the lucky doorknobs

It's my philosophy that you should stock up on what you need before you need it, especially when it means getting a good deal. This makes me kind of a terrible packrat, but when it pays off, it really pays off. I was at the antiques store down the street looking for something completely unrelated, when I came across a set of white porcelain doorknobs. I'd just seen these mentioned in Remodelista and had been thinking how nicely they'd fit my vision for the house I don't yet own. So, even with no doors to put them in, I went ahead and bought them. I also picked up two cut glass knobs and one mercury glass knob, which the cashiers totally oohed and ahhed over.

I came home and decided to check eBay to see if the mercury glass knob was really all that, and whether I'd gotten a good deal in general. eBay led to Craigslist, where I found a huge lot of vintage doorknobs - some porcelain - selling for $25. I went to pick them up today and now I have enough doorknobs to replace all the generic knobs in the house. All in one weekend, for about $50!



The ones that look usable are on the right - two cut glass, eight white porcelain, six black porcelain, and the lone mercury glass knob. Of course, none of them are exactly pristine. The gentleman who sold me the lot told me his wife's father had been a carpenter and he'd found the bag of mismatched hardware in with his old tools. Most of them are rusted to some degree, and many have paint spots. Luckily, I found an awesome description of how to clean rust off old doorknobs and I'm very excited to see how much of the current "No" pile can be restored.