{shell & seaglass}: {bungalow kitchen bin pulls}

and you thought that was all the kitchen photos for a while, but a few more to share, this time of the bin pulls that we finally put to good use. i'm particularly pleased with these photos, as putting on bin pulls might be the first thing that can be declared complete in the entire bungalow. also it shows just how something as seemingly small as drawer pulls and cabinet knobs can make a huge change to the overall feel of the kitchen. remember the before pulls?

oh and also i have had a few requests to share more in the behind the scene details, so here's my first (of hopefully many) diy/learn as you go home tutorial.

step one - begin with clean & freshly painted drawer (ours had all of our christmas vacation for the paint to cure = a week and a half = paint was definitely dry)

step two - measure drawer height & width so you can find the exact center of the drawer and mark it with a pencil.

step three: make a template using a piece of cardboard (in my case it was the back of the notebook) and measure the distance between the two screw holes in your drawer pull. also make a dot on the template to denote the exact middle of the drawer pull. then line up the center dot on the template with the mark you made on the center of the drawer. attempt to level the template (you can use a level or measure so that each screw hole dot is the same distance from the top of the drawer). now, using the template as your guide, mark where the screw holes should go on the drawer itself.

step four: place the drawer pull over the marks you just made, being sure the holes align with the marks. check measurements again to be sure the drawer pull is level. (note - the holes on our bin pulls are on the bottom of the pull so i actually moved the marks for the holes down about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch so that the middle of the pull is in the middle of the drawer. if i left the holes in the middle, the pull would have been placed too high. it just depends on your pull as to whether you need to pay attention to this.)

step five: drill the holes where you have marked. (no reason you can't do this yourself, but b likes any excuse to use the drill so i was happy to let him drill the holes while i continued to measure the next drawers). a word on drilling holes - if you can avoid it, don't drill all the way through the drawer unless the screw that came with your drawer pull is to be stuck through the back of the drawer. most drawer pulls seem to just have screws that only go into the front of the drawer and do not go as far to stick out the inside of the drawer. also be sure to pick a drill bit that is a good bit smaller than your screw. basically what you are doing is drilling a pilot hole, which is very useful in preventing the wood from splintering. but if your drill bit is too big, the screw will not have any wood left on which to grab ahold.

step six: move the pull away from the holes & blow off the sawdust. also, note you don't have to leave the pull on the drawer when you drill the hole. if your marks are accurate and dark enough to see, no reason why you can't move the pull during this step.

step seven: realign the pull and drill in the screws. make sure it is on tight (but watch out for stripping the screw) as you don't want a wiggly handle.

and *ta-da* a kitchen full of completed drawers with pulls. (if you have taken care to do the measuring, your pulls should line up quite nicely).

annnnd, here's one of the main hold ups in the kitchen. some of the interior bottom cabinets are not in the best shape & need repairs or new sides.

apparently there used to be a small water heater in the below cabinet, which explains why the floor of it is lower than all of the others. also the drawer that should go on the left was a fake panel, so we are planning to build another drawer to eventually match all the others.