apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Don't bother to find the perfect size of drawer pulls, fill the old holes in and do whatever you please.... once repainted it won't be visible.

with the right knobs - you could create a really fun look by using a knob in each existing hole. or shop for some european hardware that might fit.

I bought plain green glass knobs from here, and they were about 1/4 the price of the ones from Anthropologie. If they don't have what you are looking for, I would just google the general idea of what you want and see what comes up.

http://www.lookintheattic.com/designer-knobs.html

I've found eBay has an excellent selection of drawer hardware in a variety of sizes and at great prices.

Yes, yes, I agree -- if you're repainting the piece anyway, patch the holes with wood filler beforehand (and sand, sand, sand -- you might have to do several layers of filler to get the surface totally flush). Then you can use any knob or handle you'd like!

You might be able to but a backing plate behind the pull to hide the existing holes or use 2 knob pull backing plates behind each side of your new pulls.
Geez that was 1 sentence! Hope it made sense.

Or you can go super-lazy and just use backplates with whatever pulls you choose. I did that on my kitchen cabinets recently because it just wasn't worth the effort to do the massive patch and sand job required after I pried off the old painted-on hardware. I bought brushed nickel backplates for $2 each and slapped them over the old holes and drilled new ones for my sleek new handles. I don't know if I'd go that way on furniture, but it is an option.

Second/third/whatever the recommendation to check ebay for hardware.

Ooooooh! Didn't you mention in the last "question" post that you might use Japanese paper as decoration? If you put paper in the areas around the pulls-any filling you might do would be all the more disguised.

There is more than one "standard" of space between holes. Some are more common than others, it depends on the age of the piece, at least I think so. Some are harder to find, but if you have pulls on your furniture, you ought to be able to find something authentic and standard for the era. Don't forget to group your pulls and see if they're worth anything as a set. In my experience, you would not do so well heading to a salvaged hardware store (you will be lowballed!). If your handles are magnetic, they're not solid brass, but they're not zinc either.

use an escutcheon (or backplate) and then you can do new holes without worring about patching the old ones too well.

restoration hardware has some fun colored glass pulls that could be cute dependant on the color you paint the outside &/or inside...
http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1278094&navCount=3

they have other colors too...

good luck!

You could try richelieu.com--they have tons of sizes.