Drawer Pulls

I know, I know, a weird topic for a blog. But my morning was not fun and all because of drawer pulls. I "inherited" a very nice dresser set when I moved in with Stan--he & his first wife had bought it in the '60s and it's made with the quality that was readily available back then. Both my dresser and the "chest on chest" style highboy (Stan's) are completely solid wood, maple to be exact. And they're in remarkably good shape--a few nicks but I don't notice them often and I'm the one they have to please!

But they're not too fashionable. How can a dresser set be fashionable, you might ask. I don't know how to answer that except to say that this one looks like it's a few years out of style. So I thought I might use some of my royalties to get a new set. Well, I can't afford it. Not unless I want to spend $3K for a set. Anything that's solid wood these days is priced in the stratosphere. So I had this brilliant idea to update the set by getting new drawer pulls. How much could that cost? Certainly not what a whole new good quality set would.

I found a terrific site cleverly labeled knobsandhardware.com that has more drawer pulls than anyone could imagine. They're not cheap. AND I had an additional problem: because of the age of the set, they have pulls that are a somewhat unusual size in this day & age. There are 10 handle-style drawer pulls and 12 knobs for the smaller drawers. The 10 big ones use 2 screws to hold them on and the screws are 6" apart. That's what makes them unusual. Before I found the Web site I'd looked at Lowes and all handles there have 3-4" spaces between the screws. So I was ecstatic when I found that I actually had a selection of 6"-spaced pulls. And they all had matching knobs. So I selected and ordered ($350+ for the order!!!! But still cheaper than a new dresser.) and the hardware arrived yesterday.

I went to put them on, pretty excited at getting a new look this easily--no moving furniture, no having to get rid of old furniture that Stan would surely want to hang onto. And then I discovered that the stupid drawer KNOBS were put on with 2 screws too. HEAVY gnashing of teeth! Who on god's green earth would think to look at knobs before ordering replacements just in case the old ones use 2 screws? Obviously not me. More heavy gnashing. And more. And more.

So I just ordered another $72 worth of brass: plates to go behind the knobs to cover up the extra holes. I'm not taking anything out of their individual plastic packages until the plates arrive and I see if they'll do the job. If I have to send everything back it'll cost a fortune--those drawer pulls must weigh 20 lbs. If the plates do work, I'll be sure to take before & after photos and you all (all 1 of you interested reader out there) can tell me if I accomplished the seemingly simple task of updating my bedroom.

Just one other whine and I'll go away. I made a very neat lamp for Elise's house. She & Pedro have a bar in their home (Pedro's dad built it) so I took a clear glass lamp I've had for ages and filled it with wine corks. It looks pretty cool.

I even had on hand a box big enough to ship it WITH lampshade, only to discover that FedEx (cheapest way at Mailboxes Plus) would cost $55 and USPS would be $33. Aha, said brilliant Starla, never one to be overcome by surprise disappointments. I can take the box to FL on the plane, checking it as luggage. Not so, said JetBlue. No boxes allowed at all.

So the shade won't get shipped or checked or sent or anything. But Stan is willing to put the lamp, already bubblewrapped, into his checked bag, wrapping it in his jeans for extra cushioning. It'll be interesting to see if it makes it to FL.

My dentist won't have much work in the future if I gnash my teeth down to nubbins!