Tuesday, April 17, 2012

doorknob towel bar project is complete!

i don't like oak. don't like oak tables, oak cabinets, oak furniture. don't like oak towel bars. oak reminds me of someone who likes oak and that's in the past.

i love old stuff. old tables, old cabinets, old furniture. old doorknobs.
so i took down the oak towel bar which has been hanging in the master bathroom for 22 years & put up old doorknobs!!!!

i've spent the past 2 weeks trying to figure out how to make them "stick"....how to attach the knob to the plate or the wall. i tried gluing with all sorts of "liquid nails" type stuff ----note to self: silicone doesn't make metal stick to metal!! i had the idea to stick a piece of wood in the knob & screw a screw into the wood & then the screw into the drywall anchor thing. but that seemed like lots of work & probably wouldn't be too successful. so i thought about it some more & was stuck.

then saturday night "a man with a circular saw" came up with the PERFECT solution!!!!! he said to go to the auto parts store & get "JB WELD", mix it & put it in the end of the knob, wait til it sets up a bit & put the screw in it. he said that would hold the screw & put a little around the knob in the plate. HE IS SO SMART!!!

so last night after work i stopped at the auto parts store & went to town mixing & gluing!! IT WORKED!!!

here are all the steps & the final result!!! i just want to stand in the bathroom & look at the doorknobs!!!! i'm going to get some smaller, darker screws for the plates so they're not so obvious.

here's how it started:


removed the bar - you can see the original wallpaper!! it was a stripe that looked old fashioned!








oh - this is the stuff i used:






here's the wall all painted


TA DA!!!!!









i absolutely LOVE it!!!!! i had to touch up a little bit of the paint where it didn't get in all the plaster cracks & in these pictures the paint is still wet, but i was in a hurry to take pictures for the blog!!! i poly'd the plates so they wouldn't rust on the towels & also so the chippy paint wouldn't all peel off.


"lucy" got some jewelry too!!! i just propped this up there on her & it looks pretty good! i think i'll center it & screw the plate on, but i have to have "a man with a hacksaw" (aka "a man with a circular saw") cut off the metal piece coming out of the knob so it'll fit. (good thing that man's got lots of saws!!!!!) i also have another glass knob that i might put on her instead of this metal one. ?? that one needs to be hacksawed too. not sure - i'll have to see which one looks better on her!!!!!



well, gotta get busy on another project.........i've got several in mind!!!! 1st up is a project out of the railroad stakes! "amwacs" asked me what i might do with them, & i replied, "? i'll think of somethin'!" to which he said, "i'm sure you will!" and i have!!!! & it only took me 2 days to think of it!!!! i'll show you soon!!!!



linking to:
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2012/04/wow-us-wednesdays-62.html

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

nb here. nice... always is to read your posts. So how do you keep the rust from getting on the towels? very cute and i love the wall fixin part :-)

dorothy erdely said...

nb: i "painted" polyeurethane on the plates to be sure they didn't rust & to protect the chipping paint from further peeling. i like the way they look all "chippy" & wanted to keep them that way! the knobs are glass or procelain so they won't rust. the metal knob doesn't appear to have any rust on it, so i think it'll be fine. it's probably brass. does brass rust?!

L.Wilson said...

cool knob hangers!

Unknown said...

Once you got the screws on the doorknobs how did you screw them into the wall? I have a bunch of door knobs I bought for this project and want to screw them into a peice of drift wood for more stability!

dorothy erdely said...

hi shaina -- i screwed drywall anchors into the wall & then screwed the doorknobs into the anchors. (they're those little plastic self-screwing type. you don't have to drill a hole, you just twist it in. i've used them for lots of projects & they are very strong. i've used the knobs for almost a year now & have had no problems - they're in there tight!