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Architectural Classics BlogArchitectural Classics BlogAt the Architectural Classics blog, we combine traditionally comprehensive information on caring for your antiques, with the offbeat Art Deco style fun and trivia from the world of old homes, lighting and door hardware. Articles
Bronzed and Beautiful
2008-02-20 10:23:00 Bronze: the colour of beach gods and goddesses (later to shrivel to wrinkled walnut shells, of course), and also of third place at the Olympics. And, occasionally and with very good taste, the metal making up your door hardware in a traditionally renovated home! What?s the go with this illustrious metal? Bronze is not an elemental ... More About: Beautiful
AC Knockers go on Hollywood Holidays Next Year!
2008-02-17 10:40:00 Our knockers are set to be used for the new film version of Charles Dickens? A Christmas Carol ? which many of us probably know best from the Disney version with as Ebenezer Scrooge (hmm, I wonder where Disney managed to come up with that Christian name for their duck?!!). The film is set for release ... More About: Hollywood , News , Holidays , Year , Knockers
The Devil in the Details
2008-02-15 10:05:00 This photo just goes to show that when you look at something closely enough, you can always find something beautiful, individual and noteworthy (perhaps a good lesson for our dealings with humanity in general!). This brass door knob was not taken off a famous person?s house … is not magical … was not involved in ... More About: Devil , Details , The Devil
Site of the Month ? Recyclamps
2008-02-12 10:11:00 Here at Architectural Classics we know there is more than one way to skin a cat. No, don?t send your cats here! Definitely not! All I mean is that there is more than one way to make your home a testament to what has gone before ? and while period hardware is an endlessly beautiful way ... More About: Site , Month
Parisian Door-nament
2008-02-09 10:25:00 This wrought iron ornament is on a Parisian door … you can almost tell by looking at it, can?t you! The symmetry and the symbolism of the patterns, the ornate curling ends and the flower design in the middle all echo those ringlet-ed towering hairstyles on French ladies back in the last couple of centuries. As ... More About: Door
Toilet Door Poetry
2008-02-05 10:30:00 Toilet Door poetry ranges from the eclectic, to the obscure, to the insane, the beautiful, and the hilarious. A warning before you read this blog post though, much of it also contains, frankly, toilet language! All nicely asterisked out, but if colourful language offends you, you may want to skip to the next post. All of ... More About: Poetry , Toilet
Pretty as a Picture
2008-02-03 10:41:00 Just another beautiful example of traditional design in door hardware… I love how the verdigris patination that is collecting in the valleys is almost a royal blue in this example, and the grace that the handle falls away towards the earth with. You can see that extra screws have been added, to help keep the ... More About: Picture , Pretty
Protest Wikipedia Graffiti!
2008-02-01 10:03:00 We take offense to this (probably unauthorized) inclusion in the Wikipedia entry on doorknobs: This is unedited, except for the bolding and highlighting so that you (blog post reader) notice it. With all of Wikipedia?s posting rules, I am very surprised that this is still there ? and that it made it in to begin with! I ... More About: Graffiti , Other , Protest
Kick in the door - to the one you?re waiting for
2008-01-29 10:31:00 We have heaps of gorgeous and decorative door plates in our range, that are usually called fingerplates. Many of them were made, are were most frequently used, back in the days when soap was a bit more a luxury than it is today, and less of a necessity! I know a few people who?d like ... More About: Door , Waiting , Kick
Anatomical Handles
2008-01-27 10:13:00 These are on the entrance to the Anatom y / Biology building at a London university, although we really think they would be better placed on the Psychology building :) Now these are not only door handles, but a form of simplified Rorschach test. You see, one handle is a nude male and the other a nude ...
Door Hand-le!
2008-01-25 10:54:00 This gorgeous door handle is a truly interactive experience! It comes from Naomi Thellier de Poncheville?s portfolio, and while it is definitely clever, we think one of its best aspects is the way it turns cleverness into a very visceral experience of feeling welcomed! Beautiful. We often see the hand motif in older knockers, where a ... More About: Hand , Door
Putti ? Celebrating Obesity
2008-01-24 10:42:00 Putti are a recurring motif in old hardware ? they symbolize a lot of things, including divinity, fertility, and bounty. And this horn playing little putti certainly has been living in bounty ? as we would say in Australia, ?He?s certainly been in a good paddock!?. He would be a quite obese child by today?s ... More About: Obesity
How to Fix Doors
2008-01-22 10:42:00 Considering that you?re reading a blog on a classical hardware and lighting site, there will probably be many of you that have a home which is classical? or to put it more bluntly, old! And old houses have old doors. And you know what happens when things get old? they stop working properly, they can?t ... More About: Do It Yourself , Doors
Mis-directed Security Efforts? (France)
2008-01-20 10:53:00 Wow! What a lot of security ? such thick wood, such huge hinges, and so many metal studs ? for a door that you could squeeze underneath if you were halfway fit! You can see how strong the malleable iron that the hinges are made of is ? while the doors are obviously sagging, the metal ... More About: Security , France , Rect
Door County
2008-01-18 10:00:00 While we have already looked at Door County , Wisconsin?s fascinating if stinky, traditional ?fish boil? (shudder!), the history of the place?s name is actually quite romantic and fascinating also! The county is named after the Door Peninsula, which runs alongside it. The strait of ocean between this peninsula and Washington Island is apparently notorious for being ... More About: Other
Cellar Door
2008-01-15 14:51:00 The phrase ?cellar door? was held by Tolkien to be the most beautiful in the English language ? he said so in his 1955 essay titled English and Welsh. I do find it strange, though, that so many people have picked this up and run with it! The supposed notoriety of the phrases beauty has ... More About: Door
Beauty in Rawness (Albania)
2008-01-12 10:49:00 Sometimes ? very, very rarely ? we find an old door that might have something taken away from it if it was restored, polished, sanded and had its handles and hardware replaced. This one is one of those doors ? there is a certain beauty in its rawness, the weathering and scratching, and the random ... More About: Beauty , Albania
The Cinema Door
2008-01-10 10:19:00 We?ve talked a bit about what doors mean to us, as part of our psyches ? how they represent symbolic gateways, new beginnings and (old!) endings, transitions between one state and another, and all of that. Well, people in Hollywood recognize this too, surprisingly! And over the years there have been many movies made either ... More About: Cinema , Door
Gorgeous Royal Blue and Copper
2008-01-09 10:16:00 Interesting how this door is shot from above ? descending into the Smoke Room, like you are coming from a better place, into a seedy and decrepit hole. All that is missing is a flickering red neon light, and darkness behind the door, which is only punctuated by the glowing ends of evil, evil cigarettes! On ... More About: Blue , Royal , Copper , Gorgeous
Door Knobs ? Fully Sick Dude!
2008-01-07 10:04:00 If you needed yet another reason to go for the beautiful softness of patinated brass in your door furniture, here it is! We?ve already looked at how brass is naturally bactericidal, without having any resins, coatings or anything else applied to it. And we also know (from the foot pull post!) exactly how icky door ... More About: Dude , Sick , Door
We Rode in Sorrow ?
2008-01-05 10:46:00 These swan door handles are on the door of a church in St Colombo?s, Co., Sligo in Ireland. Again, while the verdigris makes them really stand out, can you imagine how gorgeous they would have been when they were new and shiny! The photographer says that Yeats (William Butler) is buried not far from this church, ... More About: Sorrow
Door Adorned by Worms?
2008-01-04 10:24:00 This awesome door knocker is on Powis Castle in Wales ? where they have a rich history and tradition closely tied to dragons (or ?wyrms?!). The set of his body very much seems to suggest soaring and flight ? but his tentacles seem quite planted on the door, and his tail is twisted around back ... More About: Worms , Door
The Laws of Doors, Part 3
2008-01-02 10:34:00 There are so many superstitions about keeping things out, in, affecting luck and changing family fortunes by simply hanging various grocery items above one of your doors. Aside from making your house smell nice, things like lemon, fennel, mint, and chili were meant to also protect your house in various ways. Feel free to experiment ... More About: Laws , Part , Part 3 , Doors
Holiday Adventures
2007-12-23 10:46:00 For those of you that have bought door furniture from Architectural Classics during the year, or have been reading our blog, thank you for your support and interest! Since you are all part of the extended family, we thought we?d let you know what we are doing over the holidays. Personally, I?ll be looking after a ... More About: Holiday , Other , Adventures , Ventures
The Year in Short
2007-12-20 09:36:00 Believe it or not, at Architectural Classics we haven?t just been sitting around, surfing the web looking for cool antique door furniture and cats that can open doors. We have actually been quite busy! Yes Mum, I promise that?s why I haven?t called? Over 2007 we have: Spent time at the Spring Home and Garden Show in ... More About: Other , Short , Year
The Laws of Doors, Part 2
2007-12-17 11:08:00 There are many superstitions associated with doors ? and a few with door furniture as well! One of these I have a personal interest in, as a breeding member of the species ? but however strange and terrible giving birth might be, I?m not sure that I believe this one enough to make sure ... More About: Laws , Part , Doors
Arthouse Horror Movie Door?
2007-12-15 10:44:00 This photo was really highly praised on Flickr ? and truthfully, it is a beautiful shot. I don?t know how it makes you feel ? but it makes me a little uneasy, like I am staring at a madman?s cell, or something! It could easily be a setting in an arthouse horror movie. The door ... More About: Movie , Horror , Door
Will this knocker eat you in your sleep?
2007-12-12 10:43:00 This door knocker is from Verona ? when you look at it from a ways back, it could easily be a benevolent guardian angel, poised above your bed, making sure that no harm comes to you while you are asleep. When you have a closer look though, you start to notice that the face is ... More About: Sleep
Holiday Hangers
2007-12-10 11:04:00 Christmas is all about family togetherness ? and your kids are likely the ones that are constantly asking for more time with you. Over Christmas you get to indulge them ? they won?t know what hit them! They may even be so surprised they faint ? and you can lie down on the floor next ... More About: Holiday
Handles Handy for Escaping from Undead
More articles from this author:2007-12-09 11:28:00 These door handles are the entrance to a mausoleum in Loudon Park cemetery in Maryland. They are huge! Perfect for jamming handy crowbars or pieces of 2×4 through, if you happened to be trying to escape from a vampire or other undead thing coming out of the mausoleum. Aren?t people who build things like this thoughtful?! Interestingly, ... More About: Handy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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