Kristi from Chatfield Court is a DIY-extraordinaire! She started her DIY home journey in Illinois with a 50’s-style ranch home. Kristi and her husband renovated everything in the home from paint to entire room remodels. Now, they live in a 1946 stone cottage in North Carolina. She documents her entire journey and gives readers a glimpse into the life of a home renovator on a budget. Get some inside tips on replacing old door knobs and hinges from her blog post.
What is your design style and how it has influenced your renovating decisions?
My design style is many different styles all mashed together. I definitely go for simplicity in the design of all of my spaces. I usually just decorate with what I love. I have the farmhouse look in some spaces, traditional, cottage, industrial…I love them all. That’s what matters most to me. I want to be surrounded by things I love. As far as renovating, I try to do whatever seems to work for the home we are in. For instance, when we remodeled our Illinois kitchen we kept the same footprint, a small galley kitchen. We just updated it and added more storage for a better use of the space. It ended up looking like a brand new kitchen but it fits in with the style of the house.
When you started updating your current home with new door hardware, how did you pick the hardware?
We had old glass door knobs on all of our doors. They were in pretty bad shape, but I knew I wanted to stick with that style. I love that Nostalgic Warehouse has crystal door knobs with a brass plate- they look vintage but with a modern twist.
You give your readers a ton of great decorating advice – what advice do you think is the most beneficial with someone wanting to update their doors and door hardware in an older home?
Updating doors and hardware in an older home is not the same as working in a new build. Things are not level and you may find a lot of holes to fix, as was the case with our doors. You just need to take your time, be patient, and do the job right the first time. It may take a little longer than working with a new door, but there’s nothing like restoring your older home’s doors with beautiful new hardware.
What is your best prep advice for installing new door hardware on older doors?
The best prep advice I could give would be to make sure you have all the proper tools to do the job, including a new chisel, and make sure it’s all within reach. It will save you a ton of time when you are actually installing your hardware. We also ended up making a wooden jig, or template, so we could drill the new doorknob hole in the right spot the first time. It worked like a charm and we ended up using it for all the doors we updated.
Did you learn anything new about door hardware along the way?
Yes! We learned you should get the best quality door hardware you can afford. I’m all about budget makeovers, but you shouldn’t skimp on door hardware if you can help it.
What is your current home renovation goal and how do you pick the rooms to update?
Our goal is to shine up our little gem. Our cottage hadn’t seen a lot of love, so we are trying to bring it back without stripping away its 1946 charm. When I pick a room to update, I usually start with a space that just needs a quick, inexpensive change, like paint. That gives me the chance to really be in the space and helps me visualize what I want to do
Out of all of the design projects you have worked on so far, which was your favorite and why?
My absolute favorite design project was our kitchen remodel in our Illinois home. It took a long time; we did everything ourselves, which meant we had total control over every project. The end result was worth all of the hard work.
What is next for you, your blog, and your home renovations?
We are still renovating our home- we recently finished turning a closet into a powder room. We have also started an RV renovation project. We are turning a landscape trailer into our very own tiny home away from home. You can follow along on my blog, Chatfield Court.
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