At the threat of coming across as somebody slightly obsessed with mini drawers, right here’s yet another small drawer hack.
My mum really picked up this tiny drawer set for \$12 from Kmart a few weeks back.
She talked about she was arranging on carrying out ‘something’ with it, then I kinda stole it so I could do ‘something’ with it alternatively (don’t fear, she’s usually happy when I steal her stuff – I did give it back).
Though there was practically nothing majorly incorrect with it, it was just kinda meh, had a couple of splits and chips and didn’t really suit her fashion, so I needed to fully transform it. That mentioned, I also wished the task to be super rapid and straightforward due to the fact I know, that for my readers, fast and effortless make-overs are among the most appealing.
So, as is the situation with most of my under-takings, pondering took precedence above progress!
The finger pulls posed the largest problem. I needed to come up with a simple remedy for concealing them.
Unlike my earlier Ikea Moppe hack, I couldn’t just reverse the drawers as the rears were shorter than the fronts…
I figured the finger pulls could both be filled or covered in some way, and following toying with a few very different concepts, settled on covering them with some type of upholstery.
Even though employing what type of fabric?
Something normal and neutral. Perhaps linen or burlap? Then, out of nowhere, it abruptly came to me. What about leather? That could look amazing!
The only concern was the clearance around the drawers. There was seriously little a lot more than a hair’s width in some areas.
I wanted to wrap every single drawer for that ‘proper’ upholstered finish, although there really wasn’t adequate of a gap to accommodate something thick like leather, particularly at the corners. The drawers simply wouldn’t shut effectively anymore.
I considered attaching the leather to the encounter only then trimming the edges in some way (perhaps with brass studs) even though given the small scale of the drawers I determined I genuinely did want to try out fully wrapping them.
So, I commenced searching for thinner options to real leather and eventually came across some really fantastic make contact with paper. Hmmm, that could operate!
Effectively, allow the venture begin.
You will require…
 
 
one Mini drawer set.
As touched on above, I stole this one particular from my mum however she originally purchased it from Kmart for just \$12 (I consider they nonetheless have them in stock).
Mini drawer sets are pretty widespread and can be located in lots of locations. Ikea sells a couple of. You can also have a search on the web and examine out craft/workplace/decor/dollar retailers.
2 Paint.
I utilized chalkboard paint because I wished something neutral and I really like the distressed graphite physical appearance it will take on when seasoned (coated with chalk then rubbed back). Of program, you can choose any sort of paint in any colour you like. Spray paint would have been helpful even though I just utilised typical canned paint because that’s what I had.
three Card.
This is simply to cover the finger pull holes to steer clear of any achievable dipping of the contact paper at that point. I merely cut up a cereal box. Anything at all thin and rigid will work. If your drawers don’t have finger pulls then of course you don’t require to be concerned about employing any card.
4 Padding.
You can use something somewhat squishy which will give the “leather” a padded visual appeal. I employed wadding (batting) since I currently had some on hand however I truly think some thing a bit denser, like foam or felt sheet (even a kitchen sponge!) could operate much better.
five “Leather”.
As mentioned above, to guarantee I could wrap my drawers I utilised get in touch with paper in place of real leather. You could use actual leather if your item permits. You could also try out wallpaper (I identified some amazing wallpapers which had been accessible to get in generous sample sizes for super inexpensive!). My contact paper was \$10 for one particular meter and I discovered it here. It has a slight texture and I consider it seems to be actually genuine.
six Handles.
I was lucky to have some left-more than brass label holder pulls from my prior Ikea drawer hack. They have been all around \$three each and every from eBay. Label holder pulls are rather easy to discover presently and are much much more inexpensive than they utilized to be. eBay and Etsy are two excellent sources. Of program, you can use any handles you like. I believe a flat label holder with a separate knob would also be cute as would one thing rustic, like hand-made rope pulls.
The approach…
 
1 Paint the drawer set carcass.
As described over, I used chalkboard paint even though you could use anything at all you like (I’m loving the concept of gloss navy!). Spray paint would be best even though I used tinned paint simply because I already had some on hand. I didn’t want to do any prep as my drawer set carcass was previously smooth and super dry. Dependent on your item you may possibly require to sand it and/or apply a primer very first.
After my paint was fully dry I seasoned it (coated it with white chalk then rubbed it off again) to generate a distressed, imperfect, graphite appearance.
 
two Attach card to the drawer faces.
This is merely to cover the finger pull holes, primarily to stay away from the possibility of the contact paper sagging at that level. I basically reduce some rectangles from a cereal box and connected them with double sided tape (you could use glue). I covered the total drawer front, rather than just the finger pull locations, to guarantee I developed one nice even plain. I was just a bit concerned that any card edges may well be discernible by way of the wadding and speak to paper.
 
3 Drill pilot hardware holes.
It’s essential to drill your pilot hardware holes ahead of attaching any kind of material which may possibly get caught up in the drill bit. Simply line up your hardware as desired, mark the nail or screw factors then drill yours pilot holes as essential. Based on the density of your drawers, pilot holes may possibly not be needed although I usually locate it simpler to use them. It just saves a bit of hard work attempting to bash your nails through or drive your screws into sound wood, not to mention the chance of breaking something! Just make sure your drill bit is one or two sizes smaller sized than your nail or screw to make sure they will hold firmly.
 
4 Attach padding to the drawer fronts.
As described above, you can use anything slightly squishy. I utilized standard wadding (batting) since I presently had some on hand. As with the card, I simply reduce rectangles to match my drawer fronts and connected them with double sided tape. I was mindful to guarantee they have been slightly smaller sized than the drawer face so that no extra wadding was pushed above the drawer edges after the get in touch with paper was stretched on.
 
five Attach “leather” to the drawer fronts.
This was the fiddliest part although it was nevertheless super effortless.
You can see the texture in the speak to paper genuinely properly in the above pic (oh, and don’t fret about the minor white corner – it’s just the side of the protruding top and isn’t visible after the drawers are in spot).
5A As pointed out earlier, I employed get in touch with paper in area of genuine leather since I essential something really thin. As you can see in the above pic, I truly bought two diverse papers due to the fact I couldn’t decide! I really adore both of them however made a decision against the far more clearly distressed one particular as I felt the scale of the grain was a small also huge and distinct for my minor drawers (I’ll use it for a future venture). I found the speak to truly great. It has a subtle texture which adds to its realism and it was simple to perform with since it didn’t adhere to itself.
5B I minimize a good even rectangle of get in touch with paper which was about 3cm (one″) more substantial than my drawer encounter all all around.
5C I then removed the backing paper and pressed it onto the wadding, smoothing and stretching it somewhat before generating subtle indents at every corner stage by gently pressing the contact down with my finger.
5D I utilized these indents as my markers to cut diagonally across the corners of the contact, as close to to the indent as attainable (this just removes any excess speak to paper and helps make for neater corners which are easier to fold). I did this while the contact was on prime of the drawer (rather than measure and pre-reduce the corners) for far better accuracy as it’s nearly extremely hard to gauge how the volume of the padding will result the position of the contact paper. It’s also challenging to know just how a lot stretch your make contact with has until finally you remove the backing.
Just be mindful not to cut too much off your corners. You don’t want to leave any of the underlying drawer exposed after you wrap the get in touch with all around.
5E Up coming I smoothed down the get in touch with paper and, stretching it somewhat to make certain a great tight finish, attached it to the drawer, pressing firmly to adhere effectively. I began with the drawer sides.
5F With the sides adhered, I folded in the tiny corners and tightly wrapped the base and best.
You could locate your corners require a tiny tweaking. Get in touch with paper is generally relatively malleable so can be smoothed into location to some extent nonetheless if need be you can take away any ugly extra with a sharp craft knife. You can also touch up any exposed regions with a similarly coloured marker.
 
six Attach hardware.
Poke a pin by way of the pilot holes you already developed – from inside the drawer proper by means of to the front. Employing the new pin holes as a guide, line up your hardware on leading of the drawer and drive your nails or screws by way of. Secure your handles as tightly as essential and preferred, nestling them into the padding to produce a subtle cushioned visual appeal.
Just go simple if you are making use of screws to attach your hardware as their thread can get caught up in the padding, specifically if you utilized one thing fibrous (like wadding).
To finish, insert some cute labels. I absolutely cheated and produced mine digitally. I utilised a higher resolution aged paper texture and the beautiful cost-free font Notera (of program, you can simply tea-stain some paper and hand-create the text). Mum is going to use the little drawers to corral all the crap that builds-up in her kitchen nook so I categorised each and every drawer as requested by her.
This little drawer set now has a very ‘campaign-esque’ come to feel. I actually searched hard for some minor brass corners and ‘T’ plates although couldn’t locate anything at all little enough I really loved (effectively, I did find some actually cute corners in the US although the shipping was crazy substantial). I even had a go at producing my very own even though I wasn’t satisfied that they looked “proper” enough so determined towards employing them.
I’m not certain if the photographs do it justice (I’m also not sure if individuals wooden hands are creepy or not?).
It has a decidedly masculine edge even though the total neutrality indicates it’s even now super versatile. I’m loving the rich “leather” teamed with the distressed chalkboard paint and the nod to refinement the brass hardware imparts.
In other information, I was fortunate to just lately get a new camera lens and am even now operating out how the heck to use it (#camerasconfuseme). I had some exciting taking part in all around with the aperture capabilities by taking some artistic shots of my vintage props.
I adore antique books and outdated cameras!
Anyhoo, right here are some ahead of and afters…
Really a contrast!
I really had no thought how these little drawers have been going to flip out. I think I’m pleasantly amazed!
I’m now also truly excited about the likelihood of upholstering something larger employing leather. Possibly a dresser or even some cabinet doors!
 
PS Thanks so much if you’re a single of the wonderful folks who has so far placed a bid on my Honeycomb Armoire to aid raise funds for charity. The auction still has five days to go so be confident to hop on in excess of and bid. I’ll really like you forever!
 
 
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