New Hardware on Living Room Built-ins

Sometimes, it doesn't take a full-scale renovation to customize a space into one that reflects our taste, and today I'm going to share details on how a simple change of hardware in our living room (as shown above) transformed a set of built-ins from dated to classic.

There are two built-in bookcases to the right of the fireplace in the living room and, except for bearing their original barn-style hardware, they were in great shape. But, the dated hardware had to go. Instead, had vintage-inspired cabinet latches in mind as replacements.

 I got quickly to work removing the barn-style hinges and latches. Decades of paint left a rough, uneven finish once I removed the hardware that I attacked with putty and a brief sanding.

After filling the holes left from the previous hinges, we got to work notching out the frame of cabinets for the new inside-mounted hinges. Adam screwed the hinges onto each of the 4 cabinet doors. Then, he used a utility knife to score the wood inside the cabinet where the hinges would hang. He took his chisel to notch out wood so that the hinges would be inset (and therefore flush) with the frame of the cabinet.

We worked together to attach the hinged door to the frames in the notched areas on the cabinets. Next, I tackled painting the fronts of the cabinets to make them look as good as new. Once the paint dried, Adam got to hanging the new hardware and I think we can all agree that the traditional-but-understated brass cupboard latches that we chose were perfect for the cabinets. FYI: the latches were from Lowe's (in the same aisle as the brass hinges) and...get this...they were only about $5 a piece!

Little changes like this are helping to shape this house into a home that reflects who we are.