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sadrmma_gw

Need opinions on cabinet hardware

sadrmma
11 years ago

We are getting close to the end of our kitchen renovation! We just got most of our doors installed and now I realized that the cup pulls that I chose for the drawers will not fit on the smaller drawer fronts (all the top drawers are smaller 6" drawer fronts) We also have one bank of 4 drawers instead of 3 which means 3 drawer fronts that wont fit the cup pull. They are all 6" and they have only 1.5" in between the rails.

These are the knobs and pulls I had picked:



My cabinet maker suggested that I do knobs on all the top drawers and cup pulls on the bottoms which I would be ok with but I'm not sure what to do about that bank of 4 drawers. 3 knobs and 1 cup pull at the bottom? would that look awkward? or 4 knobs all the way down? Or should I skip the whole cup pulls and go with a regular pull instead b/c of this issue? I was looking at these:

or these:

Here are some pics of our almost finished kitchen so you can get a better idea:





Comments (16)

  • breezygirl
    11 years ago

    The stiles and rails of your 5 piece drawer fronts are very wide. Even if you used a knob on those, it would be very awkward if they are placed in the tiny flat panel area. That's not enough space for any standard hardware style to fit. Why not mount your hardware on the stiles? You could use your cup pulls that way.

    You have a very pretty kitchen shaping up! I love those chocolatey floors.

  • northcarolina
    11 years ago

    Beautiful kitchen! I agree with Breezy -- why not just put them on the rails? That's what we did.

  • sadrmma
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the compliments!

    breezygirl -You think its too small for regular pulls too? I'm not so excited about putting them on the rails. I think the long skinny pulls would fit on the flat panel. I thought the knobs were a good idea too but i can see how they might look awkward.

    northcarolina - do you have pictures of your hardware mounted on the rails so I can see how that looks?

  • northcarolina
    11 years ago

    Yes, I have a couple of in-progress pictures. My doors are different than yours because they are not true 5-piece construction and thus the inset panel is shallower than on yours, but maybe the visual will help you decide. Our smaller drawers are slabs and we centered the pulls on those (they looked ridiculous anywhere else). I like the way ours turned out. I don't know if this is true in reality, but pulls attached to a rail (a real one) seem structurally sturdier to me than pulls attached to a thin center panel. I really think it boils down to personal preference, though.

    {{!gwi}}

    {{!gwi}}

  • lee676
    11 years ago

    I almost always put the pulls on the stiles/rails, so the pulls on the drawers will be a few inches higher (particularly noticeable on deep drawers that are usually nearest the floor) and thus can be reached without leaning over as far. Plus, it looks better.

  • badgergal
    11 years ago

    I used all pulls in my kitchen. I placed the pulls on the rails of the 5 piece drawers. I have slab drawers on the top of each drawer stack but I placed the pull where the rail would have been. I do have oversized pulls and while that's not the look you would be going for, I'm posting a picture just so you can see the placement.
    {{!gwi}}

  • labbie
    11 years ago

    Another vote for putting the pulls that you want on the stiles. I was concerned about it as well, but now that they are on there (cup pulls) I realize how much I actually prefer that placement, especially on the bottom drawers.
    On our drawers, we used knobs on the top drawers and pulls on the lowers.

  • sadrmma
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    badgergal - Thanks for the picture. That does look very nice. I'm concerned how it would look with just a cup pull though.

    labbie - I would love to see a picture with cup pulls on the stiles! Do you have any? Did you put the knobs on the stiles as well?

  • badgergal
    11 years ago

    When I walked into my bathroom this morning, I realized that I have knobs in the small recessed panel of my vanity drawers. The space is only about 1 inch in height and the knobs work fine. I think it might work fine for you to use knobs in the panel area on the small drawers and then put your cup pulls on the rail for your bigger drawers. That would give you some consistency and solve the problem with the drawer stack that has 2 small and one large drawer.
    Also if you search labbies name in the search box at the bottom you will find her posts and can see pictures of her cup pulls on the rails of her drawers.
    Here is a shot of the knobs on my vanity

  • breezygirl
    11 years ago

    Yes, I think that the tiny panel area is too small for any hardware to fit comfortably and, more importantly, be used comfortably. I wouldn't like aiming for a small area and run the risk of scraping my knuckles on the stiles as I rush around the kitchen trying to prepare a nutritious meal from scratch for my loving family while the kids run around screaming, yelling, fighting, blowing the toy horns, stomping, tugging at me, and did I mention fighting? YMMV.

    I have slightly over 2.5" of flat panel space on my shallow 5 piece drawer fronts. I would not want to go any smaller.

    I've seen plenty of kitchens with cup pulls mounted on the stiles, and it looks great. Of course, I can't recall any names offhand. :)

  • maggiebkit
    11 years ago

    I like it both ways so I think you should get the pulls you want and place them accordingly (cup pulls on stiles, others in center area),
    BTW, can I ask where your cabinets are from-they are beautiful!!

  • badgergal
    11 years ago

    Just want to point out that based some of the posts above there seems to be some confusion with the terms stiles and rails. "The vertical members of the frame are called stiles while the horizontal members are known as rails. A basic frame and panel item consists of a top rail, a bottom rail, two stiles, and a panel. This is a common method of constructing cabinet doors and these are often referred to as a five piece door."

  • breezygirl
    11 years ago

    Guilty, Badgergirl! I keep saying stiles. My bad.

  • a2gemini
    11 years ago

    Great educational post!
    I love what badger did but think breezy' advice is sound about the space between the rails and knuckles. I also can appreciate no reaching so far down(although I chickened out on our kitchen)
    Love your kitchen. So pretty!!
    Anyone have pictures of cup pulls on rails for sadrmma to see?

  • sadrmma
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks everyone! I decided to get the cup pulls and put them on the top rail. This way all my drawers can get the pulls. (I like the not bending down too far part too ;)
    maggiebkit - my cabinets are custom from a local cabinet maker here in toronto.
    Does anyone have any idea how to space two cup pulls on the oversized drawers? The cabinet guy is here installing them and wants to know where I want to put them. How did you decide?

  • blackchamois
    11 years ago

    Sadrmma - can you please post more pics once you have your hardware installed? I will be in the same boat as you with a similar bank of 4 drawers. My stiles/rails will also be about the same width as your, leaving a tiny recessed area on some of the drawers.

    My floors will are also about the same color as your and I am doing white cabs as well. Your kitchen looks lovely and I hope mine will too.

    Can you also tell me what your counters are, and the brand and style of the pulls/knobs you settled on.

    Thanks so much! Great job!