HOW TO UPDATE OUTDATED DOOR KNOBS AND HANDLES WITH SPRAY PAINT! A LOOK BACK AT HOW WELL IT’S HELD UP AS WELL AS WHAT PRODUCTS WERE USED TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT!
Today I want to look back at a project I did two years ago on the cheap. Our brass door handles on the exterior of the cabin were looking pretty shabby and I always hated the finish, so I decided to give it a go by spray-painting them. I figured they couldn’t get any worse.
I don’t know if you’ve priced door handles lately but for the cost of a can of spray paint I was willing to try this route before investing in new hardware. Not only would it be costly I’d have to have hubby replace them all and sometimes it’s not an easy task to track him down long enough to do projects.
If you check out my earlier post you’ll get a step-by-step process of how and what I used to get the new look. Today I’m just looking back after two years of abuse to share with you how well it’s held up.
You can see there’s some wear and the old brass finish is peeking through again but after two years I expected this would be the case. All in all I’m extremely happy with how it turned out and how long it lasted.
I certainly don’t mind taping the handle off and giving it another coat of paint every two years, in fact its’ a very relaxing task.
Just don’t make the same mistake I did, make sure one of your other entrances is unlocked! I got everything taped off with paper around the handle for overspray only to realize I’d taped myself out the house.
I had to undo what I’d just done, open the door and unlock the other porch entrance door. I tell you some times I get so caught up in brilliant idea of the moment that I don’t think ahead. Luckily I hadn’t already started painting. If that had been the case I’d have been waiting for a coat of paint to dry before getting back inside.
I ended up doing 3 light coats of spray paint to get it completely covered. I did it on an overcast day with temps around 50 (which made it take longer to dry). If you try this make sure you do light applications of paint, let them dry between coats, and do several. Don’t try and get complete coverage in one coat. If you try you’ll be disappointed with all the runs you’ll get.
One of my favorite, cheap items is a spray paint trigger. You can find one at any hardware or big box store. It’s a must for spray painting and you’ll never go with out one again. For me my finger goes numb pushing the spray nozzle, but with a trigger that never happens and I feel I have better control of where the paint is going. Give it a try!
HI dawn
This looks amazing! It looks great! love the address numbers below too. Where did you find those? I love the size! laura
That’s a great idea doing this one today ! I like the big address numbers too!
Thank you Kim I made the numbers on my vinyl cutter.
Laura I made the house numbers on my vinyl cutter.
I have been thinking about doing this to all my inside door knobs. They are all gold-brass colored from when we first built our house. Do you know if sanding them would make the paint more durable and last longer? Hubby thinks we should just replace all of them, but that would cost a chunk!
Shelia I used TSP to clean mine so the paint sticks better. You could also use liquid sand, easier than sanding with sand paper and I bet that would work too. I agree replacing them is the way to go but if you don’t mind touching them up every couple of years spray paint is cheap.
Hi Dawn! They look great. I need to try that!
xo Kris
Thanks Kris, I was just talking about you to my bestie….wishing we had your avocado trees. We’ve been doing an avocado a day in our smoothies as well as grinding up the pit and adding it to the smoothie for extra collagen.
Hi Dawn! They look great! Hope you are well!!
xo Kris
Dawn…they look great!!
Jeanie it’s amazing what a little spray paint can do and I love an easy cheap project.