How to Place Drawer Pulls

Placing drawer pulls is a straightforward task.

Adding pulls to drawers is an excellent way to dress up drab or outdated furniture. Some drawers are designed to not need pulls, others come stripped down with the understanding that they will be added later and still others are left out for cost reasons. Pulls are designed to be both fashionable and functional, with designs from the very ornate to the singularly simple. Getting pulls placed straight and uniform is sometimes a challenge, but a very simple-to-create template removes almost all the worry.

Things You'll Need

• Thick paper
• Tape measure
• Straightedge
• Tape
• Phillips screwdriver
• Drill and bits

Instructions

1. Choose where on the face of the drawer you want the pull placed. In most cases, the best place is in the very center of the drawer face, but for decorative purposes it is acceptable to locate the pull in other places.

2. Cut a piece of thick paper to the same size as the drawer face. Measure the top and bottom to find the center points and draw a connecting line. Measure the two sides and create a center line for those too. If you are using a single-screw pull, this will suffice. For double-screw pulls, measure the space from the center of one screw shaft to the center of the other, divide it in half, and mark those spots on either side of the template's center point.

3. Tape the template to the first drawer, being careful to get it perfectly centered and mounted to the face. Take a small pointed object like a Phillips screwdriver and press it through the paper to make a notch in the wood face. If the color of the wood is light enough, a pencil may mark the location instead. Use the same template for all subsequent drawers.

4. Drill holes in the drawers following the guide marks exactly. Be sure the drill bit goes straight through and not at an angle. Test one of the pulls to make sure the holes line up properly. Drill the holes for the remainder of the drawers.

5. Place the screws through the back face of the drawer, into the hole on the pull and carefully screw them in until tight. For double-screw pulls, start them both and alternate them a little at a time until they are both snug. This helps avoid pulling the screws sideways, which makes the pull loose.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure of your measurements on the template. This will save work to fix things later.

• If the handle is loose or pulls into the wood but still slips, add washers to the pull to help it stay tight.

• Be sure to use the correct drill bit. If it is too small, the bolt will not fit through; if too large, the pull will be loose in the hole.

• Do all the work on one drawer before doing the drilling on the other drawers. It is easier to repair one drawer with bad holes than many.

References

• "Architectural Hardware"; Nancy E. Berry; 2006