How to Make Wall Hooks from Vintage Glass Knobs and Reclaimed Lumber

Now that we’re finished building, it’s been fun to get back into little DIY and decorating projects. I have been slowly working on decorating the girls bedroom, including upgrading their closet pulls with some glass knob handles. After I finished the closet pulls, my dad gave me another three sets of vintage glass doorknobs that he found in his garage. So I decided to make walls hooks using the glass knobs and reclaimed wood. My plan is to display some of the girls’ baby dresses that I couldn’t quite bring myself to part with.

Step 1: Cut board

Using a chop saw cut the board down to size. My board is about 9 inches tall, and I cut it down to 32 inches wide.

Step 3: Drill holes

Drill holes in the wood for the glass knobs. I used a 5/8″ spade bit to hollow out the front of the wood so the knob sits flush with the top of the board.  Roughly fit the knob into the hole to make sure it fits and the hole is deep enough.

I did the same thing on the bottom so the head of hex bolt also fit flush. Then I just used a regular drill bit to make a hole right through, making sure it was wide enough for the hex bolt to fit through. There’s a bit of trial and error here with the size of the drill bits, so it’s best to try out your drill bits on a piece of scrap wood first.

Step 4: Finish the wood

Once the paint was dry, I did a quick wipe of Minwax finishing paste using a lint free rag to give it a super soft and smooth finish.

Step 5: Clean the knobs

My glass knobs were fairly old and dirty and the brass was very dull. I wanted to brighten them up but still preserve some of the original patina. First I tried ketchup to clean them because I read somewhere that it worked pretty well as a natural cleaner, but I couldn’t stand the smell. I don’t like ketchup unless it’s on my grilled cheese or kraft dinner. So then I coated them in some cooktop cleaner and used a scouring sponge to shine up the brass. I much preferred that smell over ketchup.

This is the before and after of the glass knobs from cleaning them. They’re not perfect, but they’re much shinier now.

Step 6: Attach the glass knobs to the wood

Step 6: Drill holes for hanging

Put monkey hooks in the wall, make sure they are level, and hang up your new creation!

I love how simple and clean the wood looks. I think the whitewash really makes the vintage glass knobs pop. It looks even better once I added some colorful dresses and pictures.

This post is part of the link party at My Love to Create, and at Remodelaholic