Bring Boring Drawers & Cabinets
Back To Life For Only A Few Bucks!
Article By | Lizzie West
After being stuck in your homes last week, you may be getting tired of looking at your furniture and cabinets, some of us by candlelight. You may even have thought you need new furniture because of how bored you are with the current setup. For many of us, spending money on new furniture isn’t really possible at the moment. But – here is a simple and inexpensive way to update your furniture or your cabinets without breaking the bank. Changing the hardware (knobs or handles) is a super simple and easy way to update your furniture and give it a miniature facelift for just a few dollars.
There are a few things you will need to consider before picking out new hardware. Let’s break down the important step you need to take before buying anything.
Will you need replacement handles or knobs? The style of your current hardware oftentimes determines the style of replacement hardware. For example, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to replace a handle with a knob. You’d have to either fill one of the holes or use two knobs (and that’s likely to look weird – but hey, embrace your style if that’s what you’re into). And if you wanted to replace a knob with a handle, you need to find a handle that only requires one hole to install or make another hole yourself. That defeats the purpose of making a simple and easy update to your furniture and may require you to buy additional tools. So, it makes sense to keep the hardware the same style.
What size of hardware do you need? This is important for a few reasons. The size of the hardware may not work with the placement of the hardware in your drawers and cabinets. You will want to look for a knob that fits the space nicely. But, more importantly, you don’t want to buy a handle that doesn’t fit the current holes. There are several standard widths for most handles so it shouldn’t be difficult to find replacements. Having said that – here is an easy method to measure your handle widths. Remove the current handle, and use a tape measure to the distance between the center of both holes in the cabinet or drawer. That measurement is the handle size you want to go for. Three Inches is one of the standard sizes of handles, so it’s often a go-to size.
What finish of hardware are you looking for? If the hardware throughout your home is one finish, it makes sense to look at complementary finishes. And if you are looking to update just one room, that entire room should have similar finishes. If you just can’t live with having all the same finish across your home, some excellent combinations to pair up are things like black or antique brass with oil-rubbed bronze finished. If your hardware and decor design are more cool-toned, black, chrome, or satin nickel are solid choices. If you are into colorful design, a turquoise, blue, or red porcelain/ceramic knob can add a lot of interest to a neutral dresser or end table. And crystal knobs can pretty much always elevate a piece of furniture to the next level. With so many different accent metals to choose from, the sky is the limit.
Since replacement knobs and hardware are pretty inexpensive in the long run, it is super easy to make updates to your space, and you can even change things out for different seasons or to coordinate with your holiday decor!
One last super important piece of preparation is to measure the length you need for the machined installation screws. Several hardware sets we have found come with different lengths of screws for installation. Some even come with screws that you can adjust to whatever length you need to accommodate different cabinet thicknesses by breaking off a bit of the end at predetermined segments. Older homes tend to have thicker cabinet and drawer fronts, it’s important to measure this. Most are measured in millimeters as well – so keep that in mind. And when all else fails, check the screws you already have from the previous hardware to see if they fit the threads of your new pieces. If not, that’s not a deal-breaker. It is easy to take one of the old screws (as well as the new screws and hardware) from the replacement set to a hardware store and find something of a similar length with the same threading to test before you make a purchase. And it’s usually only $2-3 to buy replacement screws.
Once you have all the hardware replaced, it’ll seem all too easy to make this simple change to the rest of your house! And I think we already know that we’re on board for painting or re-staining furniture – another inexpensive (but not quite as quick and easy) way to bring life back to furniture you just aren’t loving as much these days. Everyone’s style and aesthetic are a little different, so an update for you may look a lot different than even what your best friend would choose. Enjoy your “new-to-you” furniture!