Archive for the ‘hardware’ Category

Antique Door Knockers

Friday, December 17th, 2010

If you are looking for antique door knockers, you may be able to find some that go way back, because door knocker, or rings to open the doors, have been in use since the Renaissance at least. Whether you can find something that old is problematic, as metal gets recycled, but you should be able to find antique door knockers at least 100 years old. Talk to your local antique dealers and let them know you are interested, and you probably hear from them fairly soon.

The antique door knockers may be made of iron, or may be brass door knockers. The brass door knocker may not impress you, as it will be oxidized, but talk to tan antique dealer before you clean it. It may lose value if you clean it, many metal objects do. If you really want a shine brass door knocker, but a new Baldwin door knocker and collect the antique ones as objects of interest instead of objects intended to be used.

Antique door knockers will have many forms, including the lion door knocker and the doctor door knocker. The first establishes the lineage of the owner, while the second let people know the profession of the door owner. Other door knockers come in various other motifs, like anchors or sailing ships for the nautical, woodpeckers for the naturalist and other shapes. Generic door knockers of the past include a hand holding a ball as the striker, or a plain ball. Some door knockers are one piece, but there are other that the striker and the strike plate are separate.

For new door knockers, the current favorite maker is Baldwin door knockers. This company produces a number of shape in several metals or metallic finishes. You should be able to find a door knocker to match you door hardware.

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A Wire Rack

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

There is often a wire rack storage solution to any storage problem. If you need something to hold items that are awkwardly shaped, like the lids to pots and pans, there is a wire track to do that. If you need to divide a long shelf vertically to keep things from migrating along the shelf, there is a wire rack for that. Have a wall shelf in the laundry room, with space below is that is unused, there is a below-shelf wire bin to make that space useful.

Wire racks can be used to hold bottles of wine, neck down as preferred, in your kitchen or on your bar. There are wire racks to hold the boxes of foil and cling wrap in non-drawer spaces and neatly. There are wire racks to double your shelf space where short items are common and the shelves are tall and nonadjustable. There are wire racks to allow you to stack china more efficiently in cabinets.

In the garage, there are wire shelving racks for holding camping gear, outdoor tools and boxes and bags of materials. There are wire racks to hang your bicycles from a rafter and out of the way when not in use. There are wire racks to hold tools, ready for use.

In the bathroom, wire racks can hold extra towels in view and ready to use without adding another surface to keep clean. A wire rack may hold extra toilet paper rolls conveniently in reach of the person who needs them. Wire racks may hold your hair blower on the wall and off of the counter. A wire rack mounted on the inside of a cabinet door may hold cleaning supplies.

There are many wire racks designed to solve your storage problems. Look at home, storage or kitchen stores and in mail order catalogs and you will find how many there are.

Watch for other American collectibles in your everyday travels.

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Door Knockers

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Have a door knockers on your front door? If so, you know how much class a door knocker can add to the impression a nice front door can add to your house. Door knockers, generally a once in a lifetime purchase, can sometimes be used to indicate your interests in life. A sail boat, anchor or eagle door knocker can signify to the person outside the door your nationality (eagle – US), your branch of service (anchor – navy) or your hobby (sail boat – sailing).

Usually made of metal, door knockers require two active parts, the striker and the strike plate, and generally are made with a body that connects these two parts so that the door knocker is actually one piece. The striker is usually hinged, and when lifted and released, hits the strike plate to make the door thump (or boom, depending).

You may buy your own door knocker, or it may come to you as a family heirloom or gift. A door knocker makes an unusual gift for the first-time home owner, and one they will take to subsequent houses. Sneak a peek at the door hardware to get an idea of whether the door knocker should be shiny brass or a darker, less obvious metal. You do not have to exactly match the door knob and locks, as the door knocker is usually placed a little distance from these other pieces of hardware.

If the recipient is into antiques, it should be easy to find an older door knocker to give them, as this is one piece of material culture that does not wear out. Probably every door knocker ever made is still in existence unless it has been claimed for recycling. Which means we should all have a couple of dozen to our names, except that door knockers do get recycled, especially during wars or hard times. So cherish your door knocker, and pass it on.

Other American collectibles are discussed in the American Collectibles Guide.

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Shelf Brackets

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Whether wood or metal, shelf brackets can really add class to a set of hanging shelves. Although the modern look is minimal or invisible shelf brackets, the older styles give the shelves more style and a touch of the past.

Wood shelf brackets are an easy wood working project is you have the equipment. Plans and patterns can be found in wood working books and magazines, and the wooden shelf brackets can be stained the same color as the shelves, or a different color to highlight their presence.

Metal shelf brackets are made by one of two methods, casting or smithing. Although wrought iron sounds like is it smithed, it is actually cast. Aluminum can also be cast to form shelf brackets, but the maximum load for the shelves will be lower for aluminum shelf brackets than cast iron brackets. Smithed shelf brackets use bar stock, with on piece forming the 90 degree angle and one or more brace pieces welded between the arms. A master smith will be able to make curled and twisted braces to embellish the otherwise plain smithed shelf brackets.

Cast shelf brackets can be as fancy as any model can be formed out of wax and a mold made of it. Frequently the right angle is bar stock bent to 90 degrees, and the molded brace attached to it after it has been finished. The molten metal is poured in the mold, which can be one piece if the decoration is only on one side, or into a two part mold if both sides of the brace are to be molded. One the metal cools, the mold is removed and the brace ground to remove rough places and sprues than ensure the mold fills completely. One ready, the brace is attached to the angle piece and the shelf bracket is ready to use.

The old styles of shelf brackets are not only more ornate than modern shelf supports, they are a nice visual component of the room they are used in. Whether vines and leaves or a geometric design, they provide a counterpoint to the shelf and its contents. Consider wall mounted shelves in your next decorating project. You will be surprised at how they dress up plain shelves.

More ideas about American collectibles are discussed in the American Collectibles Guide.

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Drawer Pulls

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Ever have a drawer pull come off in your hand when you were trying to open the drawer? Short of the drawer being locked, this is actually an unusual occurrence, because drawer pulls usually give you plenty of warning that they are about to fail. Unless you are Hulk Hogan and do not moderate your strength when dealing with furniture or cabinets, you should not pull the drawer knob off the drawer. Drawers pulls are really good about this.

If your drawer pull is going to come off, usually it will become loose and wobbly months or years before it actually gives way. Each time you use the drawer pull and it moves in your hand, it is telling you to find a screw driver and tighten the screw that holds it to the drawer front. So, do it. This is not rocket science. If the drawer pull is unusual and connects to the drawer front in some other way, it will still probably warn you that it is about to fail. Pay attention, and tend to the matter before actual failure occurs. Not that you can’t get the drawer open some other way, but it is a nuisance to not be able to open the drawer when you want with just a simple pull.

Have drawers with no visible drawer pulls? These can be modified to use drawer pulls by simply boring a one or two holes into the drawer front and screwing in a drawer pull. However, furniture without drawer pulls is usually made of fine wood and is designed not to have drawer pulls in order to emphasize the beauty of the wood. So consider carefully before making holes in the drawer fronts for drawer pulls. Then, if you decide to do it anyway, get your drawer pulls and carefully measure where the holes should be. This is not the time to make a mistake and end up with twice as many holes as needed for the drawer pulls, ruining the front of the drawers.

So, carefully examine your choices among antique drawer pulls, glass drawer pulls, brass drawer pulls and others, and change out the drawer pulls in your life before the old ones come off in your hand. And look out for other American collectibles in your life.

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Plate Racks

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

A good plate rack can make the plates in it look better and provide a decorative focal point in any room of your house. Even the masculine rooms can be decorated with black wrought iron plate racks with hunting dogs or leaping sport fish plates. The only limit is your imagination and the styles of plate racks you can find.

Usually made of wood or metal, plate racks usually have as little weight as needed to keep their strength. In other words, instead of full backs and shelves, the wood will be cut decoratively, to reduce the weight of the rack. Metal racks will be designed to provide security to the plates, but no extra metal is included. Even so, rack and plates can add up to considerable weight when hung, so you need to anchor the plate rack in a stud.

Plate racks can be designed to hang vertically or horizontally, and some can go either way. They usually hold two or three plates, but there are plate racks that hold more plates. Plate racks show up in home stores, craft stores and hardware stores on occasion. If you see one you really, really like, buy it immediately, or you will miss it. There are not that many plate racks on offer as it is. You may be able to talk a handy friend into making you some if you come up with a pattern.

Plate racks, with plates, make very apropos decoration in the kitchen or breakfast nook. Use plates with simpler motifs and bright colors in this case, and plate racks with simple lines. Plate racks in a dining room should be more elegant, as should the plates on display. Match the plate rack and plates to the room they hand in and they will provide a pleasant experience to occupant and visitor alike.

Learn about other porcelain collectibles.

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Bathroom Storage

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Considering bathroom storage? First you need to consider what has to be stored:

  • plumbing/fix-it products and tools
  • bathing items like towels, soap, shampoo, etc.
  • dirty clothes
  • paper products
  • cleaning supplies
  • personal daily and weekly grooming products and beauty supplies
  • the I’m-sick equipment: heating pad, ice bag, cough and cold medicine
  • first aid supplies like bandaids and bandages, Neosporin ™ and hydrogen peroxide, etc.
  • perhaps the other linens: sheets, blankets, bed spreads not in use

    There can be quite a few things you expect to store in your bathroom. So, where can you put it all? Well, if there is a linen closet, that will take care of the linens, and with any luck the dirty clothes can be put in a hamper in the bottom of the linen closet. There is the space in the sink cabinet, if you do not have a pedestal sink. (Storage loss is one drawback to a pedestal sink.)

    The medicine cabinet is good for small things, like some of the I’m-sick and first-aid items. It usually also becomes a repository of things linked to past conditions, like ear wax removers and sunscreen. Remember to go though it occasionally and toss the decrepit and dead.

    Cabinets can be hung on other walls where there is room. They may not be as shallow as the medicine cabinet, but they should be relatively shallow, since most bathrooms have little enough space as it is. There are cabinets on spring poles, like the old pole lamps, that can be placed over the commode. Small hanging racks for in-tub storage is available for in-use products.

    The linen closet, if there, and the sink cabinet, if there, are going to be your major storage areas in the bathroom. If you are looking for a new residence, or thinking about remodeling your current one, give bathroom storage real consideration so you have space to store those things that you need in the bath.

    Personal management includes making the most of your time, space and energy. See more at the Personal Management Guide.

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    Cabinet Pulls

    Sunday, June 27th, 2010

    Behold the simple cabinet pull. A plain knob of brass, glass, ceramic, or wood, or a fancier form, like a butterfly, sun, moon, or star. The variety available is enormous, such that you can have a different one for each cabinet door or drawer, kitchen, bath and all the other rooms in the house. You may not have enough doors and drawers to accommodate this American collectible.

    For the conservative, who may want matching cabinet pulls, there is always the choice to buy many of the same shape and material. Even here, there are a lot of choices: various woods, various metals, glass or ceramic. The choice of shape is a simple knob or a two anchor point handle. For period furniture, there are hinged handles. (Do not replace the hardware on antique or potentially antique furniture unless absolutely necessary, and save the old ones. Consult a furniture expert before you refinish or make any other changes as well.)

    There are cabinets that do not need cabinet pulls, and are specifically designed for the plain surface this design allows. They may have recessed finger pulls or use a push-on magnet closure to provide access to the interior of the cabinet. But most cabinets need pulls, and the small addition of a pull adds interest to the cabinets. Cabinet pulls are like room jewelry, adding little touches of blink or color to somewhat sedate environments.

    So, where do you look for cabinet pulls? Hardware and home improvement stores will have quite a few choices of cabinet pulls with reasonable prices. Finish-you-own furniture stores may have options available besides the knob that come with the furniture. Remodelling stores for kitchen and/or bath will have many examples available to see and touch, and catalogs and brochures with more options. Interior decorators will access to cabinet pull catalogs and brochures as well.

    Building salvage businesses will have cabinet pulls that may not be available in the usual stores, as well as antique stores and flea markets. In the case of used cabinet pulls, you should plan on not finding matching knobs elsewhere, and on only having the ones you find at the first place. You may luck into matching cabinet pulls elsewhere, but it is far from a sure thing, so be aware. Restoration stores and catalogs will have old style cabinet pulls that are being made again, and may be a source for matching pulls for the ones you get used.

    New cabinet pulls can make a big difference in the look of a kitchen, bath or any piece of furniture that uses them. Look around to see what available, and then look at your environment. Where can a change of cabinet pulls help liven up your space?

    Watch for other American collectibles in your everyday travels.

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