Vintage Soapstone and Brass Table and How I’m Styling It

My thrifting radar must have been working perfectly a couple of weeks ago, when I had a feeling that I should stop in at my local overpriced thrift store, because while there, I found the greatest side table – a vintage soapstone and brass table.

Here’s the juicy story:

At first, I was sure my eyes were failing me (again) when I glanced at the price tag. The award for living to middle age is your eyes struggle to see small print, but your hindsight is 20/20.

But sure enough, after triple-checking, the price on the tag was $20. Twenty. Dollars. I can’t even buy a small stone cutting board for $20.

I picked the table up to see if it indeed had a metal base. Ooph. That sucker was heavy. And wobbly. The top wobbled. The legs wobbled. It looked a little off-kilter. Honestly, it felt like we had a lot in common.

I looked around to see if anyone else was in this section of the store. The coast was clear, but I didn’t trust some eagle-eyed shopper who could spot a find from three aisles away not to swoop in and poach my table. Thrifting can be a little like the ‘Hunger Games’…at least, in my imagination.

With that in mind, I picked up that table and awkwardly lugged it to the checkout counter. I didn’t stop to see what else might be in the store or ask the clerk to hold my find. This was a “pay for my prize before the manager notices it was mispriced” kind of operation.

The door to the store hadn’t even shut behind me before a giddy, unhinged giggle bubbled up out of me. I could not believe my luck. The HIGH, I tell you. Is this what drugs feel like?

Here’s how I’m making this table mine:

So, the bad news is that the table legs are heavily patinaed and pitted in some areas. I attempted to clean them up with a variety of internet-suggested products and techniques. Attempted is the operative word in that sentence. While the internet might have lied, it is more likely that I don’t have the personality or patience for this type of detailed work.

The bar was low, but the bottom line is that the table is cleaner than when I found it.

It might not look better, though, and that’s likely not my fault. My understanding is that brass is often plated over copper or some other metal. There are a couple of spots where, after cleaning, I could see a copper color peaking through. So, the table probably just needs to be replated.

Think I can get that done for twenty bucks?

Yeah. Probably not.

The good news is that the table legs were only wobbly because they weren’t screwed on tight. One of the table legs doesn’t seem to want to stay tight, but that’s fixable.

None of this deters my love for the table. I live in a very old house. Nothing is overly precious, and patina is to be expected around here. Between you and me, it takes the pressure off.

I decided to leave the soapstone top on the table for now. I’m 99% sure it is soapstone and 100% sure it’s not the original top for this brass table. However, the color works really well on our sunporch, which has a black floor.

Now, onto the styling portion of this blog post. (Finally.)

I just realized that the title of this blog post is missing a word. It should have read “Vintage Soapstone and Brass Table and How I’m NOT Styling It.” My apologies.

To clarify, even though the pictures suggest differently, I am not styling this table with fresh tulips and a glass of lemonade all the time because, frankly, that would be ridiculous.

Plus, I drank all the lemonade.

I am going to keep the table on our sunporch for now. I’d like to fancy up the sunporch, and a vintage soapstone and brass table seems like a baby step in that direction.

What’s next? Well, it won’t be a fancier couch. I can tell you that. New Jersey has two seasons. There’s deck season or sunporch season, and we move the outdoor sofa between the sunporch and the deck depending on the time of the year. It maximizes our use of our sofa and minimizes the amount of furniture we need to store or cover.

I am brainstorming different ways of displaying or styling all of the plants that I overwinter on the sunporch. It’s a bit hodgepodge right now, and if I put it out into the universe that I’m looking for a solution, who knows what it will eventually serve up. I’m content to let this play out without a timeline in mind.

What do you think of my vintage soapstone and brass table? Have you scored anything that made you giggle with glee?

Let me know. Comments are like deals at a thrift store. They make me smile. You can comment on this blog post, email me here, or reach out via direct message on Instagram or Facebook.

Happy Thrifting!

P.S. Pretty much the only thing that is new in this room is the outdoor sofa. We’ve had it since 2023, and it still looks great. It lives outside for six months of the year, and we do cover it when it rains.