Since faux painting all the woodwork in my living room and dining room is dragging on (I was traveling then exhausted/bored and took a break last week), I’ve been doing little things around the house that have been on my list forever. As in: Installing a vintage Knape & Vogt aka KV aka K-Venience 10″ Garment Bracket inside the door of the cedar closet in the hallway outside our bedroom, which is where my husband stores his work clothes.
I purchased a whole bunch of vintage KV clothing hooks on ebay about… 10 years ago. This was before the mid mod boom boomed. I got them for a song, thinking I’d use a few and then flip the rest for a profit. Of course, they have sat in a drawer for 10 years since.
What can I do to avoid painting but still be productive including for a story on the blog? Install one of my New Old Stock KV Garment Racks!
Ta da: Every night before work, my husband pulls out his clothes for the next day. There really hasn’t been a place for him to hang them. He generally hangs them on the cabinet pull in the space above our bedroom closet.
Now he can hang them right inside the cedar closet.
I knew I would be at a meeting when my husband came home from work. So I left him a love note. Hey, it will be 25 years married this May. Gotta keep the romance alive any which way ya can!
I wasn’t really thinking about this when I drilled the pilot holes into the door: but indeed, there was structure / framing right in the inside center that the screws gripped into. Ummm, I mighta sorta shoulda tested this with pilot holes first. Test first!
Other tips: Make sure to position the hook on the door so the clothing doesn’t get smushed on one side or the other when you close the door. Make sure that the closet is deep enough so that the hook doesn’t smush into clothes when the door closes. And something I DID THINK ABOUT: Make sure that the hook is positioned high enough so that it doesn’t impale someone in the head or elsewhere if the door is left open and they walk into it.
About Garment Brackets
About these Garment Brackets: Like I said, they are 10″ long. Back in the day, people did not have as much closet space — and they didn’t have as many pieces of clothing — as we typically have today. It’s my understanding that, the farther back in time you go, the more likely it was that they used only hooks like this to hold their hanging items. No closets at all — they put their clothes on Garment Brackets like this right on the wall. Or, they put Garment Brackets inside a piece of furniture that acted as a closet — a “wardrobe”. Or even, on hooks hanging from a pegboard.
Lots of vintage K-Venience products out there
Back in the day, Knape & Vogt was absolutely prolific with its space-saving, convenience-making hardware devices. I have quite a few other things stashed in my basement. I forget which. I forget where. You know me.
These Knape & Vogt Garment Brackets — along with many other vintage KV / Knape & Vogt / K-Venience products come up on ebay now and then. Search: KV, Knape & Vogt, and K Venience. Narrow using terms like Vintage, NOS, New Old Stock, Antique, Mint in Box, Original Box e.g. (affiliate links):
[ebayfeedsforwordpress feed=”http://rest.ebay.com/epn/v1/find/item.rss?keyword=k+venience&categoryId1=20081&categoryId2=1&categoryId3=11700&sortOrder=BestMatch&programid=1&campaignid=5336396791&toolid=10039&customid=5336396791&listingType1=All&lgeo=1&feedType=rss” items=”5″]
Discovered: Huge stash of NOS 1960s and 1970s flower power posters 
Eva Zeisel floating picture frame set — designed when she was 104 
Marimekko’s new line at Target — coming Sunday, April 17th 
Bucilla Flower Loom flowers 
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denise says
For years I have imagined an item something like this to place near my closet. I didn’t know they actually existed! And it’s so sparkly, too!