Vintage medical table.
A while ago on a Saturday morning, Paul and I were at an estate sale…Ā 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 saidāhave you lost your mind?Ā You do NOT need a portable toilet.
But at least half of you thought I DID need the table. Ā And at $10, it was the sort of thing that if I didnāt get it, Iād have not-buyerās remorse.
So I said to Paul ā I guess weād better get that. Ā And as he was carrying it upstairs he said ā why do you always want to get the crappiest thing in the place?
I looked around, confusedā¦ Because, hello? IĀ guaranteeĀ you I could find something crappier.
Paul added ā if I wanted to bring home ANYTHING from this basementā¦ 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 clampāmisfortune.
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 wouldnāt 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 andĀ I still have to get replacement glass cut.
I’ve been waiting to do a post until I actually got the shelvesā¦ 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, itās not staying in the bathroom. It doesnāt 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 @ 12:11 pm
What a wonderful find and makeover.
I am contractually obligated to make you feel like my living space is nicer than yours..will have me chuckling all day.
November 6, 2013 @ 12:18 pm
This is a fabulous find and re-do. I love it. you are right though, glass shelves will give it a more open look to it. You are a most gifted hunter of old trash to treasure goods. I so love to read your blog. Happy hunting!
November 6, 2013 @ 12:25 pm
Victoria Elizabeth Barnes, will you be my adopted internet sister? We can spend family holidays trolling Craigslist for giant mirrors. And you can come visit me because I live in like the antique capital of New England, and no one wants to go antiquing with me. NO ONE. The last time I took someone, they were like, “all that furniture is probably, definitely haunted.” Um, of course it is. But by really stylish dead people! And then when we are done, we can go get Clinique’s seasonal free gift, because I recognize that makeup bag on your amazing new table, as I have the same one. I say that in the least stalky way possible.
November 6, 2013 @ 12:27 pm
I think you should keep the mirror. Sounds lovely and turned out lovely.
November 6, 2013 @ 12:31 pm
Victoria,
I don’t think I would have even ventured into that basement based on your photograph, that is what sets you apart and why you find the best stuff! I really like the way the table turned out and frankly could see it on my patio…would you mind sending it over? š
Great styling too! I like the little blue jar that holds stuff.
Karen
November 6, 2013 @ 1:55 pm
My eyes light up at the dirtiest, ugliest “things” at sales. What normal people see as crap I see as awesome. Love what you did with the table.
November 6, 2013 @ 2:16 pm
For half a second there, I thought: Oh no she didn’t. She did NOT refurbish that potty on wheels. But then I read more and discovered you had not, in fact, refurbished the potty, but the medical stand, just like you said you would. Phew. Not that you COULDN’T have refurbished a potty on wheels. You are just that kind of magical. I have no doubt you could have done JUST that (and won a bunch of home design contests in the process). ANYWHO, can I tell you how comforting it is to know you and Paul (the Doppelgangers of my husband and me) are out there in the world, saving things from the trash and making the world prettier? So comforting. Funny (or not, given that we ARE, after all, twins in another dimension) story: I was eyeing a child’s high chair (??)/stepstool at an estate sale this past weekend and when I showed it to my husband, we were both horrified at the dark paint stains and rust all over it, but still my heart leapt at its potential. In the end, the color proximity of that dried paint to human blood won out and we passed but now I am having TOTAL un-buyer’s remorse. I hope she went to a good home.
Keep writing, Victoria. I LOVE your writing, and I love how Paul and you are just the ultimate miners of diamonds in the rough. Keep up the good fight, sister!
November 6, 2013 @ 2:36 pm
Dear Victoria, I stumbled upon your unique blog a few days ago. Allison wants to adopt you, but I do too. We will have to have a competition to see which one of us can lure you into my family. The gal with the largest amount of gross and unfinished “treasures”, will host a two day retreat of shopping for free roadside cast offs, browsing through our unfunished projects, auctions, and shopping in Massachusettes plethera of hill town shoppes. I love your blog and your hilarious sense of humor. Clearly, you are a very talented, energetic woman. I’ve been loosing sleep reading your blog – you make me laugh out loud just as my sisters do.
Keep on blogging. Luv, your furture adopted sister.
November 6, 2013 @ 5:53 pm
The competition should also involve having to move something heavy OUT of a dumpster… and also a contest where we test our proficiency tying something unwieldy to the roof of our car.
The finale would be where we have to fit a massive breakfront into a Mini Cooper.
xoxo, Sister Victoria
November 8, 2013 @ 11:38 am
Junkergal, you sound like a kindred spirit. We will have the best time ever! I think the competition should feature bonus points for comments made and looks given by irate spouses/neighbors/pets. And instead of forming a family, perhaps we should form a league? Those Mini Coopers are a must!
November 6, 2013 @ 3:01 pm
awesome – but as a DIY person with quite a large number of allergies (hay, grass, flowers but also paint, strong smells, dust, etc) I am dreaming of a ‘sandblaster’ for home-use…. I then would first of all do all my lovely metal French folding shutters (about 3000 in the whole house, some fold up 7 times….) and THEN I would right away attack all the rusty, shabby, but so adorable stuff my Hero Husband threatens to throw out at the next occasion. This is truly beautiful and I love the rollers especially – I could play ‘nurse’ with my neighbours dogs and cats, rolling their biscuits & goodies through the house, and when they go back to their homes, I could use it for my ‘breakfast-cum-lunch-cum-apĆ©ro’ events….! Oh the possibilities!!!! I think I also would keep the mirrors, they are so lovely.
Big kisses
November 6, 2013 @ 3:05 pm
Great find! I can only imagine the gross and disgusting things that have been placed on that table over the years….you know, body parts and stuff. Bedpans (and their contents). Bloody pieces of tissue. This table is an elderly precursor of what we now call a “Mayo stand”. It has seen some things. Hell, it’s probably haunted.
Your adoring fan,
Nurse Irene
November 6, 2013 @ 7:37 pm
Hi Irene,
I recognized the medical table utilized for a Gomco machine. Not too far off for a vintage nurse, ya think? ; )
November 6, 2013 @ 3:06 pm
you. are. HILARIOUS! i love you!
November 6, 2013 @ 3:07 pm
I love this! I can visualize this outside on my deck and it looks beautiful. (I’m also visualizing a deck because I don’t have one…)
November 6, 2013 @ 3:15 pm
Is there a reason why you don’t have the ā„ link any more? I loved to look up sometimes the last postings of people with ‘special’ comments…. I even thought that IF I should ever do a ‘real’ blog, I’d adopt the system you had with the red heart link….
November 6, 2013 @ 5:42 pm
I’ve still been having ongoing tech-issues, and am trying a new thing where I disable one thing at a time to see if THAT is the culprit… The way plugins interact with each other is apparently not at all scientific and is based only on magic and voodoo.
I love that you found it fun, because I did too (and was a good way to waste more time on the internet.) I hope to have it back up when I’ve determined it’s not part of a larger issue.
xoxo
November 6, 2013 @ 3:24 pm
LOVE it! You would think by now Paul would have realized you have vision of what these things can become with a little of his work! I like the old mirror shelves as a bit of a reminder of the history of the piece.
Have to say, I’m with Paul on the clamp issue. Just had to buy one at a big retail DIY store and wished I had been collecting them at estate sales. Please tell Paul to announce when he is selling excess. And let me know when you find more Kingdom mirrors he won’t let you buy?
November 6, 2013 @ 3:24 pm
I must start by saying that I LOVE your blog!! You are the the first and only blog that I follow! With that being said and your head now significantly bigger, š , I love that table and I know my husband can feel your husbands pain as my garage is full of estate sale treasures just waiting to be redone! Of course he always grunts hen something else is brought home but he’s a good sport too!
November 6, 2013 @ 3:44 pm
You have a great eye! Love what you did with it!
November 6, 2013 @ 3:44 pm
Great score! Can’t wait to see where it ends up and of course you will need to serve Don cocktails out of a crystal decanter from it.
November 6, 2013 @ 4:00 pm
I’ll probably be the only one to say this, but, I do not like that table.
Maybe a different color might work … I see it looking better painted black, with metal shelves… bbq tools hanging off the sides. Or, maybe turned into a Rolling Bar… top shelf taken off, and add a galvanized bucket full of iced drinks.
It just looks too hospitalish..? For me, something just isn’t working up there.
As long as you love it and enjoy it, that’s all that really matters though!
November 6, 2013 @ 4:09 pm
Well as one of the nay-sayers I will stand corrected, you were right, it was a necessary purchase. Well done to both of you it’s gorgeous as is you contractually better house, lol hugs from Australia Di
November 6, 2013 @ 6:43 pm
Victoria,
The table looks great! Looks like you added that middle shelf? Love the mirrored glass. And I totally get it about finding grrreat finds which don’t necessarily fit your house, but which are too fab to leave behind, where no one may appreciate the funkarooniness of the item. Like a 4-foot long, low skinny oval coffee type table done in those little square tiles, all creams and browns. $7! As in a cuppa cawfee and a Danish. Can’t possibly fit it in, I’ve tried everywhere & we just downsized to a 1,590 sq ft hse with such an open concept I have few walls to utilize. But I wasn’t going to leave it in that shop, when I could fit it into the back seat of my tiny Versa. If you ever find yourself in Western Washington State and want to tour some amazingly underplundered treasure troves, I could give you a list!
November 6, 2013 @ 7:58 pm
Funkarooniness! I must add that word to my vocabulary!