We've been on a DIY kick this week and we're showing no signs of stopping. We saw this vintage shelf with vintage doorknobs being used as hooks and thought--genius! Check out our favorite DIY projects that reuse vintage doorknobs after the jump.
This DIY shelf appears to be hanging in the bedroom. A place for the owner to hang coats and "in-between" clothes (those that are not quite dirty yet but aren't clean enough to mix back into the dresser drawer).
While the focus of this picture is the organizational doorknob bag, the vintage doorknob is what really catches our eye. Functioning as a place to hang a bag, this glass doorknob is attached to a weathered piece of wood. From what we can tell from the picture, the piece of wood is affixed to the brick wall or leaning against it.
We spotted these doorknobs over at Re-Nest. Re-using them as wine stoppers is a great way to incorporate the vintage vibe in your kitchen decor.
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Comments (3)
I check Apartment Therapy every week...and I was happily surprised today when I saw a familiar photo! I work at Community Forklift, the home improvement thrift store mentioned as the source of materials for the doorknob shelf. I was quite impressed with the customer who did such a nice job building it (he told us how he did it - see http://communityforklift.com/creations.cfm). It was fun to see it on my favorite site!
I do have to respectfully disagree with KTG. I know how much stuff goes into the landfill every day instead of coming to shops like ours (Building materials make up over 50% of the US waste stream, by weight, if you can believe it). All the time, beautiful historic houses get smashed to bits instead of being carefully deconstructed so the materials can be donated to places like ours.
So I'm just happy whenever anybody sees value in preserving an old material. Whether it's used for the original purpose, on a door, or if someone finds beauty using it another way, I'm just happy that someone saw fit to keep it in use (To be frank, I'm also happy to have the revenue coming in. High-demand items like knobs and antiques pay the rent, so our nonprofit can continue our environmental mission: to divert perfectly good 2x4s and cabinets and other mundane items from the landfill).
For what it's worth, our prices are the same no matter how the customer uses them - starting at $5 for rusty steel knobs like the ones used in the shelf, and going up to $35 for glass knob sets (occasionally more for a highly ornate brass knob).
--Ruthie
No, this type of DIY isn't new to most of us, but I'm glad this hardware was repurposed. I'd rather see old things loved and out in the world rather than in a drawer someplace where no one can appreciate them while they wait for a period-appropriate-project to come along. This particular doorknob coatrack is little rustic for me, but I wonder if using the vintage doorknobs with a slicker bit of wood or something more polished might be a new look for it.
Love it! I bought some knobs to do just this - from look in the attic. The use of the glass knob is stunning - what a great coat hook! Or Robe hook! and I could match the finish of my bathroom (i have a brushed nickel look). So cute - what a great post.