Knobby Upgrades (From The Sale Rack)

I wasn’t much bothered by the drawer pulls that were on the original Pier 1 dresser that I updated and shared with you earlier in the week, but once the fresh white coat was in place and the whole desk was reassembled, I began to wish for something different.

Something more colorful.

Something more like… oh, I don’t know… this?

It caught my at Anthropologie. Sale priced too, discounted to $2.95 from it’s original $8. And such a pretty bright color and heavy knob, I couldn’t pass it up for the cost; after all, my whole plan for the new office revolves around tossing pops of color in with neutral anchor pieces. I love them pops of color, and so the turquoise knob came home with me.

It was perfect for another reason as well; the original black metal hardware on the desk was affixed by not one, but two screws, meaning that if I didn’t have a new drawer pull with the same holes, I risked having the existing holes popping out visibly.

The best part about the knob that I bought was that it had a wide metal base, so even though it was going to be a solitary-bolt attachment, the existing two holes should be totally hidden by the base. Even though I had measured before going to Anthropologie, I still wasn’t sure that the base would be quite wide enough, but decided that the risk was totally worth that almost $3.

I drilled a hole directly in the middle of the other two holes with a 11/64 drill bit, knowing that the previous drawer pull has been installed centered on the drawer.

Fortunately, it all did line up and cover the previous holes, leaving me with a pretty new pop of color on my refinished desk drawer. If you’re wondering, the second tier of shelving won’t be reinstalled or refinished in any way to work with the new desktop; it’ll likely just sit in the attic, and what that means in terms of drawer pulls is that I really only did need to spend $3 on a single pull, instead of $9 on a set of three.

Pretty pretty.

You might have noticed in the first photo that there was a second set of knobs in the background.

Also recovered from the sale bin at Anthropologie, I bought them for $3.95 each on a whim thinking that they would be good, solid knobs for the IKEA shelving unit that we’re keeping in the room for concealed storage (plus, they were originally $14 each!). The current knobs are just wooden pegs, and while they’re totally functional, I wasn’t opposed to an upgrade when I laid my eyes on those colorful, bubbly model.

Also, as you can tell those knobbies are uneven as could be. It’s not so apparent until you’re hovering at their level (around knee-height) and photographing them, but I thought the more ornate knobs would distract from the unevenness better than something sleek that needs to align in an exacting way.

The shelving unit itself will eventually get an office overhaul to better vibe with the space (the laminate just isn’t cutting it anymore), but that’s another project for a day down the road. For now, the installed knobs help to make the existing uneven holes a little more aligned, while adding a nice extra hoo-hah to the neutral cabinetry.

I should also note that it looks like the knobs/doors would bonk into the opposite knob, but they don’t for the most part. That isn’t to say that there’s a lot of clearance, but they definitely allow the shelving doors to open and close easily.

I’d say not too bad, considering that the original cost of the 3 pulls would have exceeded $36 with taxes and I paid just under $12 total. I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, almost all great Anthropologie knobs go on sale at some point, and at any point in time there’s usually a fine selection to choose from.

And if you’re wondering how my organization is coming along… it’s getting there. For the purposes of taking some of these updated photos in a cleared setting though, I did shove the remaining odds and ends off to the corner. The closet door won’t even close because it’s so jam packed with assorted stuff.

Aaand, it’s probably time to get rid of some shoes. Work in progress. More to come.