Is there a baggie, a jar, or a little tin of old drawer pulls sitting somewhere in your house right now? Mine lives in a tray on my work table, and every time I dig through it I find something I forgot I had. Old hardware is one of the best small-scale thrift finds there is, and a little attention goes a long way.
Start With a Sorting Tray
Dump everything out and sort it before you do anything else. I group by type (knobs, bar pulls, cup pulls), then by finish (brass, ceramic, glass, tarnished mystery metal). Seeing it all laid out on a tin tray with a few old saucers for the tiny screws makes it so much easier to see what you've actually got and what's worth saving.
Clean Before You Decide
Warm soapy water and a soft brush will tell you more than guessing. Some pieces that look hopeless are just dirty, and some that looked charming in the thrift store turn out to be cracked or bent once they're clean. Be honest with yourself here. A hairline crack in a ceramic knob is not going to get better.
Keep, Refresh, or Swap
Once everything is clean, sort into three piles: the keepers that are good as they are, the ones that are the right shape but the wrong finish, and the ones to pass along. The middle pile is where the fun is. A tired metal pull with good bones can look brand new with the right finish.
Give Metal Pulls a New Look
For metal hardware, I love playing with aged, collected-looking finishes instead of shiny and new. That's where Dixie Belle's Patina line comes in, with Patina Paint, Patina Spray, and Patina Guard to seal your finish once you're happy with it. Always follow the directions on the bottle for prep and cure times, and test on one pull before you do the whole set.
Mismatched Can Be the Look
You don't need a perfect matching set. A dresser with a few different glass and ceramic knobs in the same color family looks collected on purpose. And any piece too pretty to use can sit on a shelf in a little dish, because sometimes the hardware is the vintage treasure.
If you'd like to give your own old hardware a refresh, you'll find everything I mentioned in the Dixie Belle Patina Collection. And if you want more cozy, old-fashioned inspiration in your inbox, grab my free Simple Country Days printable set too.