Lindsay Ballard, Author at Makely

Spray paint is one of my favorite ways to transform something old into something brand new. It’s cheap, easy and quick, so I don’t have to spend a lot of money or time to breathe new life into an item that’s seen better days.

When spray painting smaller objects, such as drawer pulls or cabinet knobs, I always run into issues with making sure they will stand straight so the paint goes on evenly and smooth. Is it just me or can those little things be top heavy and fall over in the slightest breeze? Anyway, I finally had an a-ha moment and figured out how to hold them in place while being able to paint their entire surfaces at the same time.

How to Spray Paint Drawer Pulls and Cabinet Knobs

1. Find a flat surface of some kind that you don’t mind putting nails into. Try to use something you have on hand – there’s no need to buy something new for this. I had a sheet of foam core, so that’s what I used. An empty cardboard box, a thin scrap of wood or a small piece of styrofoam would work, too.

2. If your pulls have more than one screw hole, measure the distance between them and then draw a straight line that length on your surface. Draw the same number of lines as pulls, making sure you leave enough space between them that the pulls will fit without touching (you will later see that I had to move some of mine).

3. Using small nails (I used roofing nails), poke a hole at the end of each line. Then, push nails through the bottom of your surface. Slip your pulls over the nails.

4. Carry your surface outside. You can happily spray away knowing that your pulls won’t fall over.

5. Let your pulls dry about an hour, and they are ready to go onto your project. Hopefully, you will be as happy with your finished results as I am with mine!

A reader asked last week how I sprayed the pulls for my yellow Miss Matched dresser without them sticking. They were tarnished brass, so I cleaned them with steel wool. Then, I spray primed them with the hinged pull pushed up, waited for that to dry, and then primed them with the pull facing down. Once the primer was dry, I repeated the process with flat paint. My personal experience has been that gloss spray paint is more tacky than flat paint, so that may be why some hinged pulls tend to stick.

What has been your experience with painting small, top heavy items like drawer pulls and knobs?

Joining Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

At face value, I spend most of my time on this blog talking about easy DIY decorating projects and crafts. These projects, be they small or large, are how I enjoy spending my “free time” during the week, and I really love being able to detail them for you here so that you can use some of the same ideas (or build upon them) for your own home.

What I really never talk about on this blog is what actually goes into blogging. I probably spend a few hours each evening working on editing photos, writing posts, and generally updating backend stuff. It’s not nearly as exciting as the projects, but it’s one of those necessary evils of blogging. However, in the 2 1/2 years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve learned a lot about computer nerd stuff that used to seem so foreign to me, like HTML and CSS, so I’m happily embracing my nerdiness these days.

Just like I enjoy passing along project tutorials to you, I’m happy to today be able to pass along a blogging tutorial with some of my new found knowledge. I have joined Kristi at Creative Kristi in her “Spread Bloggy Love” series today. I have put together a post on how to create your own “Grab My Button” code, like the one in my sidebar and the one shown below (thank you to my friend Cindy at Cinsarah for creating the gorgeous button for me):

I know that all of you are not bloggers yourself, but perhaps you have a friend or family member who would be interested in learning a little bit of easy HTML to add something fun to their blog – just pass along this post to them! And if not, I’ll be back tomorrow with some more decorating DIY tips and tricks.

Have a great Monday, friends! 🙂