New House: A "Must Do" Project!

Let me preface this post with an apology. For the first few projects that I post there wont be a whole lot of pictures. I didn't know at the time that I would eventually be writing this blog. But I'm sure you'll get the "picture" as I go along ;-)

So the first thing I do when I move somewhere new is check out the hardware on the doors. I've noticed that everywhere we've lived (the whole two apartments and now our house) that people love to put in that brassy gold colored hardware. REALLY not my style! I've found that changing that finish quickly helps the place feel more like home and more "Me."

There's a super simple fix to this problem without having to run out to Home Depot or Lowes and spending more money than you want:

SPRAY PAINT!!

Spray paint comes in a ton of colors and pretty much every metal looking finish! I really love the Rustoleum brand spray paint because they've got great metal finishes. 

For one of our apartments I decided that I wanted a brushed nickel look. So I grabbed Rustoleum in Matte Nickel and went to town! There are a couple of steps that you need to follow to ensure that the paint sticks well:

1. Once you've removed all of your hardware you want to wash each piece with soap and water to remove any grease or dirt. Pat dry.
2. Next lightly sand every surface that will be painted with a light/medium grit sand paper. You don't need to go crazy with this step, you just want to scuff up the surface so the paint adheres really well.
3. Then you'll need something to prop your hardware up on. I used a cardboard box and poked holes in it so that the hardware could slide into it and stay in an upright position (remember to paint any screws that will be visible on your hardware).
4. Spray away! (Note: wear grungy clothes and take off rings and bracelets). You might even want to invest in some gloves, disposable or reusable, to protect your hands since spray paint is REALLY hard to remove!
5. Let the paint dry and then check every piece at every angle (I've gotten pieces back on my door only to find a big spot that I missed...oops!).

Here is the before and after of the knobs on my kitchen cabinets in my old apartment:

Before: scratched brassy gold mess

 After: a more sophisticated looking brushed nickel

When we moved into our new house in April of this year, the first thing I wanted to tackle was, again, the door hardware. It was even worse in this house than the apartment because they were that brassy gold but then add to that the fact that they were an UGLY lever type handle. Even though I hated the look of them I wasn't about to go out and buy knew ones. 

This time I decided that I wanted to go with a darker finish. So I chose Rustoleum in Oil Rubbed Bronze. I got the idea from this brilliant woman on Pinterest who literally used this spray paint on anything in her house!

I used the same exact steps as before and this is how they came out:

 Before: cheap looking ugly gold lever

After: much more upscale 

This color spray paint actually made me love the handle once it was done! It looks black in the picture but it's more of a dark bronze brown and I absolutely LOVE it! 

I haven't finished all of the hardware in my house yet because it got really hot soon after we moved in and you're not supposed to spray paint in temperatures over 90 degrees I believe. But I got all of the downstairs fixtures done!

Well I hope you've enjoyed my first project post! I have a little bit of a backlog so I'll be posting often for a little while. Thanks for reading!