TGIF, Everyone! If you love vintage door knobs as much as I, you can relate to this post! My plan was to replace our 1970’s brass door knob to our pantry with an antique glass knob. But as you might guess, complications arose….
I think the door knob gods hate me. What should have taken 10 minutes took me about an hour and a half. First of all, here is how the pantry door looked in the beginning…
Not terrible, but not inspiring or fun at all. Plus, the door was a bit dingy.
So, I removed the old brass door knob then realized my replacement knob wouldn’t turn using the old doorknob spindle and latch unit.
So out it came. I tried to insert the new spindle and latch unit but it was too big. I had to enlarge the hole with a bigger drill bit. And clean up the mess from that. Now the opening was snug, but fit. Then I had to touch up paint around the old doorknob opening because you could see the raw wood behind where the new escutcheon would go and wait for it to dry.
For reference here is a diagram of the door parts. I was able to use the existing strike plate. Thank goodness.
This is the door knob I was going to use.
I planned on using the glass knobs, but I was torn between the two options. I loved the rusty goodness of the knob and escutcheon on the left. Plus, they came together as a set and it looked more natural together than the glass knob. And because the opening of the knob hole was too big, I needed to use the escutcheon to mask the fact.
After much deliberation, I chose the rusty knob combination above on the left. Then the challenge was to find the perfect combination of screws, knobs, etc. from my stash. This took a shocking amount of time. Wine helped.
After much ado, I finally got the door knob attached to the pantry door. As you can see, only two of the four screws made their way into the escutcheon. Flat head screws are so hard to work with so I’ll need my husband’s muscle to get the rest of the screws installed. Also, when you turn the knob and pull, the door knob comes off in your hand because none of the screws fit these knobs. There should be a tiny screw that secures the knob to the spindle, but they were missing. So, a trip to the hardware store is in order. One might think with all of the screws I have on hand that two would match. They do not. But other than those minor details, isn’t it divine?
Before and After. Much better, right?
Ok, maybe it’s not that big of a difference, but I love it. It makes me feel better about the hollow core door. That and my chalkboard. Once I find the right screws, it will be perfect! Now off to find a new project…..
Do you have a project waiting in the wings? Please share! Have a lovely weekend. xo Dell