Spray Painting Our Exterior Sconce and Door Knob

I get a lot of questions about which brass spray I used for the exterior fixtures, where the door knob is from, and if I used a weather proof enamel. Today, I am going to share all of the details of this simple DIY so that I have a full blog post to refer to when ya'll have questions!

As I chatted about in this post, I wanted brass fixtures in order to bring in the warmth of the brown roof. It was difficult to find a brass light that attractive, was not overtly expensive, and was rated for exterior use. Finally, I decided to give gold spray paint a try!

I picked up this inexpensive sconce for less than $40. I spray painted this sconce with approximately 3 coats this spray paint, then 2 coats of this clear, protective enamel. Simple.

It turned out wonderfully! I was thrilled. Optimistic, I hopped on amazon and hunted for an inexpensive, modern door knob for the front door. I ordered this one for under $100. I tried the same technique on this piece.

The door knob looked great at first; I thought to be victorious. However, after just a few days of wear and tear, it didn't look great. The finish became "blochy" and it felt very sticky/tacky. The paint was chipping, showing glimpses of the black underneath (see picture below).

Discouraged, I did some more research. I read multiple blog posts, then pursued the paint aisles of two local hardware stores. I picked up this spray paint rated for indoor/outdoor. I sanded down the door knob, sprayed with one very thin coat of this primer (which I did not do the first time), and then two thin coats of the new spray paint. I decided not to use the clear enamel as I am pretty sure that it was to blame for the "tacky" texture.

This method worked WAY better! I could tell right away the finish was much tougher and more permanent! Ah, sweet success. It has been ~4 months, we have had multiple severe rain/thunder storms, and it has held up wonderfully. I will report back in a few months to see how these items do with the winter season!