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Thursday, November 3, 2011

DIY Door Knobs

One of the things I hated most about our new house was the gross gold door knobs.  It obviously wasn’t something that was a deal-breaker when we bought the house…but I definitely cringed every single time I looked at them. Although they seem fairly insignificant, the price tag to replace them isn’t so insignificant (we are talking upwards of $500 to replace door knobs..yikes…really? for door knobs?!).   Enter my newly found friend, Pinterest.  I found some tutorials on pinterest about using oil rubbed bronze spray paint here:  http://pinterest.com/pin/350002608/ & http://pinterest.com/pin/350000374/ .

So for a mere $35 in supplies, I transformed all of interior door knobs & closet hardware from gross brassy gold to a much more updated oil rubbed bronze look.  And I LOVE it!  I wasn’t so sure how this would transformation would work on our exterior doors since they are subject to much more weathering, so we went ahead and purchase new ones for the exterior.

Now here is how I did it & the before & after pictures:

My supplies:  Fine grain sanding boards, steel wool, Clean Metal Primer, ORB Spray Paint (I went with Rustoleum), & Clear Satin Sealer.

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Sand down all of your UGLY door knobs & all associated hardware (door plates, screws, etc).  It’s also helpful to keep all of the pieces for each door together- I was instructed to do this by my husband..and yes, he was right.  Make sure to wipe down the knobs after sanding!  ( I forgot to do this on a set & had to redo them!)

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It helps if you have Styrofoam that you can stick all the pieces in so that you can spray on all sides.

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Spray with a couple thin coats of Primer.

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I waited about an hour & then sprayed with several THIN coats of the ORB spray paint.  It’s much better to do several think coats of the paint otherwise you risk the paint chipping and more chances of paint dripping.

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Make sure your husband comes out to supervise…..(making sure my laundry room knobs & hardware are still together & master bedroom knobs & hardware are together Smile)

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Finally, spray a couple thin coats of the clear satin sealer.  Then wait.  Wait a good 24-28 hours to put them back on your doors.

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And the finished product….drum roll…..

Ta-da!!

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6 comments:

Onegirlruns said...

fantastic! i've been meaning to do mine, but i'm slightly afraid :) this gives me courage! just how many does SEVERAL coats mean? lol.

Kelly said...

About 3. I wanted to make sure I covered everything, but didn't cake it on!

michelle ellis said...

Kelly, I love them!! I want to do this to our house...maybe sometime soon :) Thanks so much for the inspiration! PS that picture of Alan is too funny!

Kate said...

We did this on our house when we bought it, and it makes such a huge difference doesn't it? Looks great! A very smart way to save mucho dinero!

Monica said...

I pinned this as well and have had it on my to do list! I also dislike the gold knobs in my house, but like you said-too expensive to replace! Now I'm going to have to actually get it done! Looks good!!

MissMikey said...

What did you do about the hinges? Have you had any chipping problems since it has been a while since you did it.?