10 months without a door knob

I realize that this is an extremely lame blog post. But it is meant to demonstrate that I am extremely lame about finishing what I started. Perhaps you share the same m.o.: All excited, get a super fun project started, but then… your interest fades, you move on to the next before you finish the first. And then it’s December and you see you have… 20 unfinished projects. If you weren’t afraid to count. This little series is meant to keep me focused on finishing that darn Mahalo Lounge, one stinkin’ day at a time. Perhaps it is inspiring you to finish stuff, too?

Oh. I went 10 months without a door knob on the door from the hallway into the living room.

“Before” — I originally posted this photo on Feb. 17. So it’s been even longer than that sans door knob.

“After” — I know, this is one super exciting before-and-after. And yes, the light in the room dramatically changes how the faux bois woodwork looks. 

Cheat: My husband put the doorknob back on, on Sunday. He was excited. We actually close this door every single night and open it again every single morning.

We couldn’t figure out how to get the escutcheon to fit. I admit: I didn’t work at it too hard. I was so disgusted with myself. Just get that knob on.

It wasn’t as boring a project as you would think, though. The first time he put the knob in… he put it in “backwards”… there’s a hole in the other knob, where the locking mechanism had once been… previous owners took the locking mechanism out. Anyway. So at first it was in backwards (knob with hole facing into living room). and I was going to accept it as is, I was just grateful the job was done. But then, I closed the door… and it was locked… and we could not get it to unlock. So DH had to remove the whole knob set in place and figure out how to unlock it internally. He then reinstalled it, holey knob facing the hall. This whole doorset is pretty icky — not “fabulous original” — so some day we will replace it, we decided. Buhahahahahah. As if.

Can you guess what this is?

Meanwhile, I couldn’t stand all these house projects taunting me. So I went shopping at one of my favorite local vintage shops, Finders Keepers in Lee, Mass. I only bought a few things… but took photos for you!

This is a child’s tea set — not a full-sized set!

I bought these — three of them — for wreath-making.

I bought this mushroom ornie, and one more. I was proud of myself for my restraint.

This was made by Union Products of Leominster, Mass. — same company responsible for Don Featherstone flamingo lawn ornaments!

Onward.