factory cart rescue at the salvage yard

Last week, Ross took a day off from work & we decided to head back to Pitsch where we have searched through gross, cold, & dirty warehouses a few times before & have always been successful in finding treasures of some sort. This time we came prepared with enough layers of clothes to stay warm, gloves, and a flashlight to help us search the dark warehouses. We picked our way through the usual buildings and did not find anything too amazing or wonderful so we explored farther into buildings we weren't even sure we were supposed to be in. And we are glad we did, because otherwise we would have never discovered this huge pile of old factory carts in the back of a dust-filled building. 

Every time we see one of these in an antique store, Ross drools over it & reminds me that someday he would love to have one for a coffee table. However, the ones we usually see are cleaned up & nicely finished (and very very expensive). These were each covered with layers & layers of dust & paint. Picking through the huge mountain of carts was a bit daunting, but Ross managed to pull a few out of the pile & eventually narrowed it down & picked one out. Hauling it to the front of the property & getting it home was another adventure in itself...

After getting it home & getting the layers of dust off, we could see just how many layers of paint were on the cart. And we found this label on it that read "kindel furniture 1906". More than 100 years old! 

Ross spent hours getting the paint layers off & this is what it looked like with all the stained wood under the paint: 

ready for a new coat of dark, beautiful stain! 

 Ross also spent a lot of time cleaning and polishing up the wheels and metal on the cart. He got them to a perfect mix of shiny but still old & antique looking

and now may I present...our new coffee table!!!!! So glad we rescued it from that dark & dusty warehouse. And so glad Ross is able to see the potential in old things like that & is able to make them beautiful things in our house that we can love & use for years to come!