Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Collector


Some people like to collect knick knacks, salt and pepper shakers, transferware, dolls, that sort of thing.  I, however, have a problem (rather my husband has a problem) with collecting vintage sinks, bathtubs and stoves.
The problem my husband has is that everything seems to weigh about a 1/2 ton and he ends up wrecking his back to help me get things home. Which then becomes another problem because we have to find a place to put the stuff. The sink is still in the garage where he nearly lost a finger trying to move it last summer. It fell on his hand and gooshed his little finger, requiring a trip to the emergency room and some stitches. Oops!

This little stove here, we found at a yard sale a couple of summers ago and he helped me move it in his truck.  It was about 110 degrees that day.  Oooops! 

At least the bathtub was already in the house. Which, if it wasn't it would have been a deal breaker because I use it 365 days a year. Love the clawfoot tub!



Just before we moved from Shelburne, VT to North Carolina (a long story) I made him slam on the brakes and stop to pick up a small bathroom sink that was by the side of the road with a "free" sign on it.  It just sat in my garden shed until we gave it to a Architectural Salvage guy, who was more than happy to get it. 
Like my buddy Miss Singer, the vintage sewing machine, I love the looks and the essential utilitarianism of the old plumbing and kitchen items. 
The whole concept of double stainless steel sinks, for example, is lost on me.  First of all, they are anything BUT stainless and the two sinks are usually too small for big pots and pans.  And then you have to have a separate dish drainer that leaks all over the counter. 

Take this Hoosier cabinet, f'rinstance, which I bought for $200.  It was sitting in a barn with mice living in it and I took it home and stripped it down to the wood.  It's designed to handle whatever you need for baking, including a built-in flour bin with sifter and a pie cooler. Even the "counter" space is retractible to give more workspace or put it back to a smaller space saving area when you aren't using it.   Plus isn't it a gorgeous piece of furniture? 

1 comment:

  1. That sink is amazing!!!! All of your pieces are great...but I just love those old sinks. The farmhouse I love has the original sink like that in it.

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