Cabinet hardware suggestions?

[Lynzee]

Painting the cabinets in the "cosmetically scary" kitchen and need to use the old hardware (remember my husband and the black bedroom?). The hardware is metal--may have been gold or brass at one time but not anymore. Was thinking I might clean it, then spray paint it--there are so many choices available now in spray paints. The cabinets will be white. Any suggestions for sprucing up the hardware?

Thanks,
Lynz

[Lisa S]

Do you have light fixtures that you are matching? What color is your faucet? How 'bout your floor? Personally, I like black because it looks nice with everything.

[Lynzee]

:o Paint fumes must have gotten to me--didn't even occur to me to provide that information. Would probably help a lot, wouldn't it?

The light fixtures are the lovely fluorescent ones my brother put in, so no matching there. The faucet is just a standard faucet--chrome, maybe? The floor (until I can get rid of it!) is ceramic tile--a sand/white/tan swirl with tan grout. The floor will be natural hardwood at some point. Stove is white with black trim. Refrigerator will be white when this project is finished :D , handles are black.

I thought about black but wasn't sure...

Lynz

[Lisa S]

Oh Lynzee! I found a really neat thing at Target this week. It's a chrome lamp base with a white shade that stands about 4 inches tall. I bought it for my son's room, but loved it so much that I went out and got two more. I put one in the kitchen and the other in my old armiore that holds my t.v. in the living room. Would something like that look nice in your kitchen? I had florescents in my kitchen before we redid it and I just simply NEVER turned them on.

I like the idea of black hardware... :)

[Karinbob]

I like chrome with the white cabinets but black is nice too. I have painted handles before and they turned out great! Thank heavens for all the paint choices that we have now.

Good luck.

[Kristen]

I just love the brushed nickel finish... I am not sure if you can find a spray paint out there, but it's worth a shot.

[Lynzee]

The lamp sounds perfect, Lisa! Will stop at Target while I'm out and about tomorrow. I hate the fluorescent lights but, for now, it's fluorescent light or no light. Am thinking that could change tomorrow... :D Thanks!

Thanks so much for the hardware suggestions, everyone. Never really gave cabinet hardware much thought until now. How can something so small be such a major decision?! :eek:

Gonna have to get me some of those shoes...

:D
Lynz

[Lisa S]

I was looking at the lamp this morning and realized that it's more like 6 or 7 inches tall...

I went to tons of different hardware supply stores when we redid the kitchen. I brought at least 5 knobs and pulls home to try before we picked the right one. It's a hard decision. You'll pick the right color!

There's no place like home, there's no place like home. (Good shoe segue, huh?)
:p

[ChrisNH53]

How about painting them black and then very lightly dry brushing some matte silver on them that will just kind of highlight them. I did that on bureau hardware once and it looked great. The black alone I didn't like but as soon as I added a little silver they came alive.

[Lynzee]

Chris, what is this "dry brush" thing of which you speak? And what kind of silver paint? Like a craft paint? Please provide more info. Perhaps I can have the best of both worlds... :D

TIA,
Lynz

[ChrisNH53]

What I used was spray paint. You spray the handles all black. The you spray silver into a plastic plate or bowl and take a brush and lightly dip it into the silver. The on a paper towel you brush most of the paint off and when you think there can be no more paint left you brush it across the handle and some of the silver will still be there and it will only highlight different parts of the handle. You can keep repeating this until you have the look you want. The secret to dry brushing is to get most of the paint off the brush after you have put it on which makes no sense I know but it works!!

[Lynzee]

Got it! I've got some old hinges in the shed that I can try it on to see if I can do it. Thanks, Chris! Will let you know how it goes!

:D
Lynz