15 Creative Ways to Use Vintage Doorknobs

Do you love the look and feel and aura of vintage items…but sometimes get lost in trying to figure out what to actually do with those items? This is a struggle for many people.

Vintage Doorknobs

While creatively reusing and repurposing things is commendable for its green effect on the environment, it can be a challenge to make the old items successful in their new “life”…rather than a pile of junk that isn’t working at all. Take vintage doorknobs, for example. These are imbued with unmatchable patina and perfect imperfections, but doorknobs can sometimes be tricky to reuse.

Here are a few creative ways to use, and showcase, your beautiful vintage doorknobs:

Bouquet of Vintage Doorknobs.

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

Isn’t this a charming bit of history-filled whimsy? Vintage doorknobs create a similar “flowery” silhouette as a real bouquet and thus make an unexpected yet successful candidate for floral imitation. I like how this method embraces non-matching doorknob collections. This doorknob bouquet is particularly charming set within a colorful vintage glass vase.Available for 45$.

Vintage Doorknobs as Photo or Placecard Holders.

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

Turning the doorknobs upside down and adding a bit of curled wire to the hardware results in totally custom placecard holders. What a unique way to welcome guests to your table! These glass doorknobs in particular add a touch of elegance, personality, and character. I think the concept would work equally well to stylishly showcase photos on a mantel as well.{found on site}.

Vintage Doorknobs as Necklace & Jewelry Hangers.

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

Mounting the doorknobs onto another surface, such as a framed board, creates a lovely and functional necklace organizer. The aged look and feel of the doorknobs themselves make the hanging necklaces into an art piece. I mean, have you ever seen such pretty pearls? I love that this idea is so unique, feminine, and green.{found on site}.

Vintage Doorknob as Curtain Tieback.

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

When the fabric of curtains is old or delicate, using a vintage doorknob as a tieback adds the perfect touch of elegance and respect for the era. This particular curtain might be nothing more than some simple cheesecloth (it’s not…I’m just saying it could be), yet with the integration of this lovely glass knob, the entire window treatment simplicity is both intentional and beautiful.{found on diyinspired}.

Vintage Doorknobs as Towel Hooks.

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

Charming and functional, these vintage doorknobs are a lovely complementing piece to this dark wainscoted and scallop-mirrored bathroom. The vintage back plates (look at those keyholes! marvelous) paired with each knob add a huge stylistic factor, and they also serve functionally to keep the damp towel off the wall paint. I like how these knobs aren’t identical but are patterned in a way that works with the overall bathroom scheme.{found on notjustahousewife}.

Vintage doorknobs repurposed into paperweights

Vintage doorknobs repurposed into paperweights

This is a great way of giving a use to a couple of wooden doorknobs that are just too cute and beautiful to go home without even if you don’t have a need for them. You can have a ton of fun painting and decorating them. The tutorial from assembleshop shows you how to it using colored acrylic paint and chalkboard paint.

Vintage cabinet knobs

Vintage cabinet knobs

While thinking outside the box has its benefits, sometimes going with the simple and obvious choices works too. With that in mind consider using the knobs for their intended purpose, as knobs. There’s still plenty of ways in which a set of vintage knobs can make a cabinet look especially stylish and beautiful. For more ideas head over to remodelandolacasa.

Doorknobs repurposed into wall hooks

Doorknobs repurposed into wall hooks

In this case the bigger the knobs are the better. In addition to the knobs themselves you’ll also need dowel screws, a hammer, a power drill and some wall anchors. The idea is very simple. Each doorknob is installed on a wall and can be used as a hanger for coats, bags and various other things. The tutorial can be found on grillo-designs.

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

Another really cute use for vintage knobs is as part of a custom organizer for necklaces and bracelets. All you need to make something like this is a piece of wood and a few vintage knobs with different shapes, colors and designs. You can find all the details on upcyclethat if you’d like to give this a try.

Large knobs as wall hangers and decorations

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

A few large doorknobs can also easily be turned into a combination of useful and practical wall accessories. You can have a selection of knobs of different sizes installed on a wall and each can be painted and decorated in a unique way. Use them as hangers whenever you need to and the rest of the time they’ll look great as decorations. This idea comes from craftandcreativity.

Furniture makeover with vintage doorknobs

A necklace holder with vintage knobs

A set of beautiful vintage doorknobs can also be the piece of resistance for your next furniture makeover project. Use the knobs to update the look of an old dresser or cabinet. Whether a change of hardware is all the piece needs or you also choose to make more modifications to its design is entirely up to you. If you need some inspiration check out this project on lovelyetc.

Mason jar lid ornaments from repurposed knobs

Mason jar lid ornaments from repurposed knobs

Another very interesting idea is to attach vintage doorknobs to jar lids to make them easier to handle but, most importantly, to transform the jars into beautiful storage containers. This is one of the easiest and most creative ways in which you can incorporate doorknobs into a DiY project. For a full tutorial head over on letscreateevents.

Custom furniture knobs using paint

Custom furniture knobs using paint

If you ever feel like one of your cabinets or dresser needs a bit of color or character in its design, consider a change of hardware. Replace the old drawer pulls and knobs with something a bit more original. Make your own custom drawer knobs by painting a bunch of plain ones. Check out the tutorial on makeandfable to learn all about it.

Cute storage boxes with custom lids

Cute storage boxes with custom lids

One of my favorite things to do is organize things in boxes and containers. Decorating these so they also look lovely in addition to being practical is a lot of fun too and very satisfying. In this regard, attaching cute vintage knobs to wooden boxes in a great way to embellish these and to make them special. It’s very easy and there’s a ton of different design options. For inspiration check out kraftykath.

A vintage doorknob bouquet

A vintage doorknob bouquet

Why stop at one doorknot when there’s so many beautiful ones to choose from? Don’t you wish you could have them all? That’s actually not impossible. Of course, only one would actually be functional but you can add the rest as decorations and make a doorknob bouquet or an interesting pattern. Check out this post from pinterest if you’re in need of some inspiration.

Bathroom storage jars with knobs

Bathroom storage jars with knobs

Glass jars are very useful for storing and organizing all sorts of things including cotton balls, q-tips and various other things we usually keep in our bathrooms. To make the jars look a bit more interesting and less plain you can attach vintage door knobs to their lids as shown on lizmarieblog.