Getting a handle on things

I have onnnnnnne last thing to cover following my (pretty much epic) trip to Charlottesville for the blogging exchange with Jessalyn. As I was heading out of town, I decided to make a minor pit stop – You see, the city boasts the only Anthropology within a drivable distance, and I couldn’t leave without at least a quick pass through.

Is anyone else as enthralled by that store as I am? The colors, the design, the rustic feel – It really truly seems like more than a store to me. There is so much that goes into the presentation…

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Although I would love to add some pieces of their clothing to my wardrobe, I frankly can’t afford it. The only piece of Anthropology clothes that I own is a lovely mustard color dress that I justified as a bridal shower dress (this was just after John had popped the question). I never did wear the $170 dress to my bridal shower, partially because of the blizzard we had that day, but also because I never was POSITIVE that it even looked good on me. After that flop of an over-priced purchase, I’ve kept my Anthropology self-gifting limited strictly to the home goods department. Which is where I made a bee-line this particular trip. My purpose? Drawer pulls.

(Sorry for the blurry iPhone picture)

Anthropology is the mecca of drawer pulls. Any color, any pattern, any texture – They’ve got it. While I would love to stumble upon a vintage glass drawer pull oozing with character and personality, I know it’s a 1-in-a-million chance. I’m just not patient enough to hold out for that when I know that I can pick up handfuls of gorgeous reproductions at Anthropology, for a pretty reasonable price too – About $6-$10 apiece. They say hardware is like jewelry when it comes to certain furniture redo projects – I’m willing to splurge a bit on this finishing touch.

The piece I was looking to outfit with a little sparkle that day was our new-to-us china cabinet. As you can see below, it lacked any sort of handle, making it quite an ordeal to open. The only way was to fiddle with a teeny tiny key that came with it, that wouldn’t stay in the key hole. My plan was to pick up a pretty little pull from Anthropology to add to the door, simplifying the task of grabbing a piece of china or a serving dish.

My first thought was this yellow one. As soon as I saw the yellow color, I knew that it was the right hue to go with our minty cabinet. But I wasn’t so sure about the bulbous shape…

Then I uncovered this little white one after more digging. Now THIS is the right shape – Demure, dangly and not quite so “drawer pull.” I thought it seemed more like an actual handle then the first option pictured above. I also really loved the antique finishes/accents. But the color left a little to be desired…

My light bulb moment happened when my eyes came to rest on this lovely little handle…The perfect color. The perfect shape. SOLD!

Luckily for me, that $6 price tag attached to the pull ended up being outdated. Apparently this yellow handle was on super sale for only $1.99 and shouldn’t have even been out on the floor! As I was at the cash register, the manager kept urging me to go back for more if I wanted them. I didn’t need anymore, so I told her I’d just be taking the one. But after orders were exchanged and an associate retrieved the last remaining yellow pull off the floor to be discontinued, I couldn’t help but speak up just as she was setting it behind the counter – “I’LL TAKE IT!!”

So, for under $5, I came home with not one, but two lovely yellow Anthropology drawer pulls. Who knows what I’ll use the extra for, but I knew exactly where one would go…

All it took was asking the hubby to drill  a hole in the cabinet door so that I could slide the new hardware in place. Well, actually John did that part too, thus the tattooed arm below.

Since most drawer fronts have fairly deep insets, the pull came with a nice, long screw. So before calling the project “done,” I asked John to grab his bolt cutters to snip off the excess. Before…

…and after!

Here’s the new pull looking like it was meant to be the whole time…Don’t you just love the combo of the soft minty blue with the canary yellow? Our home is almost entirely done in this color palette, so it seemed fitting to carry on the pairing.

Have a great weekend!

P.S. I got this promo email in my inbox this week and thought it was definitely worth sharing with you guys. The folks behind the new website Printcopia are offering a huge grand opening discount – Enter the promo code BLOGLOVE2012 at checkout and get 50% off photo to canvas prints. Offer expires 9/15/2012, so get it while it’s hot! (I am in no way being perked to share this news – Seemed like a good deal and you know I love me a good deal…)

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