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″]
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Carolyn says
Oh, my, that’s right handy especially in today’s busy world! Sunday night (or right after doing laundry), lay out your wardrobe for the week.
Purging mode – hang the essential (pants, skirt, jacket) and find three things you can wear with it. If there are no matches, you know if you should let an item go.
Probably really good for teaching kids to get dresses. No more diving into the laundry basket and popping out “Ta-dah! Look, I’m dressed!”
Mary Elizabeth says
Carolyn’s comment on kids dressing themselves is a hoot. It was particularly true of our son growing up.
I wanted to say that in the old houses (late 19th, early 20th century) my husband and I grew up in if there were closets they weren’t deep enough for a hanger. Instead, they had one shelf and a series of hooks similar to this one across the back, on which you could position a few hangers with clothes.
Jay says
Oh yes, so true. My sisters room did not have a closet and my room had one of those shallow ones; my father built a closet in each one.
Can you imagine people buying houses without closets today?
Grama Robin says
Oh my gosh! I have a tiny little closet (ok two – one for my regular clothes and one in the “den” for my vintage trailer meet clothes and vintage Santas) and after searching as you suggested on ebay I realized this may be the impetus for me to finally replace the 1 by 2 that I’m hanging my clothes from! Thanks for the info!
Gretchen in Greenwood says
Pam, you used to get a small amount from Ebay when your readers clicked over from your site to theirs. I seem to recall there was a link at the bottom of the page. Do you still get support for the blog this way? If so, how can I go from here to Ebay to be sure you get the credit? I shop for things on Ebay all the time- do you get credit even if the item I purchase was not featured on your site? Thanks for featuring such unique items.
Pam Kueber says
Hi Gretchen, I didn’t put the link in this one — not to worry…
But yes, when I do have a live link to ebay and Amazon, and you do click and buy, I get a spiff, on that item or any other. I’m not sure how long the “cookies” lasts, though…
Heart says
That’s what I was thinking too.
Telling myself, if Pam doesn’t get a kickback from eBay, I’m not clicking on that link. Thanks for spelling it out Pam.
Pam Kueber says
I actually added a feed!
Heart says
Now your talkin, I’m clickin 😀
Jay says
I like the “K-Venience” name for the line. K-V probably couldn’t make such a high quality item today and still make money on it.
Your cedar is probably planks which is what was used back in the day and not just a veneer.
Susan Halla says
Knape & Vogt still makes really quality stuff. As an architect, I only specify their standards and brackets – the other stuff is sub-par, IMHO.
Of course, like everyone else, they’ve added plastic to some of their products. But their stainless steel standards and brackets are the bomb!
Allison says
I don’t know if this practice was common, but when I was a girl my paternal Grandma’s house had no closets in the little bedrooms on the upper floors (where visiting grandchildren would sleep).
Instead, there was a long hook like these in the corner of each bedroom, and from that hung a square zippered garment bag to act as a closet.
I had forgotten 🙂
Karin says
Great idea! Thanks for the suggestions. Everybody needs a space for next day’s work clothes. I think I’ll follow up on this one.
I’ve also seen MCM teak men’s “clothing valets” for sale on local sites and eBay. I was kind of obsessed with the supercool Hans Wegner clothing valet because it looked like a modernist sculpture. I could picture it in the corner of our master bedroom. After I checked, I found out it was priced like modern sculpture, too (lol). The hanger, however is a much more space saving and economical solution. Great post, cheers.
Kylllikki says
If you’re interested in closet history… My house was built in 1911, and it does have closets, but they didn’t have clothes rods to put hangers on. The 5 closets all have 2 rows of clothes hooks all the way around them, at about 6 feet high and 3 feet high (10 inches apart). The hooks are those old kind made of heavy bent wire, painted black. And a deep shelf 6 inches above the top hooks. (We added clothes rods, but kept all the hooks…)
Nancy says
Oh my gosh! Our 1962 Parade of Homes house has a 16 swing arm trouser hanger and a four arm tie/belt hanger installed in one end of our double closet. I had no idea who made them, but I’m sure they were just the thing (and still are!) when this house was built. Closet organization retro style!
Amy says
Pam, a bit unrelated, but could you please tell me the name of the paint color on the wall in the background? I have been looking for a similar color. Thanks!
Pam Kueber says
Passionate Coral by Sherwin-Williams 🙂