DIY Leather Drawer Pulls
I stripped down one of my older cherry wood dressers to put in my daughters room. The finish was very shiny and cherry (shown is a different dresser with the set but it had the same finish). I stripped it down to raw wood as I am going for a boho girly look in her room.
The problem I ran in to was that the center to center distance for the original pulls are very unique. About 2 1/4"... most stores don't carry that. And I couldn't find any I wanted that did fit. Now, I COULD have filled in the holes and drilled new ones, but as a furniture refinisher I am always a little frustrated when I come across a piece that has multiple holes drilled in so I am always reluctant to drill new ones unless absolutely necessary.
So I made my own pulls!
I used the original hardware to measure where the new holes needed to be
I used this genuine leather from Hobby Lobby in gold. Any type of strap would do really though. I used some type of straight edge (toy sword pictured here!) to draw the lines for the width that I wanted to pulls to be.
Make these as straight as you can. I actually used a rotary cutter to achieve straighter lines than I would have been able to get with scissors.
I used the back side of the strap to mark where I will punch the holes. Then I placed the strap on the drawer and made sure that I will punch the holes in the right place.
It would have been worth it to buy a leather punching tool here. I used a knife to break the skin and then a knitting needle to punch through but it took longer than it would have with a leather puncher.
I used machine screws and nuts to hold the straps in place.... I like the industrial vibe, but I may flip the screws around and cover with a decorative nailhead down the road.
I painted the parts that will be showing by holding them up in my hand and spraying with a champagne gold spray paint.
I think it's very cute and my daughter loves the little glimmer.
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