How to Change Hardware Colors

 

You might have heard we are remodeling our kitchen. It's needed it since we moved in over 10 years ago but with one thing and another we never had the money. We still aren't doing too much; we are finally replacing the cracked Corian counters and horrible old oven, mostly work we can do ourselves. We repainted the cabinets. I wanted to replace them but got outvoted. Years ago a pipe leaked and made new ceiling drywall necessary, so when we replaced the ceiling we also added much-needed  recessed task lighting and got a new central light fixture. The old light was truly horrid: a weak, yellow 70s-style two bar florescent fixture surrounded with a fake wooden box. It was not only hideous but also didn't really work at all to illuminate the space. I fell in love with a fixture from IKEA: just a single bulb but surrounded by the most delicious shade, an oversized blue retro-style round punched all over with quatrefoil cutouts and lined inside with metallic gold. The new kitchen color scheme is taken from that shade.

The kitchen has two-toned cabinets, cream colored lower cabinets and natural maple upper cabinets. We left the upper cabinets as is and re-painted the lower ones the same color as they were. For the sink island we used the dark robin's egg blue of the IKEA shade (Mill Spring Blue by Benjamin Moore is a perfect match). The cabinetry, wall, and two bookcases that happen to fit perfectly under the counter are all re-painted blue to make them look like one big freestanding furniture piece. The island accent color leads into the family room, where it serves as a room divider. 

All the cabinet hardware is silver, as is the chandelier over the island. It's not a very common silver either; not brushed nickel and not chrome. It's almost like pewter. I wanted to bring in the gold from the IKEA shade but didn't want the expense of buying all new hardware and another light fixture. So I just added some gold using metallic furniture wax as shown in the video above. I'm doing all the hardware and the fixture over the island. That way no matter what color is in style these should work. And it brings in the gold I wanted to tie into the new light fixture.

I used Rub & Buff, which I got from Walmart. Another brand is Treasure Wax. You can find it at craft and art supply stores. It's really easy to use: just rub it on a large area or use a paint brush on details and then buff it with a soft cloth or cotton swab to set it. I changed our dining room hardware from brass to silver using this stuff about eight years ago and it hasn't rubbed off. You can change metal colors or add metallic accents to furniture, like old fashioned "antiquing" French Provincial type kits. I have gold, silver, copper, and old gold tubes. I used the regular gold, called "gold leaf" on this hardware.

So, there you have it: an easy and inexpensive way to update your light fixtures, cabinet pulls, door knobs, and pretty much anything else! It's made a big change in the look of the kitchen already and we don't even have the new countertops or re-painted doors installed yet.