Love, Pomegranate House

Okay, okay. I know, I know. I’ve been the worst blogger this summer! I promise I’m starting to get back into the swing of things! It isn’t that I haven’t been DIY-ing. In fact, I’ve been DIY-ing my butt off. But most of the things are things you guys wouldn’t be interested in. Let me just say that I’m pretty sure there is 15 miles of trim in this house. And there is only many posts you can do on painting trim.

Moving on. I, like many of you, inherited lovely icky brassy doorknobs. Though my knobs weren’t just icky because they were brassy. They are also coated in a mixture of dog hair, paint, and some unidentified grease. Ick. Double ick. Triple ick! They needed some serious TLC. And not the TLC where you are nice and kind and give them a little wipe and an encouraging word. The kind of TLC where you scrub and scratch and grumble until you think you will rub your reflection right off. I meant business. So me and my DIY bestie {aka spray paint} got to work updating old brass doorknobs into a thing of beauty.

Here are my original doors in all their beauty. Not too bad. A super knicked and scratched cream door with brassy knobs {and by “-”knobs” I don’t mean “knobs”… I mean knobs. Though I guess that doorknobs are the boobs of the door…}.  They were totally livable. But, as I said before, I’ve been painting trim. And when trim in the hallways goes from cream to white, the doors have to too. So I’ve been taking doors off hinges and praying that no one stops by and has to use the bathroom since there is a minor privacy issue now… you know… no door. And while the doors are getting painted {5 down! 11 bajillion to go!} with the same technique as I used for our front door, I am taking advantage and painting that hardware!

Your first step to update your knobs is to remove them from your door. Some people are talented enough to tape it off and just spray paint while it is on the door. Not me. I’m a bit of a messy painter. So I pull them off. Just grab a screwdriver and remove all screws, taking note of how it is put together. Don’t forget to remove the strike plate and face plate too.

Since my hardware was so filthy and paint spattered, I had to scrub away all of the paint. Just grab a scrubby sponge and get that arm workout! If your knobs aren’t bad, then just give them a good wipe down, removing any hand oil that may have built up. 

Now here is where I differ from some people. I’ve read on some tutorials that you should sand down your knobs before spray painting. And others say it isn’t necessary. So, since I’m lazy, I didn’t sand mine. It is the same technique I used when I updated our front door hardware and so far it has held up great! I’ll let you know if things change. But for me… I didn’t want to waste my time sanding them if I might not have to. Call me Mrs. Lazy McSweatpants.

I have a technique when it comes to spray painting my knobs. One that I find invaluable. First, get a box. Second, cut a hole in that box. {No. I am not channeling a certain SNL/Justin Timberlake song is now playing in my head… get your minds out of the gutter, people!} Third, push the hardware through the hole so it stands up, allowing for easier spray painting. I swear by this method. Of course, you don’t have to use a box, you can also use an old styrofoam cup or anything really that allows you to stand your knobs up on their end without tipping over. Don’t forget to put your screws in there too so that you don’t have weird brassy screws in your pretty new doorknobs.

Begin spray painting with light, even coats. It is better to have a nice smooth finish after 3 thin coats than to save time and have a globby mess with 1 thick coat. Thin coats, people, thin coats. Plus, thin coats ensure that you won’t jam up the locking mechanisms with too much paint. I used my favorite Oil-Rubbed Bronze spray paint by Rustoleum.

Once your coats have dried, you will have to paint the bottom of the knob. This part gets messy. You can’t really balance the knob on its top {unless you are magical, and if that is the case… please teach me!} so you have to hold it. If you don’t like paint all over your hand, wear a glove. Here at Casa Palmer, it isn’t a good day unless I’m covered in paint. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, thin coats. Do as many as necessary to cover up all that brass.

**UPDATE: Many of my wonderful readers have recommended that you finish off the knobs with 1 or 2 coats of a clear protective finish, like this one. That can help it to not chip in the future! Thanks everyone! I totally forgot that I did in fact do that on my front door hardware and it looks fantastic!**

Once all the hardware is dry, reassemble it back onto your door.

Now stand back and marvel at how amazing it is that changing a little thing like a doorknob can make such a huge impact. Love! So like I said, I’m making progress. Five doors now have been painted bright white and have fancy updated hardware. And I’m seriously LOVING the difference.

Do you have brassy old doorknobs? Would you spray paint them?