Our new Desert House is beautiful, but we were not a fan of all the silver hardware. Our vibe is much more of a matte black, you feel me? But to replace ALL of the hardware throughout the house, would easily cost us at least $5,000 for everything we wanted to change out. — at that price it was not a necessity.

But I was determined, so I took to the web to research some other options. I read a bunch of different articles with a bunch of different information in them. I took pieces and advice from a variety of what I read, and created my own plan.

After some initial trial and error, I figured it out and it turned out AMAZING!

The first project that I completed was all of the indoor door handles. So, that is how I will explain this entire tutorial.

PS: I documented the entire process on Instagram Stories and Saved to my highlight called “DIY Hardware” check it out on my page: https://www.instagram.com/ericamariedaily

How Do They Hold Up?

I will update the blog every month to keep you posted on how well it holds up.

If they chip I plan to have a small paint brush for touch ups… and if it all goes wrong for some reason, we will upgrade them at that point.

But, through my research people have said the methods that I used have held up for years.

Let me tell you, there is definitely a wrong and a right way to do this. Don’t just think you can spray paint with any old spray paint and it will last.

I tested it first on the cheapest hardware so that if we have to replace them it isn’t a big deal. If they hold up, I will be doing it on all of the hardware! That is where the real savings comes in!

What You’ll Need:

I linked everything to Home Depot so you can 1 Stop Shop. They have FREE same day store pickup, which I love because I can’t ever seem to find things at the store and that way you know it is all in stock too!

OR, click these links and you can figure out which aisle and bay the item is at in your store! Learn more about this in my article “How to shop at Home Depot”

• Krud Kutter $6.91 – to clean used handles.
• Sanding Sponge Coarse Grit 2 pack $7.97 – to do a quick sanding. I got the 2 pack so that Raf could help 😉
• Rust-Oleum Self Etching Primer $5.28 – this is the key to making these last.
• Rust-Oleum All Surface Satin Paint & Primer in One $5.98 (I used the color Black, linked here) – this is the color that you will be transforming your hardware to)
• Rust-Oleum Surface Dead Flat Clear Topcoat Spray Paint $7.98 – to protect the paint from scratches and dings. (they also make a hammered one, it you are going for that look)
• Strike Plates $2.65 – Because the strike plate takes a beating, these will not hold up at all with painting, so you do need to purchase new ones in the color that you desire.
• Plastic Drop Cloth $2.98 – to protect wherever you are spraying
• Box – To cut into and hold the handles that have the bolting mechanism.
• Box Cutter $1.98 – to cut the box.
• N95 Mask – I wouldn’t previously have said to use this, but due to my recent health journey, it is important to protect your body from harmful chemicals when you can. Just do it! (I actually couldn’t get one because of covid but I used my current mask that I had, even though it really didn’t do anything! So, I purchased the Paint Project Respirator Mask listed next.)
• Paint Project Respirator Mask $31.48 – If you plan on doing more painting projects you might as well grab this one.
• Rag – This is for re-installing and making sure that you don’t ding the knob when screwing in.

The Three Amigos!

These are the 3 spray paints that we will use for this project. I like to see an example of the can so I figured I would post one for you guys to reference even though they are linked!

Total Cost for our project of 10 sets of door handles was: $72.68 (verses $34.99 per door handle for new black ones)

(We already had a few things off the list from other projects)

I used 2 cans of all of the Rust Oleum products for the handles, but still had some extra left from the second can for future projects.

Step 1: Prep

1). Remove Door Handles

If the handle with the rods in it get stuck, push in the latch and it will loosen them.

2).Clean Door handles with Krud Kutter

This will help to ensure you get anything off of the top surface so that we can sand properly and ensure that

3). Sand The Hardware

Anytime I see sanding, I think oh gosh this is going to be a lot of work! But I promise this is easy. Especially with the sanding sponge. You just need to do a quick brush over to rough up the surface and break apart the clear coat. This will help the next layer stick better and ensure this holds up over time.

4). Brush or blow off any dust from sanding

We don’t want that dust to get stuck under the spray paint, and make the surface uneven.

Step 2: The Set Up

1). Plastic Drop Cloth:

I used a big box for the bottom because we had one from a large piece of furniture, but I am guessing most people don’t have this laying around so I would use a plastic drop cloth.

2). The Box

Cut a 3 inch by half inch slot into the bottom of a box. This is what you will stick the door handle sides that have the bolting mechanism (the metal piece that extends from the center of the doorknob into the door frame latch hole to keep the door closed.)

OR STYROFOAM

For other types of hardware like knobs, I have seen people use styrofoam and it works wonderful!

Step 3: Self Etching Primer

This is the star of the show! This is what is going to make the spray paint color stick and last!

PRO TIP: Spray the underneath of the handle first

I would always hold the base and flip it upside down so that I could get underneath. Then I set it down to spray the rest of it. That way, you are not trying to spray underneath and trying to hold something that is wet already.

• Shake the can well often
• Do a test spray in the air to make sure it is spraying properly and not chunky
• Spray about 8-12 inches away
• Spray 3 coats
• Wait 5 mins before spraying the next coat

It is dry to the touch within 30 minutes. However, I opted to wait 24 hours before spraying on the color.

Step 4: The Color Coat

Now the magic really happens. Just like the previous step, I always sprayed the underneath of the handle first, then set it down to spray the rest.

• Shake the can well often
• Do a test spray in the air to make sure it is spraying properly and not chunky
• Spray about 8-12 inches away
• Spray 3 coats
• Wait 2 hours before spraying the next coat (This spray seemed to need more time to dry)

I would definitely wait 24 hours to make sure that this coat drys all the way.

Step 5: Clear Protective Coat

This step is second most important because this is really the layer that is going to prevent chips and dings getting to the colored layer. So I was a rebel and did about 4-5 thick coats. The more the merrier in this case I felt 🤷‍♀️

Just like the previous steps, I always sprayed the underneath of the handle first, then set it down to spray the rest.

• Shake the can well often
• Do a test spray in the air to make sure it is spraying properly and not chunky
• Spray about 8-12 inches away
• Spray 3 coats
• Wait 5 mins before spraying the next coat

It is dry to the touch within 30 minutes. However, I opted to wait 24 hours before spraying on the color.

Step 6: Other Parts

Screws: I opted to just do a quick sand, and then spray over with the black and clear coat on the heads of the nails. You could also just buy black screws, as they are not too expensive. Be sure and bring the current screws with you so that you get the correct size.

Strike Plates: Because the strike plate takes a beating, these will not hold up at all with painting, so you do need to purchase new ones in the color that you desire.

Step 7: Reinstall

Once you allow for proper drying, it is time to see your beautiful work in action!

Use a Rag: We used a rag to put over the door handle while screwing back in to prevent the screw driver (or drill) from dinging the handle and chipping it before we were even done!

That’s it! It was really quite simple! I will be doing our faucets, shower fixtures, and other bathroom fixtures with this same process as well!

Tag me @ericamariedaily in your photos so I can see your DIY Spray Painted Handles!

Desert House DIY Door Handles Home Decor Spray Painting Hardware The Gryffin