When it comes to vintage furniture and accessories, it doesn't take much to woo us. But take a piece like this—a huge library card catalog with one life far behind it (remember the Dewey Decimal System? Anyone? Bueller?)—and turn it into a beautiful piece of furniture with all sorts of storage? Now this is a DIY masterpiece. Want to see the finished product?
Isn't she gorgeous?
DIYers Jeremy and Adrianne sent their amazing vintage furniture makeover into the fine folks at Young House Love, where we happened upon their stunning finished piece.
It's a true card catalog, which Jeremy and Adrianne turned into a buffet for their stylish dining room. For their very involved makeover process, as well as more photos documenting the whole ordeal, check out their blog!
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Re: "remember the Dewey Decimal System? Anyone? Bueller?"
Most public libraries )and even a few academic libraries) still actively use DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification). It is also still being actively maintained and expanded/augmented.
The only thing that's gone away are card catalogs, which have been replaced by online catalogs.
I understand you were trying to be pithy and amusing, however, as a librarian I think you need to do better research. ;)
Guys, still using Dewey at most public libraries worldwide.
Amen to Shana Lee from a fellow librarian!
So, soooo beautiful!
Beautiful! But the drawers are so tiny, what the heck do you put in it?
It is very creative!! LOVE how you turned it into a buffet. Recycling furniture is one of my favorite things to do! Why waste an interesting piece of furniture? Who cares if it'e meant to be in a library at least it's going to good use :)
Looks fab! Love the turned legs they chose and the brass against the white.
C'mon librarians, don't be so stuffy. It was obvious that they meant that anyone who's anyone has moved on to LC call numbers. ;)
Preparing for flame war in 3...2...1...
(I kid, I kid...just remember, ALA forbids you from using my circ records as blackmail.)
Comicgeek, they put wine in the drawers. :)
I like the idea that they can now have a whole drawer just for cake forks. And another one for melon spoons. And so on :)
I love card catalog and seeing this is giving me the crazed wild eyed looks. Imagine all my art craft tools being stored in those drawers: paint brushes, tube of paints, palette knives, charcoals, pencils, pens, batteries..... I just might have to make this a reality one day.
Haha... Shana Lee beat me to it!
Seriously though, I want a card catalog. I have NO idea what I'd use it for, I just love all things library-related. ;-)
My mother worked in an old, small town library when I was a kid. I love old card catalogs (the only kind, I suppose), they hold beautiful nostalgia for me.
My husband's grandmother turned her garage into a bar for her husband (who has since passed), and she has a gorgeous old librarian desk with some of these drawers. The desk serves as the bar, and they use the drawers for cocktail napkins, bottle openers, etc.
Thanks for all the kind words AT readers. The drawers are 3" X 6" and can actually hold bottles of wine, table runners, napkins, and yes even melon spoons (I had to ask my wife what a melon spoon was :)). We love the buffet and think it is definitely a piece of furniture we will cherish. If you want to see the transformation process please visit our blog thelentines.blogspot.com.
Ha. My library actually uses it own classification system. But again, Dewey is widely used.
The library where I work ALSO uses Dewey -- most US public libraries do, mostly LC is used by colleges. So a LOT of us, including our many many patrons, remember it! (Harumph!)
Me, I hate card catalogs. Filin in those suckers used to be a nightmare, and it was worse when you had to unfile things because you got rid of a book. Yuk! The associations don't lead to any love for the furniture.
Plus, those drawers have low sides and rods in the bottm to hold the (punched) catalog cards from spilling. Beneath the rods are log slots. Meaning the drawers, without the rods, have sides about 2 inches deep as I recall and a hole from front to back, so little things you might want to store there can fall right through. Too much work to change all that.
That said, the example above is very attractive if likely non-fucntional! (OK, big bottles of wine won't fall thru, I grant you that.)
*sigh* I've always wanted a card catalog. It's even harder to find them now that they've been out of circulation for a while. Someday, I'll have one. I'm planning on putting arts & crafts stuff in it - whole drawers for googley eyes, pipe cleaners, ribbons, etc.
You know, a card catalog would make a *perfect* jewelry cabinet. Hmm....
I like old card catalogues. If I had one I could put a few skeins of yarn in each drawer ;)
Actress Morgan Fairchild uses a card catalog cabinet to store her very large collection of jewelry.
How sad to see what was probably a lovely original wood finish irretrievably obliterated. Every last bit of patina and character is gone.