiority complex my house is getting.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:10 am
I love it! And the whole “last 10% of a project” thing is totally me. That’s why the trim on my bathroom has remained unsanded and unpainted for the last year…maybe two. I’ve lost track. Anyway, I’m glad that I know where I need to go when the apocalypse hits and there’s a shortage of clamps…..we definitely DON’T have enough!
November 6, 2013 @ 10:11 am
You make me smile (and laugh out loud) EVERY week!
Thank you!!!
oxxo!
-b.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:11 am
I think the potty next to the table, in basement…. should be your next project! Plant stand???? 😉
November 6, 2013 @ 10:12 am
Ooh, I kind of like the mirrors! I would have run right towards this, too–anything on casters, really. When can we expect your post on that portable toilet? (Which, incidentally might be one of the few items NOT improved by the addition of casters. Yikes!)
November 6, 2013 @ 10:19 am
When you bought this I thought “Yes, yes, yes!! Er, what is she going to do with this? But…YES!!’
Now that you’ve shown us what to do with it, I’m thinking ‘YES-YES-YES!!’
November 6, 2013 @ 10:21 am
It’s darling. I think you’ll love this table because it’s one of those really handy sizes. I swear I could use a dozen of them throughout my house. Every place you sit, you should be able to put your mug of tea down.
Thank you for admitting the purpose of staging. I knew it! I knew that was what everyone is doing which is why I’m always refusing to properly stage. Well, also it’s a lot of work and I’m just not a big fan of the work.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:25 am
Love it! I am a notorious project-unfinisher, too. I have a veritable graveyard of half-finished crafts to prove it.
November 6, 2013 @ 10:26 am
Love this, and I was busted looking at this at work because I laughed out loud at your last sentence! Thanks, thanks a lot!!,
November 6, 2013 @ 10:28 am
I love it!!! In the picture it looks perfect in the bathroom, you are becoming quite proficient at staging!!!
I look forward to your post every week!