Drawer Handle Drama

I like to think of myself as a fairly capable person.

I have managed to get to the age of 52 without any major screw-ups.

I have never been fired from a job.

(Although my husband would love to fire me from my laundry lady position…)

I have raised 2 children to be responsible, duly-employed adults.

 

But when it came to installing new drawer handles in my kitchen

I have to admit it just about got the best of me.

 

When I decided to change the hardware my thought was

“How hard can it possibly be?”

 

Well let me just tell you…

This is my drawer handle.
Note that it take 2 holes.

First I had to gather all the tools I needed.
Drill, tape measure, etc.
Then I had to make a template.
That could be a whole post in itself but let’s just say
that I got the template made…barely.
(I was going to show it to you but I was too embarrassed
and threw it away when I was finished.)

So now I’m ready to start drilling into the first drawer.
I get my nerve up and drill the two holes.
Not big enough.
I graduate to the next size drill bit.
Still not big enough.
Several bits later I get the right size hole.

At this point I’m sweating and annoyed.

I put the handle into the holes and am ready to screw it into place.
BUT
the screws aren’t long enough.
I forgot that the holes needed to be counter-sunk from the inside.
Of course I don’t have a drill bit that does that…

So I’m off to Lowe’s.
The little hardware aisle guy advises me that it might
be easier to get longer screws and forget about the counter-sink bit.
I refrained from hugging him, took my longer screws and drove home.

Got home, tried the new screws and they were too long.

So I decided that the drawer handle Gods were trying to tell me something.
I quit for the day.

The next morning I went to Lowe’s for the second time.
This time I got the correct screws…

I picked up where I left off the night before.
By about the 5th handle I was getting the hang of it.
Too bad I only had 9 to do…I was just getting good when I finished.

So here are my installed-by-Ann drawer pulls.

 

As you can see I have a long way to go in this kitchen reno.

I’m going to leave you with two burning questions…

1.  Was it worth it?
Absolutely.

2.  Would I do it again?
NO WAY.

Thanks for stopping by…