Monday, November 11, 2013

how to make a realistic faux card catalog from an old dresser

How To Make A Faux Card Catalog From An Old Dresser, from Twice Lovely

One of my favorite sources for affordable drawer pulls and hardware online is D. Lawless Hardware.  I don’t know if you’re aware, but they recently designed and released their own line of Library Card Catalog style Label Holder Pulls that are surprisingly inexpensive, and if you’ve ever priced this type of drawer pull, you know that they can be very pricey!  They offer two different styles and 4 different finishes. 

I couldn’t wait to find just the right project to use these great pulls and create a realistic-looking, faux, library card catalog.  I got this simple but substantial 10 drawer dresser that I thought would be the perfect piece to execute my vision on.

Dresser Before

First, I went to Home Depot and had them cut 30 (3 for each of the 10 drawers) little squares from a sheet of 5mm Flooring Underlayment (around $15 for the sheet and I had tons left over!)  Then I began the tedious-but-necessary task of sanding the fronts and four edges of all 30 pieces.  Yikes!

Once all the edges and corners were rounded and they were nice and smooth, I used wood glue and clamps to affix the little faux drawers to the drawer fronts.

Create Faux Drawers from 5mm Flooring Underlayment

Once I got all the faux drawers attached, I started to get very excited about how it was coming together.

Smaller Faux Drawers attached to Dresser Drawer Fronts

I decided to go with the bright, shiny brass cup label pulls from D. Lawless, with some extra realism added using this little half inch brass knob below the label pull.

Yay for Hardware!

A dramatic, warm, charcoal gray was a great choice to showcase the beautiful hardware and allow it to really be the star of the show.  So excited with how it turned out!

Faux Card Catalog from an Old Dresser at Twice Lovely

Card Catalog Hardware from D. Lawless Hardware Online

Faux Library Card Catalog from Twice Lovely

I took it to the Vintage Market I participated in this past weekend, and though it didn’t sell (lucky for you locals it’s going to be at Livy Lou’s very soon!) it was totally fooling people all day long!  The larger drawers make it much more practical, usable, and versatile piece than a real library card catalog.  I think it was totally worth the extra effort. :)

I received the hardware for this project from D. Lawless, but received no other compensation for my review.

24 comments:

  1. very cool. I love the idea of re-inventing the drawer fronts.

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  2. This looks so cool!! I LOVE the finished product. Sharing on my FB page!

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  3. wow! this is awesome- you are so smart! :)

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  4. Wow! How absolutely wonderful fantastic and super creative!! Love this piece... Blessings!

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  5. HOLY COW!!!! FANTASTIC JOB.....I love your thinkin outside the box. great redo. :)

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  6. WHHAAATT?! Oh Ann Marie you have just taken awesomeness to a whole new level! This is seriously the best. :)

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  7. This is amazing! Love your vision for this piece.

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  8. It turned out fabulous! I love it :)

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  9. Brilliant! My giant GLASS flat screen television is finally dying (I hate that thing!) When it is replaced with the lovely LCD flat screen television I already have waiting in the wings, I wanted to find a card cabinet to use under it for cd and dvd storage. Reproductions are so expensive. This is such a creative idea!

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  10. that is seriously awesome!! great work!

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  11. This looks amazing! What a clever idea!!

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  12. Whaaaaaat??? 60 cents for ANY type of hardware is amazing, much less library pulls!! I had to replace 60 pulls on a card catalog and I thought $2.50 each was cheap!! One more reason to love D Lawless!
    And you are a genius for thinking of converting a dresser to look like a card catalog! Its fantastic!

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  13. Very Clever! i love the look the drawers are still a useful size. Can't wait to try this soon. http://trash-2-treasure31.blogspot.com/

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  14. You are a genius and that hardware rocks! BEAUTIFUL!!!!

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  15. Wow this is such a great idea!! Definitely trying this!! So glad I stumbled across your blog!:)

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  16. Brilliant! =D Thanks for sharing your creativity!

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  17. Great job! I've been in the process of doing this. I have a cabinet that opens up instead of drawers. So it's a bit tricky. Love yours. How much did you end up selling it for?

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  18. Beautiful! How big were the squares that you glued on the drawer fronts?

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  19. Twice Lovely's article on creating a vintage card catalog from an old dresser showcases a creative and affordable solution using D. Lawless Hardware's Library Card Catalog style Label Holder Pulls. The project, completed with a charcoal gray finish, showcases the realism and functionality of the larger drawers, making it a valuable DIY project. deadly motorcycle accident virginia beach

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