Friday, May 4, 2012

Pantry Pulls: Anthropologie Inspired

Remember how I said we were going to call the pantry done and I would be showing you a wrap up post? Who actually believed it? I did until I happend upon these at anthropologie 


I really loved the idea of these handles and so the pantry pulled me back in (pun intended). Now I said I loved the idea of these pulls. I didn't like the finish of these for our pantry and the gauge of the rope was a little small for me. Also, with shipping, 3 of these pulls would have cost me $45 and that seemed a little high for drawer pulls that I didn't absolutely love (you can call me cheap; I fully embrace it).

This is where Nate and my skills work really well together. I described what I wanted to Nate, who never saw the pictures. He then interpreted this idea and, with the help of a Lowe's guy who was willing to think outside the box, figured out how to make it happen. 

This is our end result


And this is how we did it. We started with 5/8 twisted manila rope and cut it into sections long enough for our 5" hole spacing on our drawers. We put a thin layer of electrical tape at the end so it wouldn't fray.



Then we took a 5/8" zinc plated regular nut which was twice as long as we wanted and Nate used his sawzall to cut it exactly in half. We then screwed the nut onto each end of the rope so that the non-cut end was toward the rope. Since both rope & nut were 5/8", this was a pretty snug fit, but we added some glue so that it would not pull out.


Then we used well nuts to secure the nuts to the drawer. These are really cool. they are rubbery and as you screw a regular screw in, it bulges out and hold on to the nut. We cut the top off so that we wouldn't see the black against the drawer.


Here is our handle ready to be attached to the drawer.


We had to make sure that the nut was flush with the draw while we attache the screw so that the well nut would expand inside the nut.


Once one side was attached, we yanked on it to make sure it really was attached. Then we attached the other side and we were done (well 1/3 of the way done)


Here is the new handle next to the old handle


We really really love how these turned out. The rope really pulls in the burlap floor and the counter and the nuts incorporate the pipes in our shelving.


Here is another finished pic. This project didn't take very long at all and we love the result!


Here's the break down in price:

Rope: $0.58/foot x 2 feet = $1.16
Nuts: $2.87 x 3 = $8.58
Well Nut: $1.32 x 6 = $7.92
Screws and washers: $3.52

Total with Tax and 5% Lowe's discount: $21.54
Savings off of the Anthropologie handles: $21.42

Do you love these but don't want to build them yourself? We'll make them for you! Click here for large pulls and here for small pulls

Linking To: Hi Sugar Plum, The Great Indoors, House of Hepworths, My Repurposed Life, Our Delightful Home, Five Days Five Ways, Serenity Now, Lovely Etc., The Rooster and the Hen, Six Sisters Stuff, Tatertots and Jello, Wayward Girls Crafts, Twigg Studio, Serendipity and Spice, Ask Anna, Home Stories A to Z, Uncommon Designs, House wives of RivertonCrafty Texas GirlsSouthern Institute

12 comments:

  1. I really like those. Very clever way to make your own.

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  2. It's amazing what a piece of rope can be turned into. I love these, and the nuts do give it a nice and unique look. I have done some pulls with rope but wouldn't have though of the nuts. Good work. I found you at Twigg Studios Sunday Showoff. I hope you'll stop by and Visit at Quirky Vistas some time as well and see what's going on at my place!

    Liz

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  3. Love your drawer pulls--great tute too! :)

    gail

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  4. Love the handles made of rope!! We hope to see you back next week to our "Strut Your Stuff Saturday." Thanks for coming!! -The Sisters

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  5. I really like what you did with the handles. Stopping by from Manic Monday link party

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  6. They turned out really great! Thanks for the instructions :)

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  7. Hey, I am thinking of doing this in my kitchen but am wondering about durability. I mentioned this idea to my mother in law who has renovated a lot of houses in her life and she said in a matter of a few months they would get grungy from hand grease/dirt and food. Could you give some feedback on how they've stood up? Thanks!

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    1. We haven't had any issues with durability. Granted we have these in the pantry which isn't used everyday but they have been used a lot and we do all of our baking in there and they still look just like new! Hope this helps.

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  8. Just the job - well done.

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  9. Hi there. I know this post is quite old, but do you remember if you guys had a tough time getting the rope inside the nut? I'm trying to make these pulls, but I'm having no luck whatsoever getting the rope far enough inside the but to even come close to hiding the electrical tape.

    Thanks.

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    1. We've made quite a few of these now and have made some improvements from this post. We find it easiest to use a ratchet to help twist the nut on and wrap the rope ends very tightly with electrical tape and let the tape extend past the end of rope so it can lead the rope in. We also use pliers to hold the end of the rope since if you make a lot of these it will hurt your hands. You need to apply quite a bit of pressure to twist the nut on. Once it's secure, you can peel off the electrical tape and use needle nose pliers to pull the tape out from the inside of the nut. It definitely takes a bit of muscle and sometimes some frustration. I really hope this helps but if you are still having trouble, we can make them for you... just visit the "Shop" tab at the top of this page. I

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  10. Yesterday my dad and I tackled this project to update a dresser of my grandmother's. After some trial and error we found an easier way for us to get the rope into the large connecter nut. Once the rope is cut to your desired length, we applied a very small amount of super glue to the edges. Set aside to dry. Once dry we "whittled" or "shaved" it down a bit with a very sharp knife. The glue kept the edge in tact. It makes threading the nut SO much faster. Once the rope is inside I applied a few drops of super glue into the nut as well. GOOD LUCK!

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