DIY ribbon drawer pulls

cute as a button! DIY ribbon pulls in just 2 minutes per drawer…

I get irritable in accessory aisles. Those ones in the home improvement or home goods stores that stock things like toilet paper holders. Towel bars, shower curtain rings, knobs, and drawer pulls.

Sometimes, I can keep my annoyance under wraps. Just a grumble here and there…I blame it on my stomach. An eye roll, perhaps.

Once in a while though, all bets are off. I lose my cool – like Father Of The Bride, scene-in-the-hot-dog-bun-aisle-style. That’s me in the curtain rod department. I’ve never been arrested, but when I imagine my moment being hauled into the big house, it’s gonna be straight outta Bed Bath & Beyond. And under my tough-looking mug shot, it’s going to read:

in for “battery of pricey toilet paper holders with an expensive towel bar” and “aggravated assault of overpriced home accessories” 

Why oh why do they want us to pay $14.99 for a toilet paper holder? $30 for something to hang a dirty hand towel on?! $8 for some plastic donut things to hang my shower curtain upon? As Meghan Trainor says,

Nah to the ah to the no, no, no

I’ve already written about alternatives to pricey tp holders, as well as options for other budget-friendly bathroom accessories.

We did a post on a thrifty DIY alternative to high-priced curtain rods, and a $3 wall-mounted magazine rack, too. Check those out if you’re interested. Today, let’s talk drawer pulls.

There are certainly times when upgrading to some nice pulls is called for. When I gut my kitchen (likely a pipe dream which will never come to fruition) you can believe I’m going to get some nice pulls to highlight whatever great new cabinets we bring in.

But, there are times when spending more isn’t an option, and isn’t super necessary. This little project was one of those situations.

Here’s a video of the process, but you can also read on for the step-by-step instructions.

As I was saying, we inherited some very functional closet organizers when we bought this house.

The old owners put them in several of our closets, which is GREAT. Not sure if you’ve gone through the process of pricing closet organizers, but like all the rest which we’ve discussed as being overpriced, closet organizers fall into that same category if you ask me.

This is a set of drawers that are part of our daughter’s closet organizer. They work just fine. While I’d prefer they were plain white instead of 1990’s “nude”, that is something that I’m willing and very able to overlook for the time being.

The pulls though? They were reminiscent of the brassy and not-so-classy door knobs that we had all over this joint. And if you’ve ever read this blog before, you may already know what happened with those.

For probably $2 worth of ribbon, and maybe another $1.50 worth of washers, I was able to give this dresser a new look, in under 20 minutes.

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How to install DIY ribbon drawer pulls

1. Remove existing drawer pulls.

Typically, for this step, you will need a screwdriver. The type (Phillips or flat) will depend upon your pull. No matter what though, you will be unscrewing the hardware from the inside of the drawer.

2. Cut a piece of ribbon, approximately 12″ long.

This is very approximate because the exact length you will need depends upon what length of handles you’ll be replacing.

If your pulls were only 4″ long, then 12″ will surely be adequate. If, however, your handles were 7″ long, you may want to give yourself a few extra inches of ribbon to work with.

Always err on the side of cutting a piece that’s too long. You can always trim the excess, but it’s hard to work with a piece that’s too short.

3. Tie knot in ribbon around one washer.

If you’re a boy scout, a girl scout, or a sailor, you could probably teach this step better than I. Sadly, I only know how to tie a basic square knot, which doesn’t look super neat and clean, but it does the job.

If you’re wise in the way of knot-tying, pick a knot that will allow the ribbon to lay nice and flat on the back of the drawer, and give a cleaner look than my sad little square knot. 

No matter the knot, though, the point is to prevent the ribbon from loosening.

4. Feed ribbon through holes.

Starting on the inside of the drawer, use your nail (I used an approx 2″ long, thin finishing nail with no head) to feed the ribbon through one of the drawer pull holes out toward the front of the drawer.

With one side of the ribbon through, position the ribbon atop the nailhead again, and feed the ribbon into the other drawer pull hole, from the front of the drawer toward the interior.

5. Tie off other end of ribbon around 2nd washer.

Time to pull out those knot-tying skills again. Position the ribbon so that there is an adequate-sized “pull” created by the ribbon in the front of the drawer. Carefully tie off the other end of the ribbon around the second washer.

6. Trim excess ribbon.

That’s it! Repeat the process for any and all other drawers you’d like! Brand new DIY ribbon pulls in about 3-minutes per drawer, for a cost that’s hard to find fault with.

Pssst…before you go, I sure would love to hang out with you again really soon! Sign up now and get a no-cost copy of “Builder-Grade To Beautiful: 10 Totally Transformative Home Decorating Solutions, All Under $100!” Click here to enter your email or on the image below. Your copy will be emailed right away!