I HATE brass! And I really hate brass combined with white.
While I love my L-shape white kitchen, it is outdated. Nothing says 1970 like brass. Because this was a custom built home (1971), the owner designed her kitchen with TONS of cabinets. Back then the hardware was installed on the outside. See all the hinges? There are 84 BRASS hinges and 70 BRASS knobs. UGH! What to do on a shoestring budget? It would be years before we could update our cabinets. The photo below almost makes me dizzy with all these hinges.
Because I'm a DIY girl I subscribe to quite a few DIY interior blogs. Last week I received a post from Hyphen Interiors about the wonders of Rub'n Buff. It's a product that rubs on and buffs off. It comes in about 20 colors, mostly metallic. It is made of carnauba waxes, metallic powders and pigments creating a truly metallic finish, (unlike metallic spray paint which looks like paint), this actually looks like metal. Just 1/2 oz can cover up to 20 square feet. I had to try it. I Googled Rub'n Buff and found many other DIY blogs on this stuff and studied how to use it. I ordered mine on MisterArt.com because I got each tube for $3.91 but it usually retails for over $5. I ordered Silver Leaf, Pewter, Antique Gold, Spanish Copper, and Patina, oh, and Ebony which is a high gloss back with no metallic. It shipped quickly; I couldn't wait to get started.
I decided to use Silver Leaf in the kitchen to match the stainless steel sink and trim on appliances. Plus I just like silver with white. I did my first knob and my husband and I were just amazed! I painted it on very thinly with a dry brush and buffed it off immediately with an old t-shirt. My old brass hardware now looked like new nickel plated hardware. My entire kitchen will only cost me $3.91! Score! In the last 24 hours I've done over 40 knobs.... 30 to go and at least 40 more hinges. My back is on fire but it is so worth it to make such a huge impact for so little money.
What do you think? It's so soft on the eyes now. I'll post another photo when the entire kitchen is done. The hinges actually no longer bother me now that they are silver.
I can't wait to change all the brass in my home. I have 5 sconces, a ceramic and brass chandelier, a brass fire place frame, etc, etc, etc. I will post the transformations as they happen. Rub'n Buff is my new obsession!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Thank you so much. I have the same kitchen cabinets and hardware. Been trying to think of an inexpensive fix. Can't wait to try it. Let us know how the other finishes turn out. I wonder what Patina will look like.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle
Hey Lynna, buy extra because today when I got butter on my fingers and opened a drawer some of the silver leaf came off. I need to go back over it. When your hands are dry though, no transfer. Still worth it for such an improved look. You can buy it at Hobby Lobby too if you don't want to buy online.
DeleteLynna, just sprayed Glossy Clear Protectant Seal over all the knobs. Now nothing comes off.
DeleteLooks great. Less distracting then all gold.
ReplyDeleteI love silver with white. Congrats on the
commercial work. That was a great post. So
interesting.
Thanks Suzie!
ReplyDeleteWhen you did the hinges, did you take them off the doors? This is such a great idea - I can't find the right size hinges to fit our cabinets!
ReplyDeleteI did not take the hinges off, just taped around them. Easy! In fact, the hinges look the best. The Rub N Buff Has worn off the most used handles so I am slowly replacing them with nickel handles but I'm leaving the hinges because they look great and no wearing off of rub. Go for it!
DeleteHi Michelle - I'm just about to try to paint my kitchen cabinet hinges in the white Rub and Buff. Is that the colour you used? Is it 1)sand 2)tape 3)rub 4) buff? Do you do 2 coats of the rub? And how have they held up now? Thanks for your advice, Louise
DeleteI love rub and buff as well. I had to order it from US to Poland, luckily my co-worker helped with shipping within his luggage.
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
Here I am years later trying to figure out if I need to seal drawer handles they I "Rub n Buff"ed (silver leaf) on the 1930s chest of drawrers for my kid's room. I noticed you mentioned in one response that you sealed the pulls and nothing came off anymore but in a response the following year to another commentor you said it had mostly worn off the most used pulls and were slowly replacing them. Does that mean sealing them won't help anyway? Should I spray paint them instead? Mine are already finished but I don't want to use them if they'll eventually stain or stay on fingers and be inadvertently ingested by my daughter. can you offer a recommendation?
ReplyDelete