Knobs, pulls, and other handles are like jewelry for cabinets. The right kitchen cabinet hardware can complement and accentuate the lines, colors, and textures of your space. The placement and positioning of cabinet hardware also makes a kitchen more functional. Is there a correct placement for cabinet handles?
While hardware placement does affect the functionality of the space, it is a matter of personal taste. Looking at different arrangements of cabinet hardware will help you decide which styles and placements are right for you.
Tips for Placing Cabinet Hardware
- Level and adjust your doors and drawers before drilling holes for hardware.
- A template or jig makes it easy to mark the same measurement holes on each cabinet. Alternatively, you can build yourself a template using scrap wood.
- Gripping and opening the cabinet should feel good in your hand. It’s not worth installing a handlebar that’s awkward or causes strain.
- Re-use old screw holes if you’re replacing handles.
Cabinet Knobs
A cabinet knob is your most basic handle, suitable for doors and drawers alike. Knobs use a single screw and are traditionally round or circular. However, you can find them in shapes ranging from square to T-shape. When it comes to materials and finishes, there are choices ranging from wood to ceramic to crystal.
Cabinet knobs are placed opposite of door hinges. On wall cabinets, knobs are usually placed 2-1/2” to 3” from the bottom corner of the door. On base cabinets, they are placed 2-1/2” to 3” from the upper corner of the door.
On drawers and pull-out cabinets, knobs are typically centered on the drawer front. If you prefer, you can set your knobs on the upper part of the drawer front, as shown above. A knob in this position can provide additional leverage when opening a sink tilt-out tray. When installing knobs for pull-out cabinets such as a waste
If your drawer is 24” or wider, you may choose to place a second knob. Divide the drawer into thirds and place the two knobs at the one-third point and two-thirds point.
Knobs centered in the corner of the door frame make for a timeless look.
Traditional knobs in brass or gold finishes give a warm, polished look.
Place knobs toward the top of the drawer, rather than centered, for a modern look.
Knobs can create a modern look. Line up the knob with the horizontal rail where the door frame meets the center panel.
Beautiful crystal accent knobs placed in the door frame corners.
Bar and Wire Pulls
Bar pulls (also known as European pulls) and wire pulls have similar functionality in varying forms. They are easy to grasp and work well in modern and contemporary kitchens. Wire pulls are screwed into the cabinet at its two ends. Bar pulls are screwed in by two feet-like projections.
On doors, these pulls are typically installed with an upright, vertical orientation. Place the bottom hardware hole 2 1/2” to 3” from the bottom of the door front. Then center it horizontally on the door frame. Using the horizontal rail of the door frame, place your screw hole or orient the bottom end of the handle.
On cabinet drawers, these pulls lay in a flat, horizontal orientation. Off-center the handlebars for more of a contemporary feel for 3-drawer base cabinets. This makes for a graceful and proportioned look. For pull-out storage such as this wastebasket cabinet, handles are often placed horizontally. They commonly centered on the top rail of the door frame. If the pull-out is especially narrow, e.g. a 3″ pull-out spice rack, you can also choose to orient handlebars vertically.
Here, the top drawer pulls are centered while the bottom pulls are raised. The distance from the drawer's top edge to the handlebar is equal for all drawers.
You may choose longer pulls for wider drawers, rather than placing two short pulls on the drawer front.
Steel Euro-style bar pulls on a row of white Shaker-styled cabinetry.
Cup Pulls
Cup pulls (also known as bin pulls) are an upside-down cup shaped pull popularized by Victorian-era kitchens. Instead of gripping a protruding knob, you slip your fingers underneath the ‘cup’.
Cup pulls have a wide appeal across a range of kitchen cabinet styles. They have a clean and timeless look that works with farmhouse, vintage, traditional, and transitional styles.
Cup pulls are often combined with a coordinating knob. The cup pull is used on the drawer, and the knob is used on all doors and upper cabinets.
A two-toned kitchen is ideal for trying contrasting hardware finishes and styles.
Matching cup pulls and knobs on navy cabinet.
Cup pulls are the perfect complement to farmhouse style kitchens.
Rectangular cups pulls blend traditional and modern styles.
Edge Pulls
Edge pulls (also known as tab pulls or finger pulls) are a more contemporary style. They have a minimalist look that pairs excellently with slab-door cabinet styles. These pulls go on the top and bottom edges of your door or drawer.
Place edge pulls in the opposite corner of the hinge on cabinet doors. It is often best to center pulls on drawers.
Showing 36 comments
Elsa
We just moved into a 4 year old home and the previous owner/builder/or cabinet maker made a very poor decision in placing the cabinet pulls. They have all been positioned horizontally, to match the drawers, but they really need to be switched to vertical in order to open doors fully and not bump into appliances or each other. What options do I have and where do I start? Is this going to be an expensive endeavor? Cabinets are painted, not natural wood.
Dan Jones
The sad fact is that that once holes are drilled in the doors it is very difficult to fill. Being painted gives you a chance but most likely it involves re-painting the entire kitchen. The holes can be filled and sanded and then cabinets can be repainted. It may take multiple times to fill with a wood fill type product before indentation goes away.
Cynthia Lema
Can and should an edge/tab pull be used on a dishwasher wood panel? It will be recessed into the panel. I have slab panels and using tabs everywhere on the slab cabinets- but not sure if I should use it for dishwasher panel. It would look more cohesive and clean, but not sure if practical in the long run. Advice please.
Hilda
Hi, thank you for this blog.
We are going to install pulls on our kitchen drawers and would like to know how to do this particular type. Our drawer fronts are attached to the front of the actual unfinished drawer. Do we remove the front to install the pulls? If we don’t we cannot center the pull. Or, do we drill through both front and drawer and install using longer screws? Or, do we not center the pulls?
Thank you again for any suggestion you may provide.
Dan Jones
Drawer front hardware can be tricky depending on the cabinet manufacturer and the cabinet itself. An example for our standard (top) drawer for base cabinets more than likely you will have to drill through the drawer front and the drawer box. This is true with most cabinet manufacturers. On our deep drawer cabinet more than likely you only drill through the drawer front because it extends higher than the drawer box. Both require different length screws, which most cabinet hardware manufacturers supply.
Hardware placement may also be different. If you want your hardware “high” on the drawer you’ll drill through just the drawer front and use the short screw like you do for doors. Measure twice! Drill once! Blue tape is your friend for marking – and use a template if you can.
Veronica
Can single, 1” knobs be used for heavy drawers, 18” wide dishwasher handle, and spice pullout? I’d like to only do one single knob centered but I need to know if they will be durable enough for heavier drawers etc. Have you had clients do this in the past and have they worked out well? Please let men know! Thank you! ALSO! Would it look weird to mix chrome bars with crystal knobs in a white kitchen?? My husband likes the bars better and was considering mixing them as a compromise, but don’t want it to end up looking awkward. Let me know your thought, thank you!!
CliqStudios Marketing
Hi Veronica. Sure, all of your ideas would work. 1″ knobs may be visually too small in proportion to a heavy duty drawer though, depending on the size of the drawer.
D. Mahon
Really helpful information here. Thank you for sharing it. I recently had my kitchen painted and am in the process of installing new hardware. The cabinets are original to the house (2003) and have the routed finger pulls. I have an island with 12 drawers. The 4 top drawers had the drawer fronts installed so that the routed finger pulls were at the bottom. The remaining two rows of drawers have the drawer front installed so that the routed finger pulls are on top. Since I’m installing pulls, should I keep this configuration or should I flip the front so that the routed finger pulls aren’t visible? What would a pro do? Thanks in advance.
CliqStudios Marketing
Hello. If you’re installing hardware, then go ahead and flip those drawer fronts so the finger pulls are not visible.
Shell
I’ve been searching for an answer to this question- if you have a pair of cabinet doors with hinges on opposite sides, can you install edge pulls against each other on the vertical side of the cabinet doors?
CliqStudios Marketing
Hi Shell. The answer is ‘probably not.’ If you have two doors that meet in the middle of your cabinet, then they likely are sized to have a reasonably tight tolerance. Otherwise, you’d have a big gap between the doors. If you have a tight tolerance on your doors, then you probably would not have space to add the thickness of two edge pulls. However, if your doors don’t have an especially tight tolerance, and/or your edge pulls are very low profile, then it could possibly work. Good luck.
Sang Lee
Thank you so much for share this valuable information.
Also I would like to know the brand name of ‘crystal accent knob’ in the photo in ‘Cabinet Knobs’ section.
CliqStudios Digital Marketing
Hi Sang. The homeowner sourced the cabinet knobs from Anthropologie. You can view more of this project here. Please let us know if we can answer any more questions for you.
Barb
I have a tall bathroom laundry cabinet with two top 15” doors for towels , a counter than below a 30” draw and below that two 15” doors. One is a pull out for laundry and the other is a traditional swing door. I am trying to figure out the knob/pulls placement. Basically the two bottom cabinets.
Mar
So… the super installed the cabinet pull out handles on the sides rather than the tops of the cabinet pull out doors. To me, this is extremely awkward even though it looks as if the door is just another door. Any suggestions or opinions as to how this can function? I’m heartbroken.
CliqStudios Marketing
Hi Mar. We’re so sorry to hear that this happened. If you ordered your cabinets from us originally, give your designer a call. Our designers can help you order a new door for the pull out so you may replace the one that your contractor drilled in the middle.
phil
You can fill the hole with wood filler and touch up the paint and you’ll never know it was there.
Jennifer
In response to Nancy’s question, the refrigerator looks like a Thermador.
Ann Pfister
Very informative, thank you! I’m not sure what to call the “space” between a handle-type pull and the face of the cabinet. Some pulls leave more space for the fingers to get under without gouging your fingernails or ring into the cabinet! What is a good depth and what do I look for when searching for the measurements of the handles? Thank you!
Abhinav Iyer
Thank you so much for this informative blog. Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on the amazing work that you are doing. I have also been purchasing a few hardware equipment from Decodeal. I have learned a lot about door pull handles and their types. Also where and how can they be used. I am glad that you guys are keeping people informed about your service.
Barb Terrell
Site information and pictures were very helpful. Thank you for including options. Not everyone wants their knobs in the same location, your site clearly explains numerous options.
Kathy Dean
Your thoughts on replacing 1 1/4 inch knobs with 2 1/2 inch knobs. The increase in size would bring the hardware to the edge of the cabinet door. What are your thoughts with that kind of upgrade? Thank You
Phyllis
we replaced our smaller handles with larger knobs and couldn’t be happier. They are more comfortable to use and less chance of nicks and scratches. I don’t mind them being closer to edge.
Angel
I do not see any where the base cabinet pulls are across the top, horizontal, rather than vertical. For ease of use due to location of doors, is this uncommon? This also makes it easy to hang a towel on depending on the width of the pull.
Susannah A.
Your site is really informational. Great photographs and ideas.
Pip
Im using pulls on draws and knobs on doors, shaker style. I have 1 taller single pantry type door. Would it look odd or inappropriate to use a pull placed vertically on that door? If not, how far from the top should it be placed?
Micky Belsheim
Thank you for your article. As someone else said other articles are vague and not helpful. I do have a question for you. I’m installing new cabinets and trying to figure out how many pulls I need for the drawers. They are 22” and 25”. The pulls are cups. The cabinets have recessed panels. How do I decide how many per door I need? 1 or 2? Thanks for your help.
Micky
CliqStudios Digital Marketing
Hi Micky! We’re happy to help. For drawers 24” or wider, you may choose to place a second knob. Divide the drawer into thirds and place the two knobs at the one-third point and the two-thirds point.
Carl
Nancy, I would say it could be a Sub-Zero brand fridge. You might want to start there.
Brian Johnston
Should you place handles or knobs on the fake panels like under the sink
CliqStudios Social Media
Some homeowners choose to add handles and knobs to under sink areas for consistency. Though some choose not to so that they don’t get confused with what doors and drawers are accessible.
Nancy
Very helpful, thanks. I would love to know the brand of the refrigerator in the photo directly above “Tips for Placing Cabinet Hardware.”
CliqStudios Social Media
Unfortunately, we do not have that information as the refrigerator was sourced by the homeowners.
Tricia Wright
Thank you for this comprehensive explanation AND images about drawer and door hardware placement. I’ve wondered about knob and pull location for years. Most of the information I’ve found seems either wishy washy or leans to current trends. Your site provides all the options and answers. Thank you!
CliqStudios Social Media
Happy to help! Let us know if you have further questions or need assistance from our design team.
Sue T
Your site has been very helpful. Really appreciated the images!