How to Restore Antique Hardware For Dresser

Written byStephanie Hofer Updated

Incorporating refinished furniture into a room design is one of our most favorite things! Bringing in that one item that just needs a little bit of love really adds a lot of character to any space. What’s even better, when we are able to salvage the antique hardware!

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As you know, we’re doing a bedroom makeover for my Little Miss. I found this French provincial dresser through the facebook marketplace.

antique hardware before restoring on a white painted French provincial dresser.

At first glance it didn’t look too bad. But upon closer inspection, the paint job really was in poor shape.

We decided to strip it down to the bare wood for a more modern natural look. We decided to keep the antique hardware that was originally on the dresser to maintain that vintage look.

More DIY Projects in this Bedroom Makeover

To see more highlights from this bedroom makeover click any link below.

How To Clean Antique Hardware

The original antique hardware had been painted silver from a previous makeover. Once we removed them from the dresser, we noticed that the backside of the handles were an antique bronze color.

Restoring antique hardware for dresser, woman places hardware in a crockpot and fills with water.

So, we decided to strip the paint from the antique hardware with a little trick my uncle taught us.

Did you know that paint will loosen and come off of hardware when it’s boiled?

Yep, sounds weird I know, but it really works!

We simply placed all the hardware into a crockpot filled with a little water. After it had boiled a couple hours we took a wire brush to scrub off all the silver paint.

This can easily be done on the stove as well, the crockpot just allowed me to start it and forget about it, without worrying about water boiling over while I was busy doing other things.

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Scrub with Brush

Antique hardware before and after removing paint with a scrub brush.

Remove the hardware from the hot water, cool slightly until you can handle it and scrub off old paint and grim.

Here’s a look at the hardware. The upper handle has been cleaned and all silver paint scrubbed off.

The bottom handle has just come out of the crockpot and has not been scrubbed yet.

Boiling the antique hardware easily softened the paint. You can see the original finish already showing through.

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Matching Antique Hardware

Patched holes in dresser drawer from original hardware.

Upon stripping the paint from the drawers, we also discovered we had a little dilemma on our hands.

We noticed as the dresser had previously been refinished, that the top drawer at one point likely did have the same antique hardware installed.

The two holes had been puttied in and then painted over.

Well, being that we were going for that raw wood finish, we had to come up with a plan to cover those unsightly holes!

Patch holes from original hardware in dresser drawer.

Not only were these holes unsightly, but the new hole that had been drilled for the knob wasn’t even centered between the two existing holes!

Vintage inspired new hardware is made to fit drawer by grinding off the edge a little. It was secured to scrap wood to keep it in place while making the adjustments.

We took a little trip to Hobby Lobby to scavenge through their seemingly endless supply of handles and knobs.

Again, due to the curvature of the drawers, I wasn’t able to find any handles that would fit quite right. However, I found a scalloped glass knob.

The knob really looks great with the antique hardware…except we were still left with the two unsightly holes on each side of the knob!

Hobby Lobby also had these antique looking hinges. I grabbed all they had (literally) and brought them home to see if we could remedy our problem.

They too looked great with the existing hardware as well as the new knobs we found. However, they were a little large and overpowered the other handles.

Trying to come up with an idea ourselves on how we’d be able to use these hinges on both sides of the knobs, covering the holes, we ended up clueless. 

So, we decided to call my Dad over (the master problem solver himself), to help us come up with a solution.

As always, he had a great idea! We secured the hinges to a scrap piece of wood to hold it into place, while he used his  grinder tool to cut through the hinges. Voila, just like that, we’d now be able to use them to cover those holes!

Woman touches up new hardware to match the antique hardware with a swab and oil-rubbed bronze spray paint.

The raw edge of the hinges were sanded down to remove any sharp edges, and then we dabbed a little oil rubbed bronze spray paint onto the edge to mask the silver finish that had been exposed.

antique hardware before restoring on a white painted French provincial dresser.

Again here’s a look at the antique hardware before this dresser makeover began.

Restored Antique Hardware

The dresser and antique hardware after the furniture has been restored.

And here’s the after! I’m so glad we were able to clean up the existing hardware and salvage what we had.

The after: fixing dresser hardware on the raw wood dresser.

I may be even more glad that our hardware dilemma was solved for this top drawer! I love the combination of the glass knob with the hinges.

They coordinate really well with the original antique hardware, and you wouldn’t even know that we used them to cover up those unsightly holes!

The beautifully restored natural wood finish dresser with the original antique hardware in a bedroom with a navy blue accent wall.

Don’t you just love this natural wood look? It’s so refreshing and I love how the dresser now has so much more detail exposed with the visible wood grain.

If you’d like to see the full dresser makeover, including how we stripped the paint and bleached the wood, visit the original post here.

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Pinterest image, before and after restored antique hardware.

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I’m a DIY enthusiast at heart—after all it’s in my DNA, thanks to my parents and grandparents who are avid DIYers. I’m also a devoted wife and mother of three amazing kids who keep me on my toes. My DIY journey began after my husband, Dan and I bought our first home. With high-end taste and a tight budget, I was determined to transform our builder-grade space with creativity and minimal cost. There’s nothing more satisfying than taking something unwanted and making it into a cherished piece, whether I’m restoring a vintage dresser or upcycling everyday finds.

I’m passionate about sharing what I’ve learned along the way and helping others create beautiful spaces without breaking the bank! When I’m not hunting for new DIY projects, I love spending time outdoors with my family, hiking, snowshoeing, and traveling.

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