Micro Makeovers: DIY Drawer Knobs Will Totally Transform Your Dresser
Drawer pulls are one of those details you don’t spend a lot of time contemplating (totally understandable). But the second you switch them up, you’ll be surprised how much they can change the look of a piece of furniture, or even an entire room. The best part? These micro makeovers cost a lot less—and require way less elbow grease—than a full-on furniture refinishing.
A sea-blue dresser with rope drawer pulls is going to help our urban apartments channel the beach house of our dreams. The how-to from Country Living sounds so easy, we think this project should take just one trip to the hardware store, plus 5 minutes of our time.
Shopping list:
1/4″ sisal rope from Home Depot, $6 for 50 feet
Total cost: $6
Jenny from Little Green Notebook has revealed the easiest way to turn smooth agate slices into drawer pulls: Just attach screws to the backs of the stones using Sugru, a magical, moldable glue that dries into rubber. Three cheers for a heavy-duty hold, without the chemical smells of adhesives.
Shopping list:
- Agate slice, such as these from Pure Stone Works, $25 for 10 slices
- Flat head screws, such as these (make sure they are long enough to go through the drawer front), $6
- Sugru pack of 3, $12
Total cost: $43 (enough supplies to transform at least two dressers, or all of your kitchen cabinets)
As a fan of minimalism and natural materials, I’ve been admiring kitchens with leather cabinet pulls (including this gorgeous one from an L.A. house tour) for years. The rich color of the pulls above by Stilzitat warms up an all-white kitchen.
Shopping list:
- 1″ leather belt (or you can buy a 1″ leather strip, $15)
- Screws (how pretty are these brass ones?), $1
- Nuts (like these brass ones), $1
Total cost: $2 (or $17 if you don’t have a leather belt to devote to the project)
If springing for real marble knobs isn’t in the budget, A Beautiful Mess‘s polymer clay look-a-likes will give you the same sophistication for less than 13 bucks. For a more colorful marbleized look, swap in other colors for the gray clay.
Shopping list:
- White polymer Sculpey clay, $10 for 8 oz.
- Gray polymer Premo! clay, $3 for 2 oz.
- Screws (A Beautiful Mess simply used the ones from the original dresser)
Total cost: $13
Leave it to the Free People Blog to come up with a DIY drawer pull that will turn our bedrooms into whimsical bohemian sanctuaries. Harnessing the power of the crystal trend, these quartz knobs will radiate good energy.
Shopping list:
- Rose quartz crystals, $12 for 6-10 pieces from GeoSpecimens
- Flat-head screws
Total cost: Less than $15
If you already have some plain porcelain knobs that just need a little sprucing up, try Mad In Crafts method for marbleizing them using polymer clay.
Shopping List:
- Translucent polymer Sculpey clay, $6 for 8 oz.
- Polymer clay from Premo! in Wasabi, $3 for 2 oz.
- Polymer clay from Premo! in Spanish Olive, $5 for 2 oz.
Total cost: About $14, depending upon how many clay colors you mix
Wooden knobs hand-painted with adorable animal faces would look sweet in a kid’s room. Aileen from At Home in Love shares the secret to painting tiny details in her tutorial on Sugar & Cloth.
Shopping list:
- Wooden ball knobs from Darice, $8 for 8
- Acrylic paint, about $2 each from craft stores
- Double-ended screws, about $1
Total cost: About $15
Ada’s Interior Design takes the leather drawer pull one step further by braiding thin strips of lacing to achieve a textured effect. The look is delicate and decorative, making it ideal for a bedroom dresser.
Shopping list:
- Suede leather lace, $12 from Michaels
Total cost: $12