banishing brass

As you may have inferred from all the before photos of our light fixtures, our home’s x-owners loved brass. I mean they LOVED it. And if you think a love like that stops at light fixtures, then you’ve got another thing coming... it was everywhere from the ceiling to the doorknobs, all the way down to the kick-plates on the doors. Judging by the sheer quantity of this stuff, I knew just replacing them all would in no way be a viable option, so I went hunting for a DIY solution... which I stumbled upon quite unexpectedly. I was actually on the hunt for metallic spray paint for the kitchen cabinet hinges when I discovered spray primer. That’s right. Blew me away. I may just be late in game here, but I had no idea such a thing was in existence... Well hallelujah that it is because it may just be the best thing sense.... umm, spray paint? Here’s the breakdown:

{self explanatory}

{this photo is revealing only small portion of the brass knobs that are no longer on our interior doors... have you ever tried to open a locking door without a door knob on it? I wish I had temporarily installed hidden cameras because it is wildly entertaining...}

. . .

Down to business - here is what you will need to get rid of brass DIY style:  

{A philips head screwdriver - door knob screws are pretty much all the same.}

{A spray primer, and a spray paint... I like the look of valspar’s. A lot of silvers are either too matte gray or too shiny - this one is the perfect in-between.}  

. . .

Step 1: The only prep work we did was to wash down the brass with warm soapy water - especially door knobs because of all the grime they tend to collect from the constant handling... quite dirty. After they were dried, we got them all positioned on their news paper and they were ready to go! 

Step 2: The primer went on surprisingly thick and even with just 1 coat, but I went with 2 just to be safe (the instructions say 1-3 coats are recommended). Also, I should probably add the the smell of this stuff is certainly... better than usual. The normal smell of spray paint usually makes me feel like I’m about to pass out, but this stuff smells more like banana Laffy Taffy. Yep. It sounds crazy until you smell it for yourself. Okay okay, back to the serious stuff. The instructions said that you can go ahead and apply the first coat of paint immediately after this stuff is applied - no wait time at all - another bonus. 

Step 3: We applied the pray paint according to the instruction on the can (12 inches away, don’t spray in your eyes or mouth or your kid’s eyes or mouth... you know the drill). By the time it was all said and done, my door knobs were showcasing exactly 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint and looking pretty darn good if I do say so myself! Now, don’t expect them to hold up to soccer on cement or a long-clawed pet, but for average use, they seem like they’re going to hold up pretty well. 

{and lest we forget about the kick-plate... }