So remember when I posted about wanting a door knocker? (It was just last week! You better remember.) Anyway, I posted about that because I really wanted to do a little mini-makeover on our front door. And I've done it!

We live in a rental and our front door was pretty ugly before, but thanks to a little paint and a heavy iron knocker from The Door Store in Toronto, I'm loving it now.

The Door Store was recommended to me by Jen at Rambling Renovators. I'd seen the place on TV, but never been inside. I LOVED IT. While a lot of the hardware they had was a bit out of my reach, price-wise, we were able to find something neat for only $35. And yes... it features a bird.

I put a bird on it. AGAIN. Deal with it.

Okay, so let's take a look:

Good, right? The flat black paint hides the dings and imperfections of the old door pretty well, AND it makes the vintage hardware pop.

Here's a shot of the mail slot (at the bottom of the door, not shown in the first pics):

And here's one of the bird-knocker, up close.

What do you think? Good?

And for the record, I will never stop putting a bird on it. NEVER.

I have so many posts in the hopper right now, it's not even funny. But so many of them require just one more picture, or a bit of staging. So in the meantime, I'm going to tell you about the number one item on my current wishlist: a door knocker.

We live in a rental with an old doorbell. It's probably been broken since the 1950s. But people always push it, not realizing that it doesn't work. So I thought a knocker (perhaps with a little note telling folks to knock) would be a pretty solution. But I'm finding it really hard to find something!

Here are a few of the ones I've found (online). I like these, but I don't love any of them. And without seeing them in person and testing the heft, I'm just not sure I want to buy one.

What do you think? Do you like any of these?

This "Sly Fox" knocker is from Anthropologie and is $24.99, but it looks a little small and I'm not sure about the tail.

This vintage cast iron knocker is from JunkFromMyTrunk on Etsy. It's $28. But I don't think the seller ships to Canada (and that would up the price too much anyway).

I love Victorian-style hand knockers like this one, but there seems to be a massive price range online (say $10 to $300). I can't tell what's real and what's reproduction. And I can't spend $300. (My budget for this is $50 max). Plus, as I said, without seeing the knockers in person, I can't be sure I like them.

Anyway, what do you think? Got any advice for me? Should I go with an animal, a regular knocker, or a weird shape like a hand? And I need local help: know any Toronto brick and mortar places with good knockers? (No strip club jokes, please.)