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blackchamois

Help! Need to decide on pull sizes today!

blackchamois
9 years ago

My doors and drawer fronts are all shaker style, no slab fronts. I am going with the Amerock Highland Ridge in PN. I am doing knobs on all the doors, except the pantry, and pulls on the drawers. I have pulls in all three sizes (end to end - 5", 6.5", 8.5") - but need some advice on which to use.

I have a bank of 3 drawers 29.5" wide to the left of the range, and a bank of 4 drawers 17" wide to the right of the range. Directly across from the 4 drawer stack, to the left of the frig, I have 1 drawer 22" wide above a base cabinet door.
A) If I use the "rule of thirds" this would mean using the 8.5" pulls on the 3 drawer stack, 5" pulls on the 4 drawer stack, and the 6.5" pull on the 22" drawer. I have a small kitchen and wondering if this would this would be too many different sizes, but then again, the cabinets are all different widths so ... ?

B) I could use the 5" all over and use 2 per the 29.5" drawers. However, I don't have enough on hand and would need to order more. Also, I think I'd prefer pulling with just one handle, not two.
Part two of my question is the pantry door. It is 68" tall with a rail in the middle. I can either use the 6.5" or the 8.5". I think either would work. My hesitation with the 8.5" is that it may look too heavy duty and more like an appliance pull.
Do you have any advice for me?

Comments (9)

  • jellytoast
    9 years ago

    Personally, I don't think your kitchen is too small to use a variety of different sizes. On my tall pantry, I used a 160mm size, but my tall pantry is narrow (21 in) and is split into two doors, a smaller door on top and a taller door on the bottom. If your pantry is wider, the larger size would work, too. I think either would be fine. If you prefer using only one handle to open the doors, then that's what you should go with. The sizes you have chosen sound fine. I got some of that "earthquake" putty and used it to mount handles temporarily so that I could stand back and get a good look at them. It doesn't hold them on for very long, but it doesn't mar the cabinets and allows you to see them from a better vantage point.

  • andreak100
    9 years ago

    My general rule of thumb was to try to go about 1/3 of the width of the drawer front. We wound up with two different sizes and then one area where we had to use a completely different style handle due to some space/rubbing issues. I think that pulls look nice when they are mostly proportional...but different people like different things.

    I personally would use the larger pull on the pantry. I don't think that an 8 1/2" pull is going to look like an appliance pull as those are typically (although not always) much larger.

  • OOTM_Mom
    9 years ago

    With the shaker fronts, you may want to consider the width between the stiles (not sure thats the right word for them, the "frame" on the front) as your total width, and then apply the rule of thirds. Especially since the drawers are not slab front.

    Also, why the hurry? Take your time!

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    9 years ago

    My kitchen is small also, with shaker fronts, and I decided that smaller handles weren't practical enough, and larger handles were too obtrusive. So I used 6" (total length) handles everywhere and I really like the way they look. I have just a single, centered handle on the 36" drawers, works find and looks good I think. I felt like using 2 handles on the drawers made for a "handles everywhere" feel that was too much! I also have the 6" handles on the two sections of my 22" pantry.

    It really is a matter of what works and looks best to you!

    Totally support the idea of using the putty to try out sizes and placements -- brilliant suggestion!

  • blackchamois
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks all for the feedback. The reason for the rush is that the cabinet maker would like to make the templates TODAY at his shop and drill the holes before attaching the drawer fronts. So the drawer fronts arenâÂÂt currently on, only the cabinet doors.
    HeâÂÂs coming back tomorrow to finish up the kitchen.
    I think IâÂÂm pretty set on using the 8.5â for the 29.5â drawers, and the 6.5â for the 22â drawer. For the 17â drawer, I was debating maybe also using the 6.5â for consistency w/the drawer on the opposite wall.
    But I think I am leaning toward just going with the âÂÂrule of thirdsâÂÂ
    OOTM - I measured with the stiles include and excluded and either way the same size handle roughly still fits the âÂÂrule of thirdsâÂÂ.
    Also, these are the handles â¦

  • badgergal
    9 years ago

    My kitchen is small too (11x12) but I didn't hesitate to use different size pulls. I followed a rule of halves for my drawers. There are 3 different sizes on the run of drawers shown below but I actually used a total of 4 different sizes in my kitchen and attached dining area.

    Yy
    I think you will be fine with the sizes you are considering.

  • blackchamois
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Okay, I pulled the trigger and going w/ the âÂÂrule of thirdsâÂÂ. Thanks for being a great sounding board!

    The pantry is 68h x 22.5w. I do have some earthquake putty at home and will take a look at both âÂÂonâ the door. (All I had on hand was blue painters tape so I tried w/that, but that kind of ruined the visual :))

  • jellytoast
    9 years ago

    Keep in mind that the earthquake putty won't hold for long, so place a towel below to keep from dinging counters or floors if the handle should fall.

    Good luck!

    This post was edited by jellytoast on Fri, May 23, 14 at 8:23

  • blackchamois
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Jellytoast - Yep did that. Thank you. I decided on the larger handle for the pantry. Will be posting pics soon!

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