A year ago, my friend Mandi from Vintage Revivals, found me a beat up library card catalog at the thrift store for $15. $15!! I had been looking for one for a LONG time. They sure are hard to come by…unless you want to pay an arm and a leg for one. So I was super excited!
The card catalog was originally on legs which were ugly 2 x 4’s and really not very flattering. So I was trying to figure out how to renovate it so that it fit my style. I was also trying to figure out the perfect spot of where to put it in my home. I wanted it to be in a visible area in my home rather than stuck in a corner somewhere.
So I decided to take the legs off and pull it apart and turn it into a side table. We were shocked at how many layers this baby had. There were seriously three layers of wood, two of which were unnecessary to what we wanted.
We got rid of them which helped get rid of the massive weight of card table. We put the card catalog back together and got it ready to paint. There were parts of the card catalog that are not real wood so we decided that painting it was going to be our best bet!
I took all the hardware off and then spray painted it so that it would match the other hardware in our home.
I found some industrial wheels at Home Depot and added those to the bottom of the card table and I love the different vibe the card catalog took on with that addition.
We also built a new top for the card catalog to replace the original because it was built out of a fake wood.
I am so happy with how it turned out! I love that we were able to find a use for it in one of the main rooms of our home.
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Alice says
What do you store in it?
Jennifer says
I love things like this, but I worry that if I ever got my hands on one and refinished it I don’t know exactly what I would do with it. I would love it, but wouldnt know what to do with it. Great idea as a side/coffee table….but what do you store in it?
Amy says
I don’t store anything in it yet…I haven’t decided on what to put in it…LOL! Right now it is just pretty to look at!
Good question! I am not sure yet!
Alice- Nothing yet. Still trying to figure that out…lol!
Seriously beautiful!!! I’ve been on the hunt for years for one of these babies!!! It turned out perfectly!
Thank you so much! I hope you can find one soon!!
I have always wanted one of these!! I love how it turned out!
Thank you so much!
I too would LOVE LOVE LOVE one of these as I am a huge book nerd!! This post makes my heart happy!! $15 might just be the steal of the century!!
Gorgeous! And what a find at $15. I would tweak a little (just a little) for my style. I would use something besides the wheels, though the wheels are a great look, and depending on the weight of the final piece, I would consider leaving the pull-out writing surfaces (I don’t know if those are leaves or leafs or what) for little people. But would I pass this up if someone offered me this exactly as is? Absolutely not. I would be crazy to do so! Great job!!!!
Βeautiful job .I can’t believe how it turned out. It looks great
I really like to find one. All the flea markets around here have nothing that good.
Dana- I hope you find one!
Lovely renovation Amy! Keep up the good work! Carolina at Hamilton Billiards.
Carolina, thank you!