Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 306 Comments

How To Replace An Ugly Doorbell

Which eyesores? The wicked ones in our hallway of course. Because if we were going through all of the trouble to install board and batten, we didn’t want a blah light fixture, a dingy old ceiling vent, and a gaudy doorbell stinking up the view. So here’s an overdue rundown of those other little updates that you might have noticed in last week’s big board & batten reveal (while we steadily add crown molding to the playroom, guest room, and this very hallway – which we can’t wait to share!).

Eyesores New Before

Although updating the light fixture, the doorbell, and the ceiling vent sound small-ish in size, they definitely were detracting from the view. So those little switches are definitely worth doing right along with the big ones (you know what they say about the devil being in the details). And dare I say that thanks to those updates the hallway is now befitting of all the fancy board & batten that’s going on down below.

Let’s start with the light fixture, which was actually a transplant from our laundry room since the original fixture was too much on the eyes. Whereas the former laundry room light may best be described as “not really enough on the eyes.” But it worked for over a year and you know we love to use what we have – at least while we hold out for something that’s more our style.

HallLight 2 Before Close

While we were holding out we also contemplating freshening it up with some new spray paint on the base and maybe a painted stripe on the glass cover. But then we came across this deeply-discounted fixture at our favorite local lighting outlet. And since it reminded us of the industrial, outdoor-ish fixtures that we installed in the guest and hall bathrooms, we were sold. And for $18 (marked down from $99) how could we not be?

HallLight 3 New Light

So I switched off the power and got busy with a good ol’ fashioned light fixture switch-up.

Doorbell 5 Electricity Off

Not too shabby, eh? Forgive the incandescent bulb – it was the only one I had around at the time.

HallLight 4 New Light Installed

So with that little upgrade made, it was time to turn our attention to its ugly neighbor: the doorbell.

Doorbell 1 Before

I’m convinced this thing is straight out of a Brady Bunch episode. And when it dings I half expect an old-timey milkman to be dropping off some fresh bottles on our doorstep.

Doorbell 2 Before Close

I shouldn’t really complain, considering our last house didn’t even have a doorbell (we eventually installed a wireless one). But I’ll admit that having a wired doorbell presented a somewhat new challenge to us… in that we didn’t know much about them. So off we went doorbell shopping, hoping to find something that was still wired but far less scene-stealing. I believe it was one of Clara’s favorite DIY shopping trips to date. I’m not sure all of the the Home Depot shoppers who had to listen to us test each sound over and over again would agree.

Doorbell 1 Clara Shopping

We came home with this guy. He was $20, wired, and wonderfully nondescript.

Doorbell 4 Selected Doorbell

With the electricity still off, I nervously popped off the cover of the old bell, half expecting to find some elaborate contraption run by a tiny cartoon dinosaur a la The Flintstones. But to my surprise, the dated (and quite dusty) fixture had the exact same connections that the new one did. Hallelujah.

Doorbell 6 Same Connections

That meant I could rely on my old “just redo what you undo” technique for swapping out anything electrical (with the power off of course – important detail!). To elaborate on that method: if the red wire went somewhere on the old fixture, I put it there on the new one. Replication theory.

So I disconnected the old connections and unscrewed it from the wall…

Doorbell 7 Removing Old

…which was oh-so-attractive underneath.

Doorbell 8 Pretty

The new doorbell had a slightly smaller footprint when attached, but since we knew we’d be painting the wall as part of the board and batten project we didn’t mind living with the now-visible ugliness for a few days.

Doorbell 9 New Attached

With all of the wires reconnected in the same way that they were configured for the old doorbell, I added the cover and marveled at what a small but helpful improvement it was. It’s one of those easy changes that makes the whole house feel a lot more updated (great for resale since the entire “system” now appears new). Update: Every time we mention resale (which we do pretty often as DIYers) we get a bunch of “are you moving?!” questions, so here’s our response for you guys!

Doorbell 10 Adding Cover

And as is the case as soon as you complete one project, it just makes something nearby look terrible by comparison. Like that dingy yellowed grate behind these before & after photos (it’s a vent for the whole house fan). In a word: ew.

Doorbell 12 Side By Side

Thankfully my paint-happy wife hopped right up on a stepladder and tackled it with some ceiling paint from the basement (it was left for us by the previous owners). She just used a paint brush to apply extra thin coats (it took her three, but the fan still opens/works/looks great thanks to the thin application).

Painted Vent

So. Much. Better.

BatNew Frame Hallway

Oh yeah, and if you were wondering if the doorbell still works? It does. And so does our back-up “doorbell” that goes off every time the real one sounds. He’s also known as Burger.

Doorbell 13 Burger Barking

And more recently, in our current home, we went fully wireless with our doorbell because the house didn’t have one to begin with! We installed a Ring video doorbell instead. It was super easy and took only 5 simple steps to add.

Are there any upgrades that you tend to tackle in a domino-effect-ish row? Do you ever notice how one little update can lead to a few more nearby? It’s like ugly things get incrementally uglier with the presence of new things nearby…

Comments

  2. Leanne Wight says

    Love the new light! And thanks sooo much for posting the SNL skit! Totally made my day. (I think you posted it before because that was the first time I had seen it, and I made my whole family watch it like 5 times!) :)

    Reply

    • kristin says

      yes! i think that you did do the doorbell thing in the past. i almost woke up my kiddies napping laughing so hard. SO glad it was posted again, because it is HILARIOUS! (and all i thought about until i saw you reference it!)

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Sometimes it’s funny how those little tweaks make a giant difference when it comes to how polished & updated a room feels! Happy little projecting!

      xo
      s

  6. Jen says

    That’s exactly the way I dealt with our whole house fan vent! Ours was silver (aluminum?) though and boy did it scream at you. I actually had planned a different solution since the fan is no longer in operating condition anyway, but a coat of white paint made the whole thing just kind of disappear!

    Reply

    • Melissa @ Loving Here says

      We have the same problem with an old, yellowed, attic fan, and I have been looking for a cover (because we were told you can lose heat and air conditioning through there. The covers I’ve seen are all really ugly though, and I would MUCH rather paint it, so thanks for that suggestion. Have you noticed it being an energy suck in your house at all without a cover?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oddly enough we haven’t (we have a nice system that’s pretty efficient and the fan seems to have these furry things in the blades so it’s not drafty).

      xo
      s

  7. katie says

    Love the new light! We need to do that with our old doorbell, too — we’ve just kept repainting the cover to help it blend in each time we repaint the walls, but it is ginormous!

    Reply

  8. katherine says

    the thermostats! We have electric baseboard heat, so unfortunately, we can’t get the new fangled ones that save electricity (at least without re-wiring the whole house), but we updated the old 70’s ones in our guest bedroom and kitchen and it makes us want to get the whole house done! That and the outlets! It’s so refreshing to have bright white outlets instead of dingy, painted over ones!

    Reply

  12. Karin says

    Love how those simple changes really complete the area! I always check out the “Like this post? Then might we suggest these” section. Have to ask why there is one on “Adult Failure to Thrive” linking to Griswold Home Care???

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Weird! It’s a plug-in that serves those boxes for us, but ours shows a link about cupcakes at the end and not Griswold Home Care. Maybe it varies? So odd!

      xo
      s

    • Alex says

      Karin – The last thumbnail you see is sponsored and is based on your personal search history (think – the ads that show up on your Facebook sidebar, or your GMail ads). Everyone’s will vary, and since it’s just a guess, it might not have anything to do at all with what you’ve been searching for! For instance mine is an NYU ad about selling my eggs. That’s not really on the docket anytime soon for me, though $8,000 does sound pretty awesome…:)

    • Stacey says

      I wondered this too! Mine has the same Home Care ad. Usually that ad space is something home related, but this one caught me by surprise, haha. I guess it is “home” related.. just a different type.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We actually thought about it but worried that it would just get all mucked up looking (there was a small mesh-like surface on a lot of it and we thought the paint would get all globby in there). I do love bell bottoms though! Haha!

      xo
      s

    • Tracie@MiddleClassModern says

      On a related note, I hope you sent the doorbell to Restore or are saving it for ebay because there are those us who like things like this (and Nutone is especially beloved) for fixing up our old ranches! If I found your old doorbell at Restore it would make my day.

  17. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    It’s funny that every hallway from that era looks basically the same: a vent, doorbell, off-centered light, and attic entry. The Little House has all the same lovely features (and so did the house I grew up in).

    Looks 1000 times better!

    Reply

  18. Jenny says

    Love the changes, its the small things that do make such a big difference! The light fixture is fantastic.

    Are you thinking of selling? I can’t remember if you were thinking this was your “forever” home or not. I think you mentioned “resale value” yesterday.

    I’m in my “forever” home so I don’t ever think in those terms, I just do things that I like for my own taste, but if I was going to sell I would probably do a lot of things differently.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re definitely open to selling if we finished up here and happened to find another home that needs lots of love (that’s pretty much our passion, not to mention our livelihood these days) – but we also wouldn’t mind staying here forever and getting another house to fix up and rent – so you never know where we’ll end up!

      xo
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That would be a lot of fun too- although I think we’re better at taking our time and really thinking about how things function before doing major reno (I follow a blog about flipping and she does an entire house in four months, which is both amazing and terrifying to me! Hahah!).

      xo
      s

    • katie says

      Hi Sherry,
      Just wondering: what is the blog you mentioned about house flipping? It’s a dream of mine for some day, too!
      Katie

    • Megan E. says

      Since you will run out of rooms one of these days for making dramatic changes in, I’d love to see you guys tackle rooms at friend/relative’s houses (like you did for John’s Grandma’s bathroom) and maybe even some bedrooms at John’s family beach house this summer! Would be exciting because it could be a totally different design aesthetic then what you have going on in your house.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’d definitely love to do that along with the rest of the areas that are still on our list (we still have to redo the guest bathroom, box out the columns on our porch, tackle the carport, finish the basement and sunroom, tackle some outdoor stuff when it gets warmer, etc). But we definitely love switching it up and doing not-our-house redos too :)

      xo
      s

  19. Nikki says

    If there was one post that convinced me that there are people out there like my husband and I, it is this one!

    “It’s like ugly things get incrementally uglier with the presence of new things nearby…”

    That whole sentence made my heart sing. Because nobody and I mean NOBODY in our life understands this concept. We bought our home 4 years ago and have been working on it non-stop, much in the same budget minded way you all do but it is that one sentence that completely describes the after effects of absolutely EVERY reno that we undertake as we do them in stages to make sure we are always being fiscally responsible.

    To this day, we still say that (other than paint) changing out all the vent covers, light switches, outlets AND doorbell cover from ugly beige to white was the most dramatic change in making our “Chateau” look up to date. It was the greatest affirmation of the “it’s the small things” lesson I ever did learn :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, it’s so true!!! Small things matter like crazy and truly have the power to make all the difference. I think it’s the small things that make rooms finally “click” into place.

      xo
      s

  21. Melissa says

    Love that skit! Hello…Wine and Cheese! Ding Dong.

    The updates you did look amazing as well. It’s kinda scary how a little paint, updating, and a new light can change an entire space. Great Job!

    Reply

  23. Michelle says

    You have been using interesting terms lately: listing, resale, nice selling point.

    So it appears that you will be selling soon, eh? Good luck!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’d definitely entertain the idea of selling if we finished up here and happened to find another home that needed lots of love (that’s pretty much our passion, not to mention our livelihood these days) – but we also wouldn’t mind staying here forever and getting another house to fix up and rent – so you never know where we’ll end up! We’re open to whatever comes our way. Five years ago we never could have guessed we’d be here, so we’ve stopped trying to guess where we’ll be in five more years :)

      xo
      s

    • Jessica says

      I have noticed the same thing. I appreciate your honest reply, Sherry! It is your livelihood! You should be so proud of that! Enjoy all your house adventures!

  24. Wendy @ New Moms Talk says

    The domino effect is how I feel when a few more miles are added to a run, one item baked leads to a few more, or the start of cleaning suddenly results in a whole spiffed up room.

    The photo of Burger is priceless!

    Reply

  25. Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says

    BURGER!!! :)

    Yes, that looks 100x better. You almost can’t even see the fan thingy. Before it was like “LOOK AT ME!” Is it loud? I kind of get scared off when we go to open houses and see those but I do want an older home when we buy.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      They pretty much sound the same (old doorbell & new doorbell) but the new one makes the hallway look less old and dated (the dated brass was definitely “loud” when you looked at it – haha!).

      xo
      s

    • lindsey says

      loud as in fan right? I dont have one but have friends who do. They are fairly loud but you get used to it. I kind of would love one because they work awesome and are great at getting rid of humidity (I live in New England).

  27. Stacy says

    Thanks for the tips on changing out the doorbell – I have been looking at my goldish brown 70’s one for months wondering how easy it would be to switch out! :)

    Reply

  28. Christina @ My Homespun Home says

    I love the doorbell swap, my apartment doorbell was still painted the hideous orange sponge painting that the last tenant did until I repainted it a few weeks ago. But as for domino-effect projects, I deep-cleaned my kitchen in January and decided to 1) dedicate a drawer just for reorganizing my spices. That meant all the items in that drawer (mainly measuring cups and spoons) needed anew home, so I 2) hung a piece of sheet metal on the inside door on my cupboard and hung them all on magnetic hooks. And while I had the metal and magnets out, I 3) hung a few magnetic strips on the outside of my cabinets to hang recipes while I’m cooking so they don’t take up counter space or end up with crud all over them. Those three little changes made a huge difference!

    Reply

  30. Kelly says

    Those little changes make the biggest difference! Especially if you’re looking towards selling the house in the future. So many people don’t make those little updates, and it takes away from the overall impression.

    I really like your backup doorbell. There’s nothing like a fierce chihuahua to guard against unwelcome solicitors.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It had this meshy overlay stuff that we worried would get all gunked up (like spray painting a screen door), so in the end we thought it was a better upgrade to just replace it :)

      xo
      s

  32. Kelly {the Centsible Life} says

    The little changes can sometimes be the most daunting.

    I noticed you guys keep mentioning resale value lately-something that’s always on my mind too even though we don’t plan to sell. But of course I have to ask, are you thinking of moving?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, you’re not the first one to ask! As DIYers resale is always on our mind (when we did the patio, the kitchen, the bathroom upgrade, etc we have always thought about it and mentioned it) so you can scroll back in the comments to see my thoughts on selling :)

      xo
      s

  33. Gina says

    Does no one watch SNL anymore? I quote this and many other skits and no one EVER knows what I am talking about. You guys were cool before…..but now, just so, SO much cooler. Do you get as much of a kick out of the Digital Short “Great Day” as my husband and I do?

    PS: The hallway looks amazing and I am trying the “It only cost them like $50” route to talk my husband into doing board and batten in our hallway! Wish me luck.

    There’s a skip in my step….and I don’t know whyyyyy.

    Gina

    Reply

  35. Anna-Lisa says

    The hallway looks SO much better, but really my favorite thing here is the cute picture of Burger. Chihuahuas are great “guard dogs” aren’t they? He knows if someone’s trying to invade his territory!

    Reply

  36. Annelies says

    I so wish you could come and board & batten & paint my hallway ! I love how this turned out already so far ! If you’re done in your house, you can come over to my place, it is still in need of some more love and I’m stuck. ;-)

    Reply

  37. Amanda says

    We have that same attic fan – have you ever thought about removing it and drywalling over the opening? My husband wants to do that – he thinks that it is energy inefficient (hot air from the attic seeping into the hallway). I’ve also heard that they sell attic fan insulators that you can use to cap them off (installed from the attic side of the fan). I’m not really sure how to tackle it!? Do you ever use it?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We never use it! But when the realtor showed us this house she touted it as an energy saving feature, so we’d hate to remove it and have someone want one down the line (apparently they can really help ranches since they’re just one story?)

      xo
      s

    • Connie says

      We, too, have a whole-house fan, which really helps cool the house off in the early mornings if the outside temperature is significantly lower than the inside temperature. That way the air conditioner stays off for hours longer—sometimes until late afternoon. That’s how it works in Colorado; Virginia is undoubtedly different.

      We quickly grew annoyed by the flapping vents during the winter, though, and covered the vent with shrink plastic, intended for storm windows. Yes, it is shiny but at least the vents quiet all winter and we’re not getting cold breezes in the hallway from the attic.

  38. Brittany says

    Great updates John and Sherry! I laughed at the little bit about your “backup doorbell”. :) We have two Aussies and they totally do the same thing. We may have it worse because our system is wireless and seams to go off when our neighbor’s doorbell is rung (They must have wireless too.) Hahaha. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  39. Lori says

    Awesome inspiration to just “get on” those little eyesores that we pretend don’t make a big difference, when clearly they do! Awesome job; huge improvement!

    Reply

  40. Micha says

    Our dog does the same thing! When we finally switched out our old, no-longer functioning doorbell with a new and improved one, he went NUTS every time somebody rang it. That dog had never before heard a door bell and yet, he reacted to it like every other canine fearing an invasion of evil postmen from space!

    Reply

  41. Annelies says

    About the selling you mention, what would you do with all your furniture etc? Would it work in a new house or would it feel too much the same? I opt for getting a second house to redo and blog about that ! :-)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’ve entertained just about every option under the sun (a beach house that we’d get to furnish and rent out but would be much pricier, a local rental that we could fix up but wouldn’t get to furnish, or a new house for us that we’d get to fix up and furnish while selling or renting our current house, etc). It all has to do with whatever comes down the pipeline and ends up working for us financially – but you know we’ll keep you posted!

      xo
      s

  42. Christine says

    We need a new doorbell, too! It’s just one of those things er never seem to get round to doing. It’s sometimes the smallest things that can make the biggest difference.
    Cx

    Reply

  43. Jessica says

    Looks great! I might be crazy but I kind of like the old door bell, it’s super vintagey looking. Hope you can sell it on Craigslist.

    Reply

  44. John says

    Perhaps the old doorbell could be install in the mancave with a little rewiring,for those unexpected times.

    Reply

  46. jessica says

    Wow, such a transformation! And I love those SNL skits, hands down my favorite is the “Marble Columns” ones. My hubby and I qoute that one all the tie.

    Reply

  47. Megan @ Rappsody in Rooms says

    Wow, it really is in the details! What a nice little change! I never noticed the ugly grate in the picture when you revealed the hall, but now that you pointed it out, wow! I totally understand on the little details. Our house had this great red wall in the living room with a white fireplace. I loved it but the previous owners had done a really sloppy job painting the fireplace and there were little curvy white “lines” beside the fireplace. This weekend I finally touched them up. OMG! I found myself staring at the fireplace yesterday ooglinig what a big difference it made. It only took 3 years. Ridiculous!

    Reply

  48. Skeeter says

    This post has inspired my own “Get on that already” moment. We also have a hideous door bell, and every time I see it, I shudder a little inside. Time to make a trip to Home Depot!

    Reply

  50. Melissa says

    Looks amazing, devil is in the details… makes such a difference!

    Btw… idea for a possible post… (unless I just havent been able to find it through your extensive archives :) )

    How did you guys find ‘your decorating style’. As a new home owner I find it so frustrating to commit to a ‘look’ for a room…. I browse through blogs and magazines and find I like traditional, yet also some modern, yet vintage. Its so hard to find what suites you.

    Just a thought :)

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *