My Uncle used to have a very large ring of old and antique keys. He would collect them at yard sales and antique shops and when he found a piece of furniture that had a lock but no key or an old door with a missing key, out would come his key ring and he would try every key in the hopes of finding a match. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. The great thing about old locks is that they are sort of generic and more often than not he would find a match. A few years ago I started my own collection and until recently they were just decoration.
The great thing about old homes and apartments is that there are so many charming details. Our new place has that in spades. All of the interior doors have the original door knobs and keyholes. Sadly they have been painted over for decades. Me being me I had to know if they still worked.
I set to work using an exact-o knife, dust buster and patience. I cut away the layers of paint on three doors to uncover the original brass deadbolts.
Sorry for the blurriness.
My patience paid off. The bathroom lock is now uncovered and work but something isn't lining up. I think I need to take off the lock plate and move it up but that's a task for another day.
The office door is uncovered but I can't find a key for it. Not sure if there is paint still stuck in the lock or I really don't have a matching key for it.
The bedroom, however, has a working lock AND I found a matching key!
I felt so accomplished! Is it weird I like to slip the key in my pocket like Cinderella's Stepmother? I've discovered that there's a painted over pocket door in the kitchen and I'm having an internal debate whether or not to uncover that. It looks like it would be much more work than a couple of locks.
On a side note I went to the Debbie Reynolds auction preview. I got to see this dress before it sold for 4.6 million. Check out my flickr set here. Aren't creepy mannequins with clear hands the worst?
That is the first time I have seen that dress outside of the famous photo. I'm actually surprised at the amount of detail at the waist. I really like it. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteps the mannequin thing is plain weird.
Aren't old locks and door knobs great?! We have a local locksmith who works on old doors and was able to repair some of our door mechanisms that weren't working correctly anymore. You might have somebody who can do that for you too, you just have to remove the latching device and take it in to them. He cleaned it all up and fixed it like new! You might be able to get a new skeleton key made too but you would have to ask a locksmith, I'm not certain about this.
ReplyDelete