Thrift Store Finds: the Brass Sink Edition

I bought a sink. Perhaps I have reached a whole new level of hoarding since I now own both a chandelier and a sink, yet live in a teeny tiny apartment. But I don't care because this sink is awesome and you won't believe the great deal I got.

Isn't it beautiful?! It is solid brass and I only paid $30! The insides might need some reworking, but it is still a great deal even with paying for handyman labor. By the way, a quick thrifting technique to see if something is brass or just brass plated is to carry a magnet around with you. If the magnate sticks to the object, it just has brass plate and has been filled with some other metal. Brass isn't magnetic. I didn't have a magnet on me, but the Habitat employee name tags have one piece that is magnetic so I swiped one for a quick test.

It was originally attached to this piece of furniture. It is very pretty, but I didn't love it. Fortunately a friend wanted the base but wasn't crazy about the sink so we struck a deal and split it apart right in the store. J borrowed a cordless drill from one of my Habitat friends to unscrew the top from the wood base. We ended up with the countertop because the brass pieces were attached and we had done enough demo in Habitat for one day. Fortunately my friend had been planning on replacing the top anyway so there was no issue. You can see how damaged the top is in the first picture. We aren't entirely sure what it is made of or how to restore it.

Something to note: apparently the EPA doesn't allow places like Habitat to sell faucets because people might use them for drinking water. I'm not clear on the exact details but it is something to keep in mind while thrifting. I got lucky because, like I said, the faucet was solidly attached to the top so it had to come home with me. Thank goodness! It would have been a tragedy for this awesome faucet to be tossed. And J was able to separate all the brass fixtures from the top later. That is the story of how I came to own a sink yet no house.

Want to see more thrift store finds? We have a whole category just for that! We would love to see your finds, so feel free to share in the comments section. Or holler at us on twitter or instagram and hashtag it #ThriftStoreFinds.