Introduction: Faux Door Knob Backplate!

About: I am an artist, builder and teacher living in Japan.

Now you can easily go buy a door knob backplate off of Amazon, but where's the fun in that?

This is how I painted a faux door knob backplate.

Supplies

You'll need

-Painters tape (to tape off the doorplate area)

-Paint brushes (C'mon!)

-Chalk paint (For texture and no priming!)

-Calcium carbonate powder or joint compound (For more texture)

-Craft paint (Your choice of color)

-Top coat (For a durable finish)

Step 1: Before and After!

I did a wainscoting remodel last year and you can find it here:

https://www.instructables.com/Wainscoting-Project/

These doors open up into my lesson room, so they're always getting dirty with fingerprints. Lots of kids come over to learn and build stuff! This textured door plate solved the dirty door problem.

Step 2: The Supplies!

I started playing around with textures on a piece of scrap wood

-Annie Sloan Graphite: If painted thickly, this dries with a nice texture.

-Calcium Carbonate Powder (or joint compound)

-Metallic Silver Paint

-Black Paint: Any shade

-Varnish (optional)

Chalk paint is great, because you won't need to prime, you can build up a nice texture and it dries rock hard.

Step 3: Step 1

I didn't measure out anything, but these textures are easy to get.

Just add the Annie Sloan Graphite to a cup and mix in the Calcium Carbonate Powder a little at a time.

Mix small batches at a time so you don't waste any paint.

Step 4: Step 2

When the mixture is dry, paint on some watered-down (diluted) black paint.

I dabbed a few dots of black paint on first followed by the same brush dipped in water.

The goal is to only darken all of the nooks and crannies.

Step 5: Last Step

When it is dry, just dry brush on the silver.

A little paint goes a long way!

The dry brush technique is when the paint brush is relatively dry, but still holds paint. You want it almost dry and barely touch it to the textures when you painting. If you put too much on, you can easily paint over it and try again.

Step 6: Dazzle-Dazzle

Razzle-Dazzle y'all!

I bought a little bottle of Americana Starlite Varnish, because...there's sparkles in it.

My teenage daughter was laughing at me too! Whatever!

I didn't use this on my faux door knob backplate, but like how it turned out.

Step 7: Tape of the Door Plate

Before you start, tape off the design.

Make sure you have it perfectly measured out! These are pics of the from and back of the door.

Step 8: Start the Door Plate

This is an easy project, but be careful not to clog the latch or deadbolt with paint.

These are the moving parts of the door knob.

It's best to let everything dry completely! Thick chalk paint will take longer to dry, so you might need to wait a full day to add another coat. Don't rush!

Step 9: Dry Brush!

Dry brush over the textures with a metallic paint. I didn't use a top coat either.

Step 10: Finished!

Not too bad!