We are going to redo the kitchen at some stage so I’ve been trying not to spend our life savings making it tolerable. The handles on the cabinets were hideous, cheap brass plated that have probably been in use since the late 80′s. I have tried multiple times over the past two years to clean and polish them but they were beyond help. The brass plating was wearing off, they were suffering from years of neglect and screaming to be replaced.

Our home was built in the 1890′s and the current kitchen was put in by previous owners in the early 70′s. I have to give them credit, they put in nice wood cabinets and they do not look their age. It is very impressive considering they were added in the 1970′s!  The only problem with the cabinets is the old pulls, they might have been a standard size back then but now they are nearly impossible to find. I found some custom made that are gorgeous but they are a whopping $22 each. I have 52 handles in my kitchen so that is $1144 plus shipping just for handles, no thanks! I am not willing to pay that much for a kitchen we plan on gutting in the future. I decided to tackle the handles the same way I do everything else in this house, paint and polyurethane.

I spray painted the handles with  Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze, once dry I brought them inside and gave them a couple of coats of a semi gloss polyurethane. I love the transformation a cheap little can of spray paint can make. This was a quick little project, especially for me. I had the handles off, painted and back on all in the same day. All I have to do now is find something else to paint!