Door Knob Problem Solved- Yipee!

Remember last week when I blogged about my doorknob dilemma?  Well on Friday, I was beyond excited because I decided after much debate, to pull the trigger on a set of Victorian knobs from stiickaround on etsy!  I went back and forth on these for a bit because they are going to need some serious TLC/elbow grease to bring them back.  But just LOOK at the molded details on those puppies!  They are (1) the correct age, (2) pressed metal, (3) all matching and (4) will work with our doors.  Yessss!  Some of the knobs in the set are brass and some are copper.  Copper!

There are some plain knobs in there too- perfect for closets.  In fact, there are enough knobs in this bunch that I can redo every single one in my house.  Goodness gracious, I sure do derive a lot of pleasure from eradicating new fixtures from an old house!

I even found a resource for affordable reproduction rosettes that will fit the bill-- but first I'll have to clean these and see what the original finishes look like before I go ordering rosettes.  What a relief it is to have found something so perfect.  Fingers crossed they work as well as I think they will (I've already found some good tips online for cleaning copper and brass).  Let's take a moment to savor this.  Hello lovelies!

Got any fun projects in the works yourself?

Silhouettes Repurposed Yet Again

I am a lover of repurposing things I already own.  And I am a lover of antiques.  It just so happens that I have a small collection of silhouette pictures from my childhood, and I've always tried to find a place for them wherever I live.  It helps that silhouettes have been in vogue lately, but I would love them anyhow.  In our previous home, we decorated with them in our guest room:

Later when it became a nursery, I only had room for one, and we HAD to have ONE!

Well, in our new home, I was recently faced with a design challenge.  I needed something large-scale to hang above Claire's crib on the HUGE wall behind it.  We have luxiously high ceilings, and big spaces are nothing to complain about, but I'm not used to it yet!  And all my decor is small-scale because our first home was tiny.  So to address my wide open wall, I tried hanging a quilt above the bed but it just looked funny, and still didn't take up enough horizontal space.  I thought about buying a couple of big circus posters from Pottery Barn Kids too,

but of course this did not fit the "cheap or free" decorating mandate from my husband.  Which I am unfortunately forced to take seriously.  I started brainstorming... I do have lots and lots of fabric.  What if I framed it?  I've seen this done a thousand times on pinterest.

See http://pinterest.com/pin/64246732154433176/

See http://pinterest.com/pin/112871534380449830/

Brilliant!  I decided to go for it.  I hit up the Christmas Tree Shop (my favorite go-to place, you'll see I talk about it allllll the time) and scored these amazing weathered wood frames for $5.99 each (and I came armed with a 20% off coupon)!  Of course, I still needed to add more pink, so I picked up a spool of ribbon, thinking I might decorate the frames I bought.  And then it hit me-- I would "hang" the pictures using the ribbon, to bring in more pink and tie the look together.

Ta da!

I used pink and white polka dotted fabrics that had previously lived another life as a table cloth (speaking of repurposing), and the project took all of 5 minutes to assemble.  Not bad for $15 and some things I already had!  And by the way, I love instagram, and how it makes my iphone photos look artsy.  Now I just need a use for my other silhouettes...

Have you repurposed anything fun lately?

Vintage Door Knobs: Can-Do or Can of Worms?

Recently I purchased a lovely porcelain door knob from Ruby Lane, to use in my powder room.  You see, our home was built in 1904, but is almost entirely occupied by shiny gold, brass knobs circa 1990.  Not my personal favorite thing.  So back to this door knob I purchased.  It was in great shape with white porcelain knobs and the original porcelain rosettes (the pieces that go against the door and hold the knob- harder to find) and it was $20 which costs less than some new knobs you see at Home Depot.  I was proud of how thrifty I was being, and how true to the historic roots of my home.

The precious

The dream has died.  I discovered, much to my chagrin, that my antique doors had been drilled into, with big huge holes, to accommodate modern door knobs.  Thereby ruining my life.  Some people are so selfish.  I was very disappointed to learn this sad truth.  It means I can't just go buy vintage door knobs to swap out (like I had done in our previous home).  No, instead I have to find specially made rosettes which convert the modern bored hole into one that can hold a vintage door knob.  I am not the first person to come across this problem (see a very helpful post on the subject from The Brass Knob) but I may well be the most vocal.

The good news is, such rosettes are made by many companies.  My current favorite version is sold by House of Antique Hardware and is of course, about $20 a pop (at 2 per door, with 12 doors, you can see how this becomes a runaway cost train pretty quickly).  You can buy less pricey versions in polished brass, but that ain't gonna work- I want antique brass.  I need to find a more cost effective solution.

And then I need to find 12 doorknobs like these:

Source: Columbus Architectural Salvage

Drool.  Only, I need to do this project for a lot fewer dollars.  This is one itch that I may not be able to scratch right away.  My dad auctions off estates sometimes, so I may get lucky.  Or not.  Let the brainstorm begin (I welcome your suggestions!)