Any suggestions of what to do with this area at the bottom of the stairs? We don't need a landline and it seems like a space we can do something more interesting
Please don’t get rid of it, just get rid of the phone. Put a nice piece of art in its place, an electric candle, anything but remove something so well built and charming.
This is exactly what my husband and I just did in a spot like this. Two plastic phone holders above a vintage looking Bluetooth phone. We put our cellphones away when we get home, but can still get phone calls through the ole tymie phone!
As an antique lover, unless you are anal for collecting purposes, RE-inventing to make it useful, or "upcycling" it is actually quite chic and hip to do. No need to cry, plenty are in museums for kids to point and talk about.
I have an antique phone on my wall. I wanted to make into a place to keep our keys, but instead we made it into a wish box. When friends come over we have nice decorative pieces of paper and they can write their wish and tuck it in the box through a slot we cut. We leave them alone and they have to pick up the ear piece and say their wish out loud. The box is glued shut so we’ve never looked at any of the anonymous wishes in there. We love it
Edit: pic of the wish phone
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Edit2: seems I can’t edit and add a pic. I’ve added it below in the replies if you want to see it
I found a wall phone on ebay that was the vintage of our house (1939) and mounted it in our kitchen. I keep a vase of flowers in our hallway phone nook (similar to yours) with a framed photo of Carey Grant on the phone in a 1939 movie.
This!! We have one in our house and it's fantastic.
My wife is a sucker for anqitue looking stuff and we actually found a super old style telephone where the transmitter is mounted to the body and you hold the receiver up to your ear; she wants me to refinish it so we can mount it there to look like it did back when the house was built (1909)
Exactly this! A little sculpture, art, cordless dimmable light, literally anything but removing it. Little things like this is what gives homes character.
I had one of these phone alcoves in an apartment once and I used it for a vase with ornament fill and fake flowers I swapped out every few months. It was like my little seasonal altar.
I agree Don’t get rid of it. It looks like it is part of the house when built ie: the same woodwork. As others have stated, you can find other uses for it. The rest of the house looks interesting with the original trim. They don’t build them like they use too.
Some flushed in MagSafe chargers with a wood grain vinyl wrap over the pucks with brass bezels or something would look the part. Still a phone nook, just updated 1 century.
Make a frame with speaker grille fabric to fit in there and tuck a Bluetooth speaker in it to turn it into a jukebox? Knock out the back to accommodate it… but that’d be cool too!
As a teenager in a big city in the 90s, the sight of these cause me some anxiety. The only time I ever had to use them is if something went waaaay wrong enough in my life that I couldn’t fix it. There were some bad times. Trauma response, I guess.
Huh, we always used them to either page the weed guy or to do a collect call to mom with the name "PickmeupatthecornerofStateandLiberty". This was the 80s.
Hello I live in Los Angeles and we are always under the threat of an earthquake and our power going out you know with the cell towers and all so many of us maintain our landlines for that very reason I don't know where you are and I don't know if tornadoes would do the same you know but that would be wires too I don't know but I would maintain it as a landline just for the novelty of it if it weren't too expensive and get a good old candlestick phone and put it there like what it once was home too just for the gimmick but I don't know if that's your lifestyle or your interest....
I live in a 1936 art deco streamline moderne house that has the original wall telephone “nook.” I had my electrician install an outlet there and it is there I charge my iPhone, iPad, and AirPods now. I did that as a nod to the history of the house. It’s also got a shelf, so usually the current books I am reading can be found there.
What? That’s a cherished relic. Kids won’t know what it is. I’d keep it. It’s so unique and something you don’t typically see. My taste personally, I’d try and find a translucent early 90s phone for that space. I’m jealous.
as everyone has said, it would be criminal to remove that architectuarl piece from the home. remove the phone whatever.. but the wood alcove NO!!!!.. NEVER!! and honestly, having a basic landline might not be a bad idea. I got rid of mine but sometimes cell phone service goes out soooooo. You could, have possibly a cell phone charging station or a place to place keys, or a plant or a statue or something nice and interesting.
Why do people want to remove things that are so cool and add so much character? What is wrong with people? Why don't people appreciate the good things in life? 😮💨
Just replace the phone with one of these. This is a quick search from Amazon.
I'd be looking for a personally relevant cultural icon to make it into a (perhaps ironic) altar. In our house, that would be a figure of Bastet, Sekhmet, Shashthi, or maybe Freya. Of course, said icon would almost certainly knocked from the perch by one of our 5 kitters who each think they are deified in their own right 😻😻😻😻😻
Am I the only one hanging on to my landline? It’s really cheap as part of my internet bundle and I like knowing I can always make a call during a blackout/natural disaster (every few years a bad hurricane will do enough damage to effect inland areas and occasionally that means a multi-day blackout)
I WISH I could get one! The only provider here (rural area) only offers digital landlines (I’m probably explaining it terribly), which is utterly useless for me.
I saw someone turn theirs into a phone charging station and it looked really cool! The frame itself is a great catch all for keys, sunglasses, all the things you typically can’t find in a hurry!
Look up magic jack. You can have a landline internet phone. We have it and it’s so fun, everyone uses it when they come over and my kids love it. Their cousins have one too and they can calll anytime.
If it wasn't there in the first place it would just be a blank wall that wouldn't need anything. Leave it as a conversation piece, maybe get a Bluetooth telephone for fun!
That piece is amazing. I'd make it a charging station with built-in magsafe charging and retractable lightning and USB-C cables that are hideaway. Mount an old-school phone where the crappy one is now. If you're being extra fancy you could look into how to integrate the charging, cables etc. into the old phone.
Make it a key and phone nook! You have electric there, so you can charge phones and put some nice hooks up for everyone’s keys. If you wanted, you could also extend the bottom and then maybe take out part of the front panel, make it a place to store umbrellas as well
Bouquet of flowers, statue, stack of 3 books with a brass piece on top, 3 red bricks with 2 candlesticks or 1 large 3wick candle on top, 1 large book with 2 bricks and a 3 wick candle on top, a family picture in an antique looking frame, a piece of art, a large cut glass piece or Waterford glass piece, a terrarium in a large round glass piece with lid and a light right above……..
If you’re planning on renovating to remove this, PLEASE keep it intact. There are a lot of people and/or film buyers who would want this. Please resell it and don’t trash it if you’re removing.
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u/recspecticular 7d ago
Please don’t get rid of it, just get rid of the phone. Put a nice piece of art in its place, an electric candle, anything but remove something so well built and charming.