Bedknobs and Broomsticks. No, Actually . . . Bedknobs and Doorknobs!

In That Old House, I find magic in something as simple as the doorknobs, all of them worn smooth from the touches of so many, many hands.

The doors mostly have black or white porcelain in the "newer" part of the house, built in the 1880s, and the original iron rimlocks work pretty well, although we don't lock them; no keys!


This closet door is in the yellow guest room. I'm not sure what the knob is made of. Brass? Some sort of metal, but I can't tell what. Where's a magnet when you need one? The back of the knob is a simple brass lever.

In the ca. 1830s section, the doorknobs are a beautiful tortoiseshell-look design, of some sort of porcelain or glass -- deeply swirled -- and the black iron rimlocks are larger on these older doors:


This one, above, is on the door at the foot of our attic stairs. Such a beautiful doorknob -- it is like sculpture -- and it seems wasted on the seldom-used attic stairs. I guess 176 years ago, these knobs were commonplace.

Years ago, someone got tired of the common tortiseshell knobs, and replaced them with spiffier numbers on the door into the pink guest room. On the hall side, an old porcelain rose-painted knob, the design on its edges worn nearly off by decades of hands. On the other side of this door, a lovely, simple glass knob.

A small brass knob at the top of the cellar stairs is worn and dented by long years of use. (We haven't painted here yet. Don't look!)
The cellar door is cleverly made; if you open it fully, it will also latch across the back of the center hall. An early means of energy conservation. No one lived "greener" lives than people long ago.

More knobs... here's a tiny white one, on an old window lock upstairs in the pink guest room. Can you see that the window glass is fun-house wavy? No, guess not, espescially with the screen in the way.


And about those bedknobs . . . this bed is in the yellow guest room. It's low post and hand turned. Each of the posts is very slightly different in size from its peers. We have had this bed for 30 years, since we lived in Pittsburgh and were lucky enough to know some fine antiques dealers.

This bedknob is harder to photograph. Too tall. It's a rice-carved 4-poster in the pink guest room. It's perhaps 30 years old, and was one of my recent Craigslist bargains. It's got enough age to look interesting, but it's not at all an antique. It would look gorgeous painted old white, but I don't have the nerve to do that.

So now you know we have guest rooms. And for our guests, a door bell, on the front porch next to the door:

Now that is a real door bell. I love how someone added washers under the screws. There must have been a whole lot of door-bell-ringing once upon a time, to loosen them!

If you visit, ring loudly and often. . . . and here's the door we'll open for you, with its old brass doorknob. At least, I think it is brass. Where is that magnet?

A Tale of Three Bargains for Three or More Tuesday!

It is Three Or More Tuesday, hosted by Tam at The Gypsy's Corner. Visit her here:

The Gypsy's Corner: Three Or More on a new day and a Surprise!!!


This is my tale of acquiring three things I am proud to have found at what I think are rock-bottom prices. Including free.

This house is larger than our last. What was enough furniture for our sweet brick Craftsman was not enough for That Old House! We needed furniture, and it's lucky we like things old.

So first goal -- a breakfront. A big breakfront, to hold china and stemware and all sorts of stuff. I searched Ebay and Craigslist until I found two I liked.

The Ebay item had an opening bid of 800-dollars. Ouch. I liked it, but I don't like anything that much! Lucky for me, it didn't sell. It didn't sell on its next go-round either. Nor the next. Finally, I bid when it reached an opening of $200.00. And that's what we paid:


My husband and a friend from work, Andy, picked it up at its East Side Manhattan location, and brought it to That Old House.

I won't describe how hard it was for them to get it down our old stone steps and into the house, because mostly I had my eyes closed and pretty much only heard some cussing and occasional yelps of pain.

It's by Saginaw Furniture, and it's big and it's pine, unusual because most breakfronts of its style and manufacture are mahogany. I think the pine goes well with the old floors in the dining room. That middle drawer folds down into a butler's desk, with little cubbies and things. The butler didn't come with it.

Another breakfront, smaller, and mahogany, beckoned from Craigslist:


It was the last item being sold in an estate sale, and there were no takers. I communicated -- a lot -- with the nephew handling the sale. I couldn't pay the $400 he was asking, it was more than my self-imposed limit. And after all, I already had a breakfront, and two is one too many.

But we chatted, and I told him about our old house, and he finally said, "No one else wants this, and my aunt loved it. You take it. I know you will give it a good home." I protested, as I felt very awkward about this -- it had never been my intent to get it for free.

However, he was ready to call the junkman, and the piece would end up in a landfull. So, we took it.

I need to work on placing items on the shelves and on top -- it's all rather haphazard now -- but it's a sweet, compact piece. It likes living in our parlor, I think. And we have indeed given it a good home! It, too, has a butler's desk hidden behind that middle drawer. We have two breakfronts with butler's desks, and a butler's pantry now. All we need is the butler. Ummm... yeah.

The third treasure is another Craigslist discovery. I saw an ad for a needlepoint chair from a seller in a posh neighborhood nearby. I went, I saw, I loved, and I offered less than the asking price. I got it: $100.




















It's in excellent vintage condition, lovely crisp carved frame, pristine needlepoint, and it is solid and sturdy and clean. The colors set the palette for the guest room.

I visit in that corner of this guest room nearly every morning, before going downstairs... just sit in the lovely old blue chair and spend a few moments, thinking. It's a peaceful room.

I'd already painted the walls Benjamin Moore's Cornsilk, a lovely soft yellow, but the blue and peachy-rose of the chair gave me my accent colors. Serendipity.

And the picture, above, was taken Sunday at a Judy Collins concert. See the little "Annie" at the upper right hand corner? That's my daughter! She is part of a singing group at Ramapo College -- CantaNova -- and they sang back-up for Judy Collins at her two New Jersey concerts. Sorry, that's not three of anything for this Tuesday, but it's one big Mama brag. Ms. Collins was amazing, and so was CantaNova (of course!).

Master Bedroom Metamorphosis, Part One

(I am participating in Metamorphosis Monday with this post, even though it was written on Saturday! (Is that cheating?) Thanks to Cindy at Applestone Cottage for her encouragement! You can find other Monday Metamorphosis stories at
BETWEEN NAPS ON THE PORCH: Welcome to the Fourth Metamorphosis Monday! Many thanks to Susan for hosting!)
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When you buy an old house, you usually buy a whole load of ... shall we say "unique" decorating? Take our Master Bedroom ("Please!" as Henny Youngman used to say).

Below, "before" and "after" pictures:The stripey wallpaper in this bedroom made me dizzy, and since we'd chosen this room to be the master, that was not A Good Thing. I felt as if I were going to tip over when I looked at it. It was really the oddest effect. The vertigo-inducing stripes had to go.
Built-ins are lovely, but this one (above) was an exception. It was built across a door into a walk-in closet. To get to the closet, you had to go out into the hallway. Go figure.

A hundred years ago, that closet probably had a different function. It is large enough that it could have been a sewing room, a nursery, even a box room. (Houses should still have box rooms; how lovely to have a room piled with boxes, for which you needn't apologize!)
Work in progress. The painters have stripped off the wallpaper, bless their hearts, and I no longer get dizzy when I enter the room. However, removing the paper reveals some fairly funky areas of old plaster.

Again, painters to the rescue. They work on the walls -- a lot -- and then cover them in a tinted-to-match oil primer, and then, it's more work, and plaster repair. Gapping moldings are caulked, and the old, odd built-in cupboard is removed. We find out we can't use the old door as it won't fit properly in the opening, so there is no door on the closet. It is an old house; we are not surprised.
Interesting effect, no?
Ah, the light at the end of the tunnel (below). Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue (HC-144) covers walls, which have been restored but not made perfect; we don't want our walls looking new! Like us, they wear their years with pride. (Or so I tell myself.)
This room is directly above the dining room that's featured in previous blog posts; same triple windows, same bay.
Oh my, those windows are dirty! Oops. Look instead at the lovely blue walls and crisp white woodwork.
And there we have it, the metamorphosis of the master bedroom at That Old House, Part One. I have to start sewing for this room, too. I bought a wonderful Greef/Schumacher cotton and can't wait to make the curtains, and I think perhaps a dust ruffle for the bed.

For home dec fabrics, I heartily recommend www.fabricguru.com for their amazing selection, cheap shipping, and really really good prices. I love a bargain! I paid less than $4.00 a yard for the Greef cotton, a teeny fraction of its original price, and it is first quality.

Speaking of bargains, I found a rice carved mahogany 4-poster on Craigslist. Very cheap. I need a step stool to climb into it. I do love to recycle!

The Sweetest Words in the World Are. . .

. . . "Your Ebay Item Has Been Shipped."

Ah, sweet words indeed. Right now I am awaiting delivery of a package of dandy newfangled mirror hangers, meant for big mirrors. Big mirrors are what I need to hang.
One gorgeous monster (above, standing on end) will hang over the old marble-top buffet in the dining room. The mirror is ginormous, so I am grateful for these nifty mirror hangers, which allegedly can support about 786.8 pounds. About.

Probably mid-20th century, the mirror has a cast brass frame with lovely patina, and just enough age on the glass to look at home in a 19th century room.

It's a little out of character for me, all this folderol in the dining room -- the marble topped buffet, the crystal chandelier, the elaborate old mirror. I used to be more of a purist, more fond of pewter than silver, more likely to go for the "period" and pure in decorating. This old house has transformed me, forcing me to indulge in some house bling!

I always obey the house. It's much more fun, and you have someone else to blame.
"I'm sorry, but the house made me do it...."

(Above, the buffet, and the mirror standing to the left. We have already marked the locations of 3 wall studs but I'm a little nervous about hanging this behemoth!)

I think the mirror's brass frame will look good with the old brass pulls, don't you?

Our other big mirror is not as massive, nor as old, nor as interesting, but it's crystal clear, true and perfect glass. That's important, as it is destined for the upstairs hall bath, replacing the current un-lovely and un-loved oak medicine cabinet.


Meanwhile, this second mirror rests on our parlor mantel until our mirror hangers arrive.

Someday I want a round, preferably convex, old mirror over the fireplace, but a bargain one has so far eluded me. I will improvise until I find the mirror that proclaims, "I'm it!"

I will keep looking. The two big mirrors, and the old buffet in the dining room, were all great and cheap Craigslist finds.

Hooray for going Green and recycling household treasures!
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Happy Birthday to my darling daughter, Alida Rose. 23 years old today; how did that happen?

Happy Birthday(s)

It is Howard's birthday today. My dear husband is now 57, and for 30-1/2 of those years he's been shackled to the slightly loony woman who is me.

I am very blessed; he is the best of husbands, and the best of dads to our two daughters. Cupid had his game on, big time, in 1978.

Happy Birthday, Howard. I love you.

Tomorrow: daughter Alida turns 23. How did I get such old kids?

Dining Rooms and Draperies and Decisions, Oh My!

Once upon a time we bought an old house; among its charms was a dining room of gracious proportions and great possibilities. That was eleven months ago, and the dining room is still an unfinished work.

Below, early days. Walls a sort of pinky-beige, overprinted with a stamped design, with deep maroon woodwork and heavy curtains. There's a patch of test paint; I really wanted this room yellow, but the room just wouldn't cooperate.

It insisted on being painted red. I chose Benjamin Moore "Tuscan Red," blissfully unaware that the color is actually "Tucson Red" (#1300) until daughter Anne told me.

Kids are useful. They are very good at pointing out our mistakes.

Painting progress, below. Tinted oil primer, and lots of plaster wounds being repaired. We used professional painters, first time ever, and they were good. Bless their hearts.

Jump ahead a couple of months, to May of 2008, and we are moving in: boxes everywhere,
and swatches of possible drapery fabrics blue-taped up on the window moldings.

The room's breakfront is an Ebay find, and I learned a valuable lesson -- never bid on two similar things at once, no matter how much you need furniture, because you may end up with One Breakfront Too Many.

The former chandelier was perfectly fine -- a rusty finish and opalescent glass shades --
but the room said it wanted crystal. Swarovski crystal (well, I wanted Swarovski; it's so sparkly).
As usual, I obeyed the house.

I found this crystal chandelier online, and am still somewhat startled by its size and brilliance when lit, but it's become a member of the family. The old fixture is looking for a new home.

A few months ago, and things still all a mish-mash, the front hall and parlor still full of boxes. That's an old buffet (above) -- a Craigslist treasure -- with a lovely old marble top. It critically needed refinishing and repair, and again I used a pro. Getting lazy in my old age.
No rug, no curtains. But progress goes on....
Voila! A rug, switched from our study, and what appear to be draperies. Ha. Fooled you. We installed drapery rods and, the night before Thanksgiving, my girls and I cut 9-foot lengths of fabric and lining and just clipped the raw fabric to the curtain rings.
I blush to admit that the fabric panels are still there. No proper draperies yet. And I can't make up my mind. . . .

I have the gold-colored "faux" silk (budget doesn't run to the real stuff!), which is hanging there temporarily and goes well with the rug (which is reds and olives and golds), but I also have the same fabric in a beautiful red which is a spot-on match for the walls of Tucson Red.
We are having a House Blessing party on March 14, and I want something at my windows by then, so (left) is a picture of both colors of fabric. I am leaning toward using the red, perhaps because I am so tickled that it is such a good match to the paint. Annie says the gold is best, for a bit of contrast.

(The red fabric is still uncut, and is just tossed over the drapery rod!)

Which color?
What do you think?

My sewing machine awaits!