Remember when we mentioned snagging these old iron keys for $8 in an antique shop in West Virginia while visiting John’s grandma? I finally painted them and added them to our hallway frame gallery (see how we made that here). The cardstock key in the frame was only a temporary placeholder.
I could have spray-painted them for speed, but I prefer low-VOC products when possible, plus I always have a gallon of white paint on hand. I brushed on several coats of semi-gloss Olympic Premium No-VOC in off-the-shelf white so the keys would match our trim and doors and have a clean, durable finish.
The big ring of keys wouldn’t have fit the placeholder spot the way I wanted, so I used a hacksaw to cut the iron ring and separate the keys. That made it easy to hang them individually and arrange them more thoughtfully on the wall.
After a little touch-up on the paint for a pristine look, I waited for the keys to dry completely. Then I used twine from our junk drawer to hang each key at slightly different heights, creating an intentionally balanced but not perfectly symmetrical display.
In the words of my imaginary BFF Bethenny Frankel (I know she’s not for everyone, but I love her), thar she blows:
I love catching a glance of them from the kitchen through the wide doorway. They add a small, personal touch to the gallery without being fussy.
They also look nice as you pass along the hallway from the front of the house to the back — a subtle detail that rewards a second look.
This is the newest addition to the big hallway frame gallery. The opposite wall is still in the planning stage and covered with newspaper for now — maybe we’ll get to it soon. For reference, you can see its planning stage in photos and video elsewhere on the site.
I realized this post was shorter than usual, but honestly there’s not much more to say: I painted them, sawed them, tied them with twine, hung them, photographed them, and I like them. To stretch it a bit, here’s a brief haiku about the project:
Little iron keys
I painted you white (surprise)
No one’s surprised.
There — a few more words and some poetry. Sherry out.