HOW TO PAINT CABINET HARDWARE

I could paint the front door pumpkin orange and the dogs would notice before the rest of the family. And that is how I ended up painting my brand new cabinet hardware in my laundry room.

But let me back it up for a minute. I purchased and installed 14 cabinet pulls before I realized I did not like the oil-rubbed bronze finish.

I thought the finish would be more oil than bronze. Sadly, it was not. And based on my pumpkin orange front door hypothesis I had no concern if anyone would notice (or care). But I knew I was entering the grey zone and needed to figure out how to paint the cabinet hardware. Until I found a solution it would bug me like a mosquito. #wink

The irony is I replaced the original hardware and could have used this tip and saved myself the money of the oil rubbed bronze cabinet pulls.

Here are the original, builder grade cabinet knobs.

But I wanted a different design than the builder grade. I loved the shape of the new hardware knobs. They remind me of petite Easter eggs. They are larger than they appear in the photo. But I wish I had ordered a little larger.

I wanted black cabinet pulls; to pop against my white laundry room cabinets. 

Painting over a dozen cabinet pulls without incident (meaning no coverage gaps or drips)  sent me on a paint fix search. And, then, with no help from Pinterest or Google, I got an idea on how to paint cabinet pulls with a toothpick.

Yes a toothpick. Never underestimate the power of a toothpick.

Never under underestimate the power of a toothpick.

HOW TO PAINT CABINET HARDWARE IN MINUTES

• With an empty Amazon box,  1/2 can of black spray paint + primer and a handful of toothpicks I set up my impromptu paint station outside.
•       2. I spaced the toothpicks apart making sure to have enough room around each one to spray every crevice.
• Once the cabinet pulls were positioned, I poked each toothpick into the box; just enough to hold the cabinet pull.

The toothpick’s sharp point made it easy to press into the cardboard box.

• I placed each cabinet pull on top of the toothpicks.
• The cabinet pulls were hollow so the toothpicks handled the weight of each cabinet pull.
•  The cabinet pulls wobbled, but they did not fall down. 

RESULTS

A can of black spray paint changed the look of the cabinet hardware in seconds. 

The freshly painted cabinet hardware gave a fresh look to a space that is all about lost socks, grass stains and dirty laundry. 

After all, the laundry is the most popular room in the house.

After hundreds of loads of laundry, the spray painted cabinet hardware looks brand new. 

Love it! And, no one in the family ever knew of my initial disappointment in the finish.

I started and finished and reinstalled the pulls in a matter of a few hours. In fact, NO ONE in the family noticed I had changed the cabinet pulls from the original pulls!

If you are thinking about painting your front door, read this post. 

Here is a tip for staining small objects!