Tuesday Treasures – Old Loo Door

Our old door may seem to be a bit of an odd thing to have as a “Treasure”.

We found this door at an auction at Oberon in the late 80s.  It was a ratty looking old dunny door.  The paint was faded green and all crazed but attached to the back was an original cast iron “Victoria Toilet Fixture” loo roll holder.  Reproduction brass versions of this were all the rage at the time with heritage decorating.

I was quite excited to find an original and for $10 the old door was ours.  It also had a nice old brass lock.  When we got home, the hardware was removed, the loo roll holder cleaned up and installed in the house and the door put up in the woodshed to be thought no more of.

At this stage we were renovating an old 1920s workers cottage in town so the door  became a handy painting plank over the bathtub when we were doing up the bathroom  and then returned to the woodshed.

When we got to the kitchen, Mick made all recycled oregon cabinets and built a corner pantry.  We wanted a door with character, but couldn’t find one.  Then I remembered the dunny door up the back. It was the right size.

We gave it a good wash and the faded green brightened up.  The back was a whitewash, and when stripped back revealed lovely old pine. A coat of estapol brought it up beautifully.   Mick then hunted out the old handle we had removed and reinstated it and put the hinges on the outside.  It was just the look we were after. This, according to the back of the photos was in 1992.

I made the calico angel to finish it off. The kitchen wasn’t nearly as pink as it appears in this scanned old photo. The small window is my one and only foray into leadlight and I was sad to leave it behind when we moved.

The back of the door came up really well too and Dad provided an old hook which he had found at the tip and cleaned up.  It suits the door perfectly.  I’ve never seen another like it.  It reminds me of shaker pegs.

The old crock was painted orange when we bought it from the deceased estate auction of one of Mum’s old friends and then Mick made the oregon lid to suit.

The old shopping list board features a Lucy Mabel Attwell picture  and is identical to one that was always at Grandma’s when we were little.  We found this one in an op shop in Maryborough in Queensland in the late 80s. 

We eventually sold our little cottage, once we had made it just right for us, and started again in a bare paddock.

This time Mick built a cream timber kitchen with a corner pantry. Of course we couldn’t find a door we liked, so the old dunny door came with us.  It cost a bomb to buy oregon to make a replica to leave at the old house, but it was worth it.  I love our old door.

Of course, the old loo roll holder came with us too.

Pop over to Clare’s to see what other treasures are on show this week.