Pages

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

20 ORB Door Knobs for less than $20

        
           When Matt and I bought a foreclosed home in January, we knew we had a year of home improvement projects ahead of us.  After moving in and forking out all of the intial closing cost, our goal was to complete the following projects in one year's time: buy appliances, buy blinds, fix water damage in basement, paint the entire house, furnish and decorate the entire house, update bathrooms, redo kitchen cabinets, update all light fixtures and update all hardware.  Most of the things on our list are small cosmetic issues, but they have certainly consumed much of our time and money this year.  Year two will involve things like replacing the floors and doing some major landscaping.  Bigger projects will include fencing in the backyard and building a better deck and patio area.  And of course, long term projects include finishing the unfinished basement, but for now, we have plenty of smaller projects keeping us busy.
        We were recently at the point in our home improvement projects that we were ready to update the hardware.  We had twenty door knobs to update from brass to ORB, and at $15-20 a door knob, the cost of those door knobs really adds up.  It would have easily cost us around $300 to replace all of the door knobs. 
       BUT....then, I discovered ORB spray paint!  If you'v been around blog land for awhile, I'm sure you've heard of this stuff.  But for those of you who haven't heard about it, I know what you are thinking....spray paint really?  To which I reply....YES, really!  Two cans of paint covered all twenty door knobs.  At $7 per can of paint, two cans of paint cost as much as replacing one door knob.  That's a savings of 95%!  I'm sure your wondering if it looks as good as the real oil rubbed bronze door knobs.   Well, you can tell a slight difference if you hold up the painted door knob to the original - I found that out when I painted one door knob and took it to Lowe’s to compare - but the difference isn't noticeable to the average person entering your home.  In other words, no one is going to notice you used spray paint unless you tell them.  In my mind, that made this spray paint project a huge success! 

I spray painted the door knobs oil rubbed bronze using Rust-oleum spray paint from Lowe's.


Tip: toilet paper tubes help keep the door knobs in standing postion for painting.


After painting one door knob and liking the results, I took off all twenty door knobs and got them ready for their paint job.


Good bye ugly brass......Hello oil rubbed bronze ;)
After letting the door knobs dry for several hours, they were ready to go back on the doors.

I love the updated look, and I think this project turned out pretty good.

Yes, pretty good indeed!  $14 beats $300 any day;)

25 comments:

  1. Great job! Looks nice!
    Stacey of Embracing Change

    ReplyDelete
  2. We did this in our kitchen a few years ago-got rid of that ugly shiny brass. What a big difference. Now the paint is starting to rub off here and there. I would love to try with our door handles, but they are levers and I don't know if they would look as nice as yours. May be worth a try.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this idea. we have ugly brass door knobs as well and we want to replace the doors too, which really adds up. Maybe I can try this with our door knobs as a temporary fix. The only thing I wonder about is the locks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just found your blog and am your newest follower. This is such a great idea. I'm forwarding this to my friend who has been wanting to replace her brass door knobs. Thanks for creating such a fabulous blog full of inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  5. We did this same thing a few years ago. But we made a wooden stand to hold the knobs. So much cheaper!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! These turned out great! I need to do this to mine! Thanks for sharing!
    Stephanaie @ Ladywiththeredrocker.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. This turned out beautifully!

    Jenny
    www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. These are great! I was looking to do this a couple of weeks ago as I had to replace some chair wheels! I will be this out very this soon! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love that look! Great improvement! Newest follower here. Would love it if you would stop by and share this at my link party going on right now :) http://everything-underthemoon.blogspot.com/2011/10/bedazzle-me-monday-4.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. FABULOUS! I am doing this THIS WEEKEND! I too have priced doorknobs, have the exact same ones as you, and they were way too much! This looks GREAT! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH for sharing this!
    :0)
    ~robin

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love this! I'm going to have to do this. We have the ugly brass, but have just lived with them since changing out was not in our budget. Not a fun thing to buy anyways.

    Melissa
    www.lovebugliving.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great tip for using TP rolls to hold them up. Looks great! Enjoy your 'new' knobs! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. DId you have to do the same with the hinges?

    ReplyDelete
  14. I used Hammered Bronze spray paint foe some ugly floor heat vents-what an improvement.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Do you think this would work on a brass fireplace doors, some of it is tarnished and we are tired of the brass look?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I two bought a house full of brass--I have used this SP for ceiling fans, closet knobs, door knobs-lever style, shower stall, faucets, vents, fireplace, and I even sprayed the paint into a container and painted it on my hinges--looks WONDERFUL and we are up to year three!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. WOW! I love how the hardware turned out! I have like a pewter look on all my door knobs and I'm not really feelin' it; thanks for inspiring me to think of a more cost effective update!!

    Take care,
    Christina
    designingbynumbers.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Looks wonderful! Visiting from NT Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love how they turned out! A little spray paint can make a huge difference! Thanks so much for linking up with us at Show & Share! Can't wait to see you again on Wednesday!

    Marie
    mylilpinkpocket.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have to let you know...THANKS TO YOU, I did this YESTERDAY for all of the knobs in my house and I LOOOOOVE it! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! It was super easy, didn't take long at all, and the results are amazing! I would have had no idea what spray paint to use so I truly thank you for posting this, my house thanks you too! :0)
    ~robin

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Rachel, the doorknobs look absolutely fantastic. Thanks for sharing how you got them to look this way. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris

    ReplyDelete
  22. They look great! I am new to blog land and just recently discovered ORB. We have been in our home for 14 years and finally started major renovations in the summer of 2010. The cost of light switch covers, floor registers and door hardware were not in the budget at the time. Thus we have lived with brass and white vents etc. my first project was the register covers and now I am hooked! I have completed the entire main floor. We have lever door handles and they look amazing! We are in the middle of an exterior facelift and I am currently painting the house numbers, mailbox and light fixtures outside...what a savings. The paint is twice the cost in Canada but still provides a massive savings!

    ReplyDelete
  23. A cottage house will benefit from wooden interior doors with wrought iron handles that keep with the style of the home. Modern homes, on the other hand, will benefit from stainless steel handles that show off the minimalistic style.

    ReplyDelete
  24. This is a very nice blog presentation and very helpful. Quality Inspection is most important to maintain the quality of home improvement.
    www.adonaihardware.com

    ReplyDelete