Easy, Practical Solutions For 3 Common Problems + A Bonus Tip

Welcome to the 861st Metamorphosis Monday! Do you use doorstops in your home? I’ve never lived in a home that didn’t have those throughout the house where needed—until now. Not sure why, but doorstops were nowhere to be found here in the Dollhouse. I only spotted one when I moved in, a baseboard doorstop that was missing its cap. Unfortunately, the lack of doorstops has led to some damage in a few places, like this area at the foot of the staircase. In this downstairs hallway, there’s nothing to stop the door on the left from crashing into the wall. There used to be a door for the opening seen on the right. Thankfully, that door is still here—I found it tucked away down in the basement. As soon as I can find someone to help me with it, I plan to have it brought back up and reinstalled. These doors weigh a ton since they are solid wood.

This is the damage that’s been done to the molding by the door that is still in place in the downstairs hall. This makes my heart hurt to see 1938 molding being destroyed by a doorknob, especially when this type of damage is completely preventable. I stuck a fuzzy protective pad over it when I first moved in (the kind you place on the bottom of a chair leg) to prevent any further damage. After searching online for a doorstop for this spot, I settled on THIS ONE that sticks down to the floor. I’ve installed two baseboard door stops in other spots in this house, and they were not easy to screw into the dense wood. I’m finding this type is much easier to use and doesn’t require putting holes in the baseboards.

Now the door handle will no longer bang into the molding or the wall. Since this door stays open full-time, the doorstop is not visible and there’s no danger of anyone tripping over the stop. As mentioned in previous posts, I’m saving painting the interior for last. I hope I can find a really good painter who will be able to build this molding back up, so it looks like this damage never happened. I don’t want it just painted over.

What about molding on the other side where a second door used to be?

Though the damage has been painted over, I can see where the molding was slightly damaged before that door was removed. Once the door is added back, I’ll add another door stop to this side. The door on the left stays open full-time, and I’m sure the door on the right will, as well.

Where else have I added these doorstops? This upstairs bath needed some damage prevention, too.

When opening the door to this bathroom, it’s easy to crash the door right into the light that’s on this side of the vanity. I’ve done it a few times since moving in. Thankfully, it didn’t break, but it made a disturbing sound!

I added a doorstop here, and it completely solved this problem.

This is as close as the door can get to the globe now.

There’s no molding here in the Butler’s Pantry to be damaged, but the wall was getting pretty scarred up. This is another door that stays open full-time so I’m not sure why there was no doorstop in this spot. (This doorstop is available in sets of two here: Door Stop.)

Problem #2 Solved: For a long time now, I’ve been dealing with my computer eyeglasses that I wear throughout the day, catching my hair in the hinges. This happens on both sides of my face at least 3-4 times a week, and almost every time it ends up causing the hair to break as I try to remove it. I checked online to see if anyone else had encountered this issue with their eyeglasses, and I found a thread where a whole bunch of people were complaining about this same problem. One person recommended tightening the hinges on both sides. I’ve done that before when glasses have felt too loose, but I never thought about it as a solution to hair getting caught in the hinges.

I didn’t have a screwdriver that was small enough to fit the tiny screw on my glasses, so I purchased this one. Tightening the screws on both sides of my glasses completely stopped the hair-caught problem! I am keeping this kit in my desk drawer, so if this problem starts happening again, I can fix it immediately and not suffer for months! It’s so nice not having to deal with this issue several times a week, and now the broken hair around my temples can finally grow out. Just wanted to share this in case you are running into this issue with your glasses.  It’s so frustrating (and painful) when it happens! You’ll find this little repair kit here: Eyeglass Repair Kit.

This is the kit that Amazon is showing I purchased back in December 2023. I vaguely remember that, I think it was when I had a screw fall out of an older pair of glasses. This kit only costs a few dollars more and has a lot more parts/pieces to aid with repairs. I almost purchased it again for this house, but since I already have one back in Georgia, I went with the smaller kit this time. I like that it has super pointed tweezers—those would also come in handy for removing splinters. You’ll find this more comprehensive kit available here: Eyeglass Repair Tool Kit.

Problem #3 Solved: If you’ve been reading BNOTP for a while, you may remember when I purchased a 4th shelf for the cabinet that’s just barely visible on the left in this upstairs hall bathroom.

The shallow cabinet in this bathroom is perfect for perfume storage, and adding that 4th shelf made this cabinet so much more functional. I was able to purchase the shelf I needed in the perfect size I needed, HERE. They cut it to the exact specifications that I requested, and it fit perfectly. It’s the top shelf in this photo below, and it blends in beautifully with all the other shelves.

I noticed this weekend that the cabinet in the master bath has the same type of shelving inside, and only has three shelves, too. So I ordered a shelf for it yesterday.

I need to do the same thing for these cabinets here in the Butler’s pantry. Each cabinet needs one more shelf. If you have cabinets or closets in your home that could use an additional shelf, the company I’ve been ordering from carries them in four colors: White, Gray, Black, and Maple. The maple finish is what I needed for my bathroom cabinets, but I’ll need to order white shelves for the Butler’s pantry cabinets. You’ll find the company I’ve ordered from here: Cabinet Replacement Shelves. I was very pleased with how fast my shelf arrived the last time. Tip: Before ordering, measure one of your existing shelves carefully, since they will cut the shelf to your exact specifications.

Bonus Tip: If you have ugly scratches on your wood furniture, stain pens/markers are a great way to help camouflage the scratches. This set has good reviews and you’ll find it here: Stain Repair Markers.

Hope you found this post helpful. Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday! Like to know when a new blog post is up? Subscribe for email updates (it’s free) and your email will never be shared. Subscribe for free email post updates here: Subscribe.

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