Guest Cottage Interior Door Hardware

My contractor was able to locate three old doors for the interior of the guest cottage.
But only this one was sporting old hardware, which meant that we had to come up with working vintage options for the other two doors.

 I sifted through my dwindling stash of vintage hardware

and found two pairs of backplates which helped.

And we found the doorknobs at a favorite antiques store.

Everything came together beautifully.

The crystal knobs grace the bathroom door.

Rusty Junk From The Old Barn Site

The past few days I have been working at clearing melted glass and metal from an old barn sight on our property.  The barn burned in 2000. I would have loved to have seen it.  All that is left now is a crumbling stone foundation.  And melted rubble.  Mostly glass.  And a bunch of it.  I have been staring at it for two years wondering how we were going to get rid of it.  To simplify a complicated explanation -- we can't put it in our trash can.

(Hand forged hinge.)

When our contractor said he was going to refill the dirt around the foundation of the guest cottage sometime this week, a thought occurred to me.  It is very close to the old barn site.

I could just toss in the broken glass right next to the foundation before it was back filled  with dirt (mostly rock).   The mess of glass and metal will rest securely about two feet underground and not pose a danger to anyone.

(Do you see a potential candlestick here?)

The plan sounded so easy...rake up chunks of glass and metal bits into a dustpan and throw it in the trough next to the foundation.  Repeat. I worked at it about four hours the first day.  My body let me know that night that I could not keep up the pace.  So I have been working at it about two hours a day since.

This Victorian hinge and the doorknob help make a case that

there was a house on the property before our 1933 house was built.

The broken horse bit probably is civil war era.

All of the rusty license plates on my shop door

came from this site.  I found about 10 more this week,

but all in worse condition than these.

And my prize find.  

A super old license plate that went on the chicken coop door.

Door Hardware From The CityWide

This is my favorite type of vintage door hardware --

victorian aesthetic (cool designs in what is usually brass).

It sells well too, especially when you have six matching.

Sold all for $36.

After I took this photo, I found four more.

Sold all for $23.

I had never seen such an ornate mortise lock.

And the locking mechanism still works.

All came from the citywide stash last weekend that my

husband picked up.  All going on ebay.

"Convex & Concave"

Victorian Antique Door Bell Ringer

The first time I ever saw one of these I fell in love -- that was over two decades ago.  Wouldn't it have been nice if  our Victorian house would have  had a door ringer like that?  I came home from my road trip and checked -- a filled-hole smack in the center where a ringer would have been.  So, I am convinced that once upon a time our house did have said door ringer.

I priced them on ebay.  Out of my price range.  I wanted an authentic one.  About five years ago I came across most of the ringer pieces at an auction.  I bought the ringer at a decent price, but knew I needed someone handy to work on it.

That is where my brother came in.  I sent the ringer to him a few months ago to work on.  And this week he was passing through long enough to install!!  This was item on my house "to do" list.  I feel like this house has wanted it's house ringer replaced for a long time.

 The brass eastlake motif of the bell .... 

blends seamlessly with the existing eastlake hardware,

that has been on the front door for 120 years.

It seems like a sweet farewell gift to our house.

Last Weekend's Vintage Finds

All of these items came from one garage sale and an hour at an auction:

I generally have a hard time selling middle of the road glass light fixture shades.  But there was a stack of  FIVE at the garage sale for $1.  I ought to be able to make some money off of those.  Love the art deco one in the center.

I got this great set of eastlake brass door hardware, one of my faves to put on ebay.

Paid $3 for all, sold on ebay for $47.

I bought 13 porch posts, for $5. 

 I am trying to buy things that guarantee a profit.

Sold for $29.

Two old windows, always a guaranteed seller.

Paid $1 each.

Metal porch swing -- paid $8. You will have to picture it right side up, sandblasted, painted, and hanging on a porch somewhere in the Ozarks.  UPDATE:  Not just "somewhere" in the Ozarks, but on my own front porch. 

These two porcelain light fixtures came from the auction.  

 They will end up on ebay.

Giant Junk Clock

I don't know where I picked up the round piece.  I am sure I was thinking of it as a table-top.  It had a great weathered look, but one piece was broken off...so it sat around in my "to do" pile for quite a while.

Even after I decided to make it a "junk clock", it took awhile to think through it.  So meanwhile I stained each piece a different shade.  Then it sat for awhile again.  My rusty junk box was very low, so I had to wait for some interesting hardware to come my way.

As soon as I saw the hinges at an auction, I liked them right away. I liked the variety, and could picture how they would look on the clock. And I added the 3 & 9 just to break things up a bit.

So far everything was cheap or free.  Short rejoicing.  I priced clock works at Hobby Lobby -- $15-$20.  I ended up buying it off of ebay for $13.  Then I needed to make a circle hole in the back to place the works -- I needed a special $17 drill bit for that.  So, it was at least a $30 investment -- which hurts my chintzy little heart.

Three Vintage Find "Upcycles"

I am being super selective in what I purchase for resale.  One of the things on my "do-not-buy list" is "project" pieces.  You know --  the ones that take more time than they are worth. But sometimes I am sorely tempted, and I give in...

 Like this cute little vintage wooden wheelbarrow.

Great colors, just missing...a whole side!

I decided the best option was to make it looked "patched"

rather than "matched".

 100 year old hooks...but on ugly boards.

I had some extra baseboard leftover from my

kitchen floor makeover (see post here) .

I like the vintage look of the hooks and baseboard together.

 We recently bought a single old drawer for the two great pulls
that were on it, which we sold on ebay.

That left the drawer itself...

 The drawer had this great wainscoting on the bottom.

Well, you just can't put that out on the curb...

 I trimmed off the drawer "lip" that made it sit ascew.
I added the shelf.
Then a little painting and distressing.

 Old drawer upcycled into small shelf.

Monthly Tiny Town Auction Finds 5.26.2017

The last Friday evening of every month this tiny town has an auction.  Not to be confused with their weekly Saturday morning auctions (usually the last wrung of the junk ladder).  The monthly auction is junk a wrung or two above that.

So we went to the once-a-month auction last Friday night.  It was hot, so I gave my husband the list for the outdoor stuff (they ran two lines) and sat in the air conditioning being entertained by people paying way too much in the air conditioning.  So here is what we came home with:

Cream Separator & Wash Tub

Washtub was purchased for $20, sold for $55.

Blue Mason Jars

White Dishes.

Some ironstone.  Some old.  Some new.

Some to keep.  Some to sell.

Eastlake Drawer Pulls

1940s Oil Can
Purchased for $25, sold for $50.

Saturday's Vintage Finds 5.13.2017

I went to several garage sales and about 2 hours of an auction last weekend.  I didn't bring home a ton, but I am trying to be particular.  Is it a great deal?  Will it sell for sure?  Will I make money?  Is it a project piece (the scourge of my life). Here are the highlights:

 Favorite first.  Italian sconce with porcelain flowers.

Paid $4, sold for $42 on ebay.

 Wooden foot locker.

Needs cleaning and maybe a couple of side handles.

Purchased for $4, sold for $34.

 Insulated metal box.

We speculated if it was an early ice chest...

 Then I read the residual tag on top.

It was used to ship baby fish.  How interesting!

And an eastlake victorian doorknob.

They always do well on ebay.

Saturday's Auction Vintage Finds 5.06.2017

 Location has never been simpler.  This auction was situated just kitty-corner to us.  I took this photo from my front yard.  Which means, no packing the van -- just some schlepping back home (about six trips with my utility wagon).

There were TONS of tools, so it took them most of the day to get to the "fun stuff".  I still had a case of "zombie auction brain" (hot and dehydrated) and missed some of the cool stuff, but managed to get a few things.  Primarily, yard decor.  When you have driven by that house as many times as I have, you've had a chance to mentally "shop" the yard a thousand times.

Red Wing Brushware planter.  I've sold a ton of these in my time.  I finally decided last year to start keeping them.  So I added the little one to my "collection".

Vintage Western Fabric -- Selling on ebay. Purchased for $4, sold for $20.

Two floor lamps.  I paid a whopping $1 each for them at the end of the auction.

Flower Cart

Victorian Eastlake Hinges -- selling on ebay.

Purchased for $4, sold for $46. 

Antique toy wagon -- also selling on ebay.