Rocking the hardware

If you have been following my blog you know I'm a sucker for all things old: old houses, old books, old art, old furniture, and more.
In keeping with that spirit I do hold a not-so-secret love for the old door hardware in our Ugly Duckling. Ages ago I talked about and showed you pictures of how upstairs not one room has matching door hardware and some of it -style-wise - even pre-dates our house which makes you or at least me wonder how and why it ended up here.
Downstairs - between living room, dining room, library, kitchen, laundry room, half-bath and vestibule - our little old house features a total of three different types of door hardware, but at least they are more in keeping with the age and style of our house than the ones found upstairs.

Just like upstairs, however, they have repeatedly been painted over or caked with paint along the edges marring their aged brass patina - a look that is flattering to nobody ever. It's just sloppy.

I was surprised how easily they came off. Despite the fact that some screws were worn down and almost blank on top, I was able to carve a slit deep enough for the screw driver head to find purchase into the top and unscrew them.
After that it was a walk in the park.
Dirt of almost one hundred years had collected between the escutcheon and the door - yuck! - where it had found a way through the keyhole, I guess, including parts of bugs and other unpleasantries. Double yuck! Fortunately, nothing was alive!

 I love love love the look of aged brass patina. There is just nothing that has that same warm honeyed glow and luster.

I didn't want to mar the hardware anymore than necessary by scraping with sharp tools nor loose too much of the patina so I gunked the hardware all up with gobs of stripper. It smells great while you wait for the paint to shrivel up and come off.

Once clean I decided to give the hardware a brief spray-over with Rustoleum's Metallic Brass spray paint. Not a full coat, mind you, just a brief misting to even out the color variations, scratches and other markings while preserving the aged patina.

 This also required only a minimal paint station set-up. I'm telling you, a quick-fix like this - set-up and goal achieved in minimal amount of time - is good for the soul as you pick away at the more Sisyphus-type projects like stripping stair case spindles or the like.

Not like I would know anything about that.
Nuh-uh.

This is the "After" - a vintage escutcheon all shiny. It appears almost new, with enough of the old patina showing through the refresher coat of paint to create the "well-loved through the ages" kind of shine that makes my heart go pitter-patter.

Tour de knobs part I

One of the intriguing and charming details about our Ugly Duckling of a house is the quirky fact that not many of our door knobs actually match. There is even one door that has a different knob for each side! It appears that downstairs has the most original aka historically correct door knobs and most of them have not been painted over. Upstairs it's a totally different story. The vast array of styles and the many layers of paint tell an entirely different story. Brass, oxidized to a beautiful aged patina, would have been the metal of choice but it's hard to tell now. Removing the layers of paint leaves a pretty ginged up finish and so I decided to spray paint the existing fixtures with oil rubbed bronze spray paint. It really looks nice and you can see how it worked out on the door knobs in the guest bedroom here

Here's a first quick look-around at the knobs upstairs

This last knob with its beautiful filigree pattern is actually really surprising. I found the exact same one on the webpage of a store in Chicago that specializes in architectural salvage and it was dated to about 1885 - 30 years before our Ugly Duckling was built.

Oh, the stories this house could tell! If only it could talk ...

Knob Mission

I don't know what it is that makes people paint wall paint over switches and other fixtures. It's a fairly easy process to take off existing hardware or, if that's too much to ask for whatever reason, to tape it off. The end result of your paint job is so much cleaner and nicer if you don't end up with gobs of paint covering your light switch or grate or door knob.

Originally all of the old door knobs in the Ugly Duckling were a shiny golden brass. Ugh, brass ... so not my thing but I do love the old knobs and their lovely detail. Unfortunately past generations of owners and tenants had painted them over so they were quite messy to look at, not to mention the detail that was lost. Replacement costs for any one of these door sets start around $90 and go up depending how fancy you like it. So for us and considering the sheer number of door knobs it was spray paint to the rescue!

Before: Lovely door knob in all its painted-over glory [it's the knob of the guest bedroom closet, in case you're curious]

Step 1: Remove as much old paint as possible. If you're concerned about lead paint [and it's an old house and it's good to be concerned], simply rub the handle with a bit of paint de-glosser. This will remove some of the paint, even out bigger globs and drops and prep the surface for its new coat. Tape off the door knob and escutcheon to make sure you won't get primer and paint on your door and/or surrounding wall. I cut a rectangle slightly larger than the door knob into a sheet of newspaper and taped around the edges. Prime it with black automobile primer for a long(er) lasting finish.

Step 2: When the primer is dry the door knob if ready for its second coat. I picked up a can of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint [same company as the primer] since I love the deep color and it's all the rage, coincidentally. Spray paint the knob in light even coats.

Step 3: Remove tape and paper and admire your handiwork! Ohhh, pretty! Rinse and repeat. Find other areas to spray paint :o)