1950s Telephone turned Key Holder

What to do with a gorgeous bakelite wall telephone from 1950 that is not working anymore? Why, empty it and transform it into a key holder, of course!

Once I had the idea, seeing that the front can be opened rather easily like the door on a cabinet, it was just a matter of carefully clean the piece and remove most of the pieces inside. I left the mechanism that holds the wheel with the numbers, of course, plus shortened the cord and re-attached it.

A small piece of wood to hold the L shaped screws in which to hang the keys is fastened to the back plate of the telephone, and the telephone itself is screwed to a vintage board with a lovely octogonal shape and a dry paint finish (see the 'Making of' section below for further details).

Now this is a practical piece of decoration for the entrance, not only beautiful and full of character, but also useful!

Measures: Base 25 x 35cm, Telephone 21 x 23cm.

THE MAKING OF: Here below, the thelephone in its original state -I find the mechanism rather beautiful (and saved most of the parts for other projects, of course)... it was amazingly well put together too! they don't build machines with this level of craftmanship anymore.

First steps included cleaning the phone, emptying the inside and cutting the cord shorter, then re-attaching it. The board got sanded and painted with the 'dry brush' technique.

Painting the brim of the board in black, then distressing it.

Varnishing and polishing the board to get a smooth, satin touch.

Attaching the small piece of wood to the back board. Then, securing the telephone to the board and, finally, fastening the hooks in place.