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Kitchen Cabinets, All Hinging on the Hinge Problem!

14 years ago

Have posted pictures of the 1960's kitchen in the house we bought end of Jan., but a new "issue" has come to light that had never occured to me and not sure what, if anything, I can do.

Trying to keep the cabinets and restain to update if possible.

The knobs, drawer pulls and cabinet hinges all match. They are a hammered copper design. The hinges are a 3/8" off-set H style hinge. I can't find anything better or pulls/knobs that will even go well with them.

If I stay with the same color cabinets, I can find a way to live with them. If I go darker, they won't really go. If I want to paint, it definitely won't match.

I emailed the company to see if there was a way to change to another hinge and they said no, not really, would be a lot of work if so.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I could live with the hinges and knobs, but I really don't like those pulls, they look so "colonial"

Thanks for any suggestions/opinions.

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Comments (6)

Fori
14 years ago
What style are you going with? I like the hinges (and don't mind the pulls), but don't especially like the knobs...

If you lose the pulls AND the knobs, you'll have an easier job. If the style permits, how about glass?

Or look for arts and crafts style hardware. You might be able to get a similar color and a hammered finish in a more appealing shape. I think you could probably darken those hinges a bit (loan them to my kids for a few days?), too.

Offset hinges are still available. They aren't easy to find, but they're out there.
morgne
14 years ago
Are the pulls actually copper? You could use a chemical accelerant to age them. I believe it's liver of sulfer that will blacken copper. (you could google "turn copper black"). If they were black I think they'd look much like any other pulls.

For that matter, if the hinges were black you might be able to go with just a different black knob and the match might be close enough.
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Sorry to say, but I expect problems with adhesion for the knobs especially, not just the hinges. Items that are used everyday have a far greater chance of having the paint not adhere. And prepping metal is pretty difficult for a homeowner to do correctly. Not only do you have to bring the metal back to the original finish, you have to take it to bare metal if you want to be sure that your new paint will adhere. And not many paints have a high enough adhesion to be able to stand up to daily touching by hands and the oils and dirts that come from that. YOu'll have better luck with trying to paint the hinges than the knobs! If you have an air compressor and small sand blast cabinet, you can strip the old finish off. Then you'll have to deal with recoating, which will be difficult. Metal primers have to go on completely bare metal. Any fingerprints or anything will show up as the "fisheyes" where the paint will eventually peel off. An acid etch bath might substitute for the sandblasting, but it's pretty dangerous if you don't know exactly what you're doing as you're dealing with muriatic acid that will burn you pronto if you make an error. I know new hardware is expensive, but it's one thing that is worth paying money for rather than wasting your time attempting to refinish knobs. Hinges or light fixtures or other items that don't get touched have a much higher success rate.
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eldemila
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the ideas.

Fori, not sure how a glass knob would go with those hinges, I'm definitely the kind of person who has to see it all put together, just can't imagine it. I also would like to keep from getting anything too expensive, there are LOTS of cabinets/drawers in this kitchen, just in drawers, there are 10 of them.

Style, I guess if I can keep the cabinets stained, I'd probably lean towards a French Provencal style kitchen, darker stain, Tuscan. If neither works, I'd paint them and go with a Hollywood Regency kitchen style.

Morgne, not sure if they are "real" copper, but the color is called antique copper. I'll look in to how one would color change them chemically. I didn't think about that - too bad I don't want green cabinets, I could patina them!!! But thanks for the idea, see what I can come up with.

Here's a pic of the cabinets
User
14 years ago
You can find 3/8" inset hinges in lots of places. Rockler.com is just one. Ebay is another. I even have some satin nickel ones in a closet somewhere left over from a previous job that the homeowner changed her mind and stuck me with them. How many do you need?
ci_lantro
14 years ago
IMO, if you decide to change hdwe, you're locked into having to paint the cabinets. Don't think that you'll ever be able to balance out the different color of the wood that is underneath the existing hdwe & will be exposed if you change it out. So, I think you need to make that decision first--to paint or not to paint.
eldemila
Original Author
14 years ago
Live-wire, 60 hinges, 30 knobs and 10 pulls aka a LOT! I've seen the 3/8" hinges, but they are either uglier than what's on them already or just a different color. Satin may go well if I end up painting them. I thought about this (below), or even more of a cream with a glaze.

ci_lantro, the wood is definitely a different color under the hardware, a lot lighter. I'm going to attempt to gel stain a few pieces first and see how they come out, if I'm not crazy about the color, may try a few darker - I have nothing to lose but a few dollars and time. If it doesn't work, I'll go to plan B (see above pic) If I paint, I can only change to another 3/8" offset from what I've found as far as info - not much out there to chose from.

I'm heading back up to the house the end of next week. Will have a better idea after I get started with some of the drawers and cabinets. I can't pick flooring or a countertop til I know what will be with the cabinets, so that has to be my first course of action when I arrive.

Any other suggestions and/or opinions are always welcome.

THANKS!

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