Young House Love

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Changing A Door Knocker And A Doorbell

How about a post about hunting for knockers? Nope, not those knockers. This is just the follow-up we promised yesterday about updating our door knocker and doorbell.

Here was the situation before: a nice but quite aged door knocker whose main flaw was that the previous owner’s last name that was etched into it (it’s a little hard to see because I slightly blurred it for their sake).

Knocker 1 Before

We took the engraving as a sign that it needed to be replaced, rather than salvaged, so we figured we’d use the opportunity to buy something unique and statement piece-y. First we hit up our favorite local hardware store (Pleasant’s Hardware) which had some animal kingdom inspired options that Clara couldn’t keep her hands off of. But with those prices ($188?!) Sherry and I had no trouble.

Knocker 2 Pleasants Options

Our next stop was a local architectural salvage place that’s always full of interesting pieces (Caravati’s). They had some cool options – we especially loved the chunky ring in the bottom right – but the prices were still about one digit longer than we were hoping to spend (that one was $185). I guess I never really thought about how much a door knocker could cost.

Knocker 3 Caravaits

Next we scoped out Lowe’s and Home Depot, which both had options like these. The price was certainly right, but it was the same basic urn style knocker that we already had except smaller and not as “original” looking. Plus the size difference would mean we’d have to make new holes in the door to achieve basically the same look.

Knocker 4 Home Depot

When the big box stores failed to excite us, we hunted online a little and found some interesting and slightly more affordable options at both Restoration Hardware and Anthropologie. Never did I think I’d put those two stores in the same sentence as “slightly more affordable” but compared to our first options their $50-ish price tags felt like a deal. But these were both about half the size (or less) than our original knocker, so we worried they’d look a little lost/piddly on our two-story facade.

Knocker Anthro Resto

Feeling a bit KO’d by knocker hunting, we started to look at our existing knocker with fresh eyes. A gentleman at Caravati’s had mentioned we could take it someplace to get the engraving buffed out… but maybe it was worth attempting an at-home buffing first? After all, my Dremel had some sanding pads that seemed built for a job like that.

Knocker 4 5 Dremel

Figuring we didn’t have much to lose, we removed the knocker and I attached the lowest grit sand paper to my Dremel (the one with the roughest texture) in hopes that it would scratch out the old owner’s name.

Knocker 5 Engraving Closer

Scratching achieved. I stopped at first, worrying I was permanently damaging it, but Sherry assured me that a new coat of paint should cover it up. So I charged on, er, buffed on.

Knocker 6 Starting To Buff

After a few passes with the low-grit sandpaper, I went back over with the high-grit stuff (which has a much smoother texture) to minimize the scratches by buffing them. It still had slight traces of my buffing pattern, but it certainly got smoother. It even revealed a gold finish that’s probably close to what the knocker looked like decades ago.

Knocker 7 Done Buffing

If gold was what we were going for – and if I had the patience to buff every nook and cranny – it could’ve been a very exciting discovery. Instead, I was just happy to get that engraving off so Sherry could get down to oil-rubbed-bronzing it to match the door hardware as well as some other dark-toned items on the porch (more on those in a second). She used her favorite self-priming spray paint by Rustoleum (Universal All-Surface Spray) and just applied three thin coats (more of a mist than a coat, so they built up gradually without dripping).

Knocker 8 Spraying

Once dried, the de-personalized knocker looked right at home on our new blue door. You can see how its fresh shine is reflecting the front yard – there’s even a reflection of Sherry standing in front of it taking the picture, but the area that I sanded down is exactly the same color and texture as the rest of it. Thank goodness for small use-what-you-got victories.

Knocker 9 After

Here’s a detail shot of the door open to try to capture the smooth finish for you with less of the porch reflection thing going on.

Knocker From Side

While we were at it, we decided to clean up the doorbell too. We liked the shape, so it just needed a coat of the same oil-rubbed bronze finish as the knocker to cover the sloppy looking over-painted areas that had obscured its interesting shape.

Knocker 10 Bell B And A

Sherry’s trick for keeping the button from getting painted was to press a piece of sticky-tack over it (you know, that poster putty that you use in college to hang Weezer posters?). It was much easier than trying to cut painter’s tape in a perfectly sized circle. And as you can see above, it worked out pretty nicely – she just yanked it off after the paint dried and the button was clean and unpainted underneath.

Knocker 11 Bell Sticky

So that’s how one can of $7 spray paint allowed us to keep and update two etched and painted over items on our porch. Hopefully it’ll come in handy for anyone else out there with a not-quite-there-yet door knocker or doorbell. We really like how the new darker finish helps them stand out more while tying in with the door handle, the black planters on the porch, and even the black rule around the doormat.

Door12

Now if we can just do something about that bug-infested crooked light…

Update: And since our current home didn’t come with a wired doorbell, we ended up installing a wireless Ring video doorbell. It was crazy easy and took only 5 steps.

Psst- Clara’s at it again, being all funny and cute over here.

Comments

  1. Alison says

    I can’t believe you’ve already painted your front door and you’re updating the hardware and everything! I’ve wanted to paint our front door since we moved into our house 8 months ago. Do you need to use an outdoor paint for your front door? I might just need to copy that color because its AMAZING!!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Alison! Yes, it’s best to use outdoor paint and to start early in the day (so it has time to dry before you close and lock it in the evening. The post two back from this one has some painting tips for ya. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  2. Ann L. says

    Gosh, I love getting my “clean and organized” fix following your blog! And you have great style too!

    Reply

  5. Holly says

    Hi!

    I just used your tutorial on spray painting door hardware to revamp our house numbers. Your steps made it super easy for my first spray paint project. Like your door knocker, we did not want to make new holes in our existing siding. $7 was the perfect price to update them! Thank you for sharing your expertise.

    Reply

  6. Sara says

    Thanks for the laugh! Memories of my own “brass knocker” search on Google when my husband and I moved into our first home 12 years ago. Keep up the great work!

    Reply

  7. mp says

    Our house didn’t have a doorbell when we bought it, so I bought a kit and a VERY fancy Mission-style doorbell, but the molding outside is ridged and the electrician couldn’t get it to balance properly. When I get a new door — hopefully in the next year — I’ll replace the molding too and get that doorbell I loved so a few years ago!

    Reply

  8. Jess says

    Forgive me if this has been asked in a previous post but will you share where your welcome mat is from? I’m looking for something with that black border myself. Thanks for your time!!!

    Reply

  9. karen says

    hey guys… i saw this awwwwesome home and thought of you.

    http://bit.ly/11ei32G

    i think the thing some people ‘can’t put their finger on’ is the white trim colour for the side lights and railings. i think if it was a creamier not so bright white…it would blend in more with the house. just a thought.

    Reply

  10. capturing joy with kristen duke says

    what a fun front door! love the new digs…I haven’t stopped by in a little while, but I just saw you’ll be speaking at haven–me too! I hope we get to meet up, I’ll be teaching the “photographing rooms” class;)

    Reply

  11. Anna says

    Ack! I wish I saw this post before I spray painted and could still see the old owner’s name on it (even better than before it was spay painted). I ended up throwing it away and now we have nothing but a screw hole since I can’t find anything I like either!

    Reply

  12. Jan says

    Ha Ha! I love your humor almost as much (maybe more?) than your great and informative design ideas. Love, love love your blog! Thank you for the enjoyable reading and inspiration!

    Reply

  13. Cheryl says

    Hi, after seeing this project I began thinking how the fixtures on my front door didn’t match regardless of scrubbing and trying. One day of removing, sanding, and two coats of hammered metal by Rustoleum, and my front door stands out and looks fabulous!!

    And we took the idea further, found some reasonably priced ($0.50/each) plastic frames at Michaels. Two coats later, new pics added, and my bedroom walls look amazing.

    Both projects together were less than $10.00. I love your blog and projects. Thanks for keeping me always thinking of the next project!

    Cheryl

    Reply

  14. Jenn says

    I’ve just recently gotten back into your blog. I am LOVING it. Reminds me of redoing my first house, and reminds me how much I miss it. It’s just the inspiration I need to get motivated to work on our current house.

    I had to say that I’m THRILLED to see how much you use oil-rubbed bronze. It is my favorite spray color, and I use it on everything. My husband is always teasing me. “What color are you going to paint it?” Funny.

    Anyway, love the blog! Keep up the good work!

    Reply

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