Remember this from the house at Walnut Court?
These little dust corners were an invention of the last decade of the 1800s and a simple and decorative means to simplify the housework: they kept dust from building up in the hard to reach corners between tread and riser and cut down on time necessary for sweeping the stairs.
These soft brass corners are held in place by a nail, and were either plain or sported an embossed pattern.
Decorative? Check!
Practical? Check!
Quirky vintage type detail? Check!
All those three check marks put this feature on my must-have list for the Ugly Duckling. While you can buy original dust corners salvaged from another old house, reproduction pieces are also available. I found them at "Van Dykes Restorers" (in sets of 12) as well as "The House of Antique Hardware" (individual pieces).
[source: Van Dykes Restorers]
"Lee Valley Tools & Veritas" even sells a modern version that is glued into corners (here) if you care for the practicality but not the vintage design.
Anyways, I'm thinking about ordering a bunch of these little guys for our steps. Maybe that'll help me tackle the stair case for good. What do you think?
i've probably seen these before, but never noticed them. how useful!
ReplyDeleteThey are really easy to miss unless they are new and shiny :o)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Lee Valley: they always have such obscure things.
ReplyDeleteI love them! And I love old little details like that, little things that we don't use anymore and set an old house apart from a new one. I can't wait to see them on your stairs!
ReplyDeleteJeanette,
ReplyDeletestuff like that makes me squeal like a little school girl :o)
Neat. Never knew about these!
ReplyDelete