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 an artistic note – it is a little hard to see, but doesn’t the rich brown of the copper door handle work well, colour-wise, with the royal blue door? Something to take note of for your own use of copper.

Photo credits: Old door by Ian Broyles

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 knobs that aren’t in your own home can be.

Well, courtesy of an American news service, we are reminded that if somebody with the flu covers up a cough or sneeze with their hand, exactly like they are supposed to for good hygiene (when there aren’t any tissues handy), but then needs to open a door immediately afterwards, that door knob becomes a little flu heaven. Flu germs are one of those that can survive for a time at room temperature, and if they have little droplets of liquid (mmmm!) to live in, then you basically need to wait until other people have wiped the door knob clean with their clean hands to not have microscopic flu monsters running around on your skin.

While brass door knobs help with this issue, we are still working on converting the world! In the meantime, medical staff advise the same thing that work safety posters all over the world do – unless you have just washed your hands, you should consider them dirty. This means that if you clean your hands before you eat and even before you touch your face, you should be fairly safe from infecting yourself with the flu. Then if you clean your hands after coughing or sneezing (better yet, sneeze into a tissue and then clean them), and also after going to the bathroom, and eating, you can also protect other people from getting the flu … a flu which, if you pass it on, may eventually come back to haunt you!

Photo credits: Do the Sleeve Sneeze by djcmackay

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, and his grandfather was the rector there. Sligo is where Yeats spent most of his childhood. Reading Yeats’ poetry, which has a beautiful rhythm that always makes you want to read it aloud (and then cringe at your imperfect rendering of his words!), you can relate it so intimately to this sort of architectural styling:

We rode in sorrow, with strong hounds three,
Bran, Sgeolan, and Lomair,
On a morning misty and mild and fair.
The mist-drops hung on the fragrant trees,
And in the blossoms hung the bees.
We rode in sadness above Lough Lean,
For our best were dead on Gavra’s green.
From ‘The Wanderings of Oisin’

You can see that the swans were crafted individually, rather than having their mould reversed for the one on the other side – especially around the feet, beak, and tail feathers you can see slight differences. They are such an appropriate symbol for a church door, as swans mate for life, and one of a church’s most joyful (and popular) functions is as a wedding venue.

Photo credits: Flickr

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 towards his body. A piece full of contradictions, all the more enjoyable for their genuine story and history.

Photo credits: Door Knocker by Shappa

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 yourself … but remember, brass, copper and iron are a lot more durable, and don’t go rotten so quickly

Fennel

Fennel is meant to guard against witches – you are supposed to stuff it in your keyhole. I am not sure where you are meant to put your keys while you are guarding against witches though.

Cactus

Putting cactus near the door is a Greek superstition – it is supposed to ward off the evil eye. However, if your cactus is grown from a cutting, it must be a stolen one! Otherwise it won’t root. You just have to surreptitiously bring a knife with you to your friend’s place, chop a bit off and put it in your pocket.

Lemon and chili

Oh, but not just any lemon and chili. Well, okay .. maybe any lemon and chili, but there must be a string pushed through the lemon (not around it), and then through the chili also. Tie it, only at one end, to a nail hanging above the door. This keeps evil spirits out of your house. Unless, of course, you do something silly like bringing in clothes from the washing line at night. (more…)