HARDWARE UPDATE

You might have noticed that when I revealed our new yellow front door last week that there was another color update, the hardware! The hardware on the door had seen better days. The gold wasn’t really shiny anymore, there were many spots with paint on them, and most importantly, the gold wouldn’t have looked good with a yellow door anyway. The thought didn’t even cross my mind to get new hardware, just use what you’ve got! I decided Rustoleum’s Oil Rubber Bronze would look so good with our new yellow door.

It was really easy to remove everything in only a few minutes with just a philips screwdriver. All the pieces for the doorknob and deadbolt have exposed screws on the back. The peephole was a little more difficult, probably because I’ve never removed one before. Apparently on the back side there are two indents meant for unscrewing. It was suggested that I use a quarter as a “screwdriver” but I found more stability with the flat side of a knife. Once it loosened, it was easy to get off the door.

I then took steel wool to all the hardware pieces to get rid of paint on the pieces and to smooth it for new color. The steel wool was relatively quick and painless—I just went one piece at a time. Then I used Liquid Deglosser to help the spray paint adhere. It prepares paint to adhere to the surface by removing any left over residue and only takes a couple minutes to dry.

After all the pieces were smooth and as paint free as I could handle, it was time to spray them. For things like this, my favorite thing to do is to cut holes into cardboard that hold the pieces in a way that allows me to spray them from all necessary directions. I’m notorious for handling painted pieces before they are done drying and getting my fingerprints on them. This method is a lifesaver for fidgety me. I even laid down extra paper we had from move in day (so that the movers shoes wouldn’t get our new carpets dirty) down on the front porch to protect the surrounding area. #adulting

I sprayed a few light coats over the hardware a couple minutes apart until they were well covered. Then, I waited a little bit until the paint was dry enough for me to move all the pieces that had moving parts like the key and handles (Pro tip: put a key partially in the keyhole so that you don’t gunk it up with paint). Then, I did another few light coats, and continued this process until I felt like everything had a good amount of coverage. I let the paint cure for many hours to make absolutely sure I didn’t put fingerprints on the pieces before putting it back on the door.

Attaching everything back together took a little bit of time, but I succeeded thanks to some photos I took when I initially took it all apart. I’m loving the finished look! I hope it holds up, but now I know how easy this project was for a big payoff.

Budget breakdown: