Good question. I love the look and so chose them, not without some worry about "twisting" my hand around every time because I have problem wrists. Have only had cabinets in plus hardware for about a week and kitchen is not functional yet so nothing in the drawers so I can't give you an answer from experience, but so far love the look. I'll be curious to see what others say, although to late for me so I might not check back. Ha.

hi,
i have cup pulls. also liked the look and haven't found them annoying at all. with one teensy exception and that would be the cup pull on the trash bin. it is certainly easy enough to open it is just that if I am holding something messy/dirty, etc (think packaging from chicken breasts) and I pull it open, I am occassionally a little grossed out thinking of the germy build up underneath the cup pull. Maybe if I spent a little less time on the internet, I'd be out there cleaning it right now!

I love my cup pulls. But I never had regular pulls before, only knobs (and nothing at all on the cabinets before this remodel!!). I do clean the one on the trash can pretty frequently though!

Our original kitchen had these ugly faux wood cup pulls that we couldn't stand having for even a day, so we changed the hardware. Although I'm sure that the prettier cup pulls don't feel as bad, I always hated having to stick my four fingers under those pulls and worry about the icky germs that were sitting under them from the previous homeowners. I like having pulls that can be cleaned very easily with a hand towel and don't have this black hole of space underneat them.

Mind you, I've seen a lot of cup pulls that look great, and I was traumatized by the ones we had. But can you blame me???

{{!gwi}}

No one could blame you, Redroze. Those are horrible.

One thing I've never seen posted about, and the reason we're going with cup-pulls, is that I've seen quite a few kitchens where the paint/stain is chipped/knicked around drawer handles. If you get into any kitchens in the next few days, take a look. You'll probably see what I mean.

Cup pulls are for the young.

I mean this in all seriousness. My elderly Mother is living here me now, & I opted for pulls that were easy to hold, & without sharp edges to catch fabric, etc.

Just something to keep in mind, especially if you're designing a kitchen for long-term.

I've posted about that here before. I regret putting in cup pulls. Cute but hate 'em!!!! I especially despise them on the lower drawers. You're absolutely right...you have to twist your wrist upwards. What makes it worse for me is, I picked out a pull that has non-standard drilling. Anyway, it's very wise of you to think about that now. Don't do it. I had all regular pulls in my last kitchen and that was MUCH better.

I also love the look, but have decided against them due to ergonomics and function.

For anyone with fears of the "ickies", I found the solution! germless bin pulls :)

No way would I have cup pulls. They're just not very functional and they're hard to clean.

smilingjudy - those look a lot like bluekit's cup pulls - except hers are frosted.

I really like mine. I have never had an issue with my hand twisting(?) Better than having my clothes catch on knobs or the ends of the bar type.

Cup pulls seemed too traditional with her Shaker door style to me and my retired Mom nixed both cup pulls and the bars for the reasons sited above. We went very mimimal and sleek to balance the traditional appearance of the Shaker door. If she couldn't get her fingers behind it comfortably it was out as was any design with an area dirt could build up. Lord help me. I like these and they are Amerock\Alison so under $3 a pull. Not a dramatic statement but we have a lot of strong colour contrast elsewhere so we didn't need the pulls to be dramatic.

{{!gwi}}

That's exactly why I didn't get cup pulls!

I originally really wanted cup pulls...until someone posted here about her son making a comment about having to reach down to get to the pulls (I wish I could remember who it was & what her son said!)....it was an "ah ha!" moment for me. I discarded the idea of cup pulls right there and never turned back!

I have birdcage pulls & knobs. I still think cup pulls look nice in the right kitchen, but I'm glad I didn't put them in my kitchen. This is our "forever" house and we do need to plan for "aging in place" and cup pulls would not have worked.

I think cup pulls are beautiful, and I seriously considered them. But in the end the ergonomics bugged me, and they were a little too ... massive ? emphatic ? for the look I wanted. So I found these very simple, traditional offset pulls instead, and love them.

I also like that I could use the same pulls on drawers and doors (I'm not fond of knobs). It makes everything consistent.

I have cup pulls and haven't even noticed having to twist my hand to open them.

Regarding pros & cons, 2 things mentioned in above posts steered me toward them (in addition to the look). I was forever catching clothing on the drawer knobs in my other kitchen, and the wearing away of the finish around the pulls on my wood paneled doors and drawers.

No regrets. I've had mine for 4 1/2 years and it's never been a problem.

I think the brain just adapts, since I never give it a thought. I have handles on my cupboard doors, knobs on my hutch, drop handles on my antique desk and dressers, etc, etc. I never think about how I'm going to hold my hand when I open anything.

We put in cup pulls 3 years ago and I haven't noticed any negatives. We have good glides on our drawers so hooking a finger under the pull and giving a slight tug doesn't involve any awkward motions or any extra thought. I don't need to shove fingers up inside the pulls so there's not a bunch of crud collecting up in the top. My 88-year-old mother has never mentioned them being a problem. Our pulls are heavy brass (or bronze?) and there are no sharp, ragged edges. I've never had cup pulls before and there was no awkwardness involved when we first started using them. Even if there was, our bodies adapt quickly to repetitive motions (think about driving.) This is our forever house and I have no qualms about living with these pulls. Ours are made of a fairly heavy brass and there are no sharp or rough edges. Is there any place you can try them out? I really can't stress what a non-issue the pulls have been.

I hadn't thought about it before this thread, but I can imagine that the cup pulls will keep our drawers nicer looking. The area around the knobs on our old cabinets always looked dingy and worn after years of contact with our hands.

flatcoat24,

I like the look of the same pulls on the uppers and lowers as well (and the soft white shaker). We are doing a mosaic 1x1 backsplash with similar tones to yours (minus the gray), I hope our finished kitchen looks as sharp as yours.

Funny that people thing they are awkward to use. I have fairly bad arthritis in my right wrist and the cup pulls have never been an issue at all for me. I love them. And now that I think about it, I do notice that the fronts of my drawers stay cleaner than the cabinets with knobs do. I also hate it when the stupid loop I have on one particular pair of shorts ALWAYS gets hooked on the cabinet knobs under my sink. I think I'll cut that stupid loop off!

Well, again rmlanza and I are related!

In our previous kitchen we had ORB knobs on creamy cabs -- looked beautiful from a distance but the drawer / door fronts were noticeably dirty around the knobs, and when I wore something with pockets a knob inevitably would catch my pocket and provoke a string of curse words.

In our current kitchen we have bin pulls on all the drawers and knobs on the doors. LOVE it! The drawer fronts are clearly cleaner (around the pull) than the door fronts (around the knob). Clearly. We're a messy family so I like that!

In all fairness, on our trash set-up we have a foot pedal, so grunge on that door isn't an issue ....

I wipe down the cabinets / pulls / knobs every week or two (okay, more like every two!), and when I do I just wipe the interiors of the pulls as well.

I have significant carpal tunnel in my right wrist (I'm right-handed) and I've yet to notice any twinges or awkwardness when opening a drawer, but I absolutely concede to those with age / arthritis.

But for me, I chose those scuppers based on appearance -- I just love the way they look. All the other pluses (cleaner drawer fronts, not catching my pockets) are happy accidents, because those didn't play in my decision-making.

It's so interesting: because of our positive experience with scuppers (bin pulls), I hadn't realized all the sentiment against them. And reading all the responses makes me think of having dark wood floors (ours are stained ebony -- really, really dark): you have to really want them because the maintenance is a hassle and definitely more work than a lighter floor. Even with the added upkeep I'd have my floors stained this dark again in a heartbeat.

I guess there are a lot of cons to bin pulls, but if you really want them (as I did) then all you see are the pros.

Had cup pulls for 11 years in our demo'd kitchen and am replacing with new cup pulls. I've got serious arthritis in my right wrist but never found them to be a problem for me personally.

Now, as for cleaning, indeed they are much more work--unless you're just willing to ignore that icky hiding place-which I'm not. My old ones were "shell" motif with lots of grooves--yikes-stay away from those if you don't like to clean. I'm replacing with smooth ones. The only solution I've found that works well for cleaning, since regular wiping only gets you so far, is I literally remove them about twice a year and give them a good soaking to get all the grease and "ickies" off.

My husband does the dishes every night so the least I can do is clean the pulls every now and then! :)
B

I have cup pulls too and I've not experienced any problems. I think, as someone noted above, that the new glides/hardware on drawers make them so easy to open and close that you can operate any pull with just a finger or two. I wouldn't worry about it.

I had the same worry had the regular pulls and started noticing how I put my hand thru to open the drawers etc - I was so worried that I would not be happy with the cup pulls but now that i have them and i've noticed no problem - infact haven't seem to even think twice when I go to open a drawer - if you go with them just make sure they are a nice size to put your fingers in.

We LOVE our cup pulls! I have always loved the look of cup pulls, so my choice was aesthetic. I didn't even think about the other benefits. After having regular pulls for 11 years and seeing the paint on my previous cabinets slowly chip away around the pulls, I'm really glad we got them.

I just asked my husband (who has really bad carpal tunnel) and my mom (who has really bad arthritis) if opening drawers bothered them, and they both looked at me as if I was nuts. The easy-open glides makes opening drawers so easy, it's hard to imagine how cup pulls could be painful. I often--perhaps usually--open with one finger, so it's not as though I have to actually turn my wrist around at all.

I never noticed in our 13-year old kitchen that it was any dirtier or worn around the drawer pulls than anywhere else (maybe b/c I kept them clean & the doors & drawers were/are wiped down every 2 weeks...but that wouldn't affect the "wear" aspect, just the cleanliness).

As to the pants/shorts loops catching....that's definitely a problem w/knobs, but not with drawer pulls (unless you get a design w/ends extending beyond the "stems".)

The problem w/the cup pulls (and the taller you are the worse it will be), is that you have to reach below the pull and then under to open the bottom drawers...w/pulls, you just reach straight down and you don't have to bend so far down to get your hand below the pull...it stays above the pull.

Also, if you have long fingers or large hands, I suspect you would be scraping the door behind the pull (unless the pull has a backplate) whenever you get your hands in it. My DH tried them (bottom drawer at the showroom) and hated them immediately but was willing to go with them b/c I liked them...he's glad I changed my mind!

We started out with handles and I kept looking at my kitchen thinking something just wasn't right. I decided to do cup pulls and it totally changed the feeling of the kitchen. I wouldn't go back and I don't find the cup pulls difficult at all and we have them even on the lower drawers.

I did put a handle on the garbage pull out just because I needed a place to hang the teatowel. It probably is easier too since I'm often pulling open the garbage with two hands full of garbage and just a pinky to work with.

If cup pulls are your dream, I don't think you'll be happy with the look of handles.

We will be putting in cup pulls for aesthetics, to go with the "vintage" look. I never thought about the yuck factor with the build up behind it. I will not be showing this thread to my husband, lol. I promise to clean them, I promise to clean them.

I thought about the ergonomic aspect for about a minute and then just went with what I really wanted and the look I was trying to achieve for our new kitchen. They have not been a problem at all. I, too, have thought about germs, but that is easily remedied by a little maintenance. There are different styles of cup pulls - ours are rounded and have no sharp edges. you'll love 'em!

I don't mind cup/bin pulls on upper drawers....but I don't like them on the lower drawers...maybe on a seldom used furniture piece.

Very pretty, prettykitty.

Kompy

Hi Caryscott, can you please id your cabinet pulls. I like them and would like to get one to see if its the right thing for our new kitchen remodel that is just about done. saliq

Hey Saliq!

It's funny but I picked certain things because they were not so common but we just picked these out of the store stock because they were very simple but I looked at both Allison and the Amerock sites and couldn't find them afterward either. I'm not sure if it's because they are new or old. I may have just been out of it on previous attempts but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I have found them at the HD Canada site (which is why I photographed the example I posted). We started with a very similar one that is arched but we found this one a bit more minimal.

These are the codes for the other two contenders:

Model: BP52995-G10 -arched

Model: BP4479-FB - this design but in the satin chrome (G10)finish not FB

Here is a link that might be useful: link to HD Canada and the pulls

I have them too, for 3 years now and I like them a lot. My drawers also slide very easily so I don't think I have to do a lot of pulling. I also open all the drawers by just pulling on one - I rarely use both of them at the same time.

I am in the health education field, so I am quite sensitive to the hygiene issue; however, those "birdcage" pulls have many more nooks and crannies for germs to hide in. The cup pulls that I'm installing today in my bathroom will be sprayed occasionally with lysol, like everything else, and they should be fine. I guess if one feels gooey (this is a kids' bathroom, after all), I'll take it off and clean it (quick job). I would never buy the birdcage type ones for dust reasons, too - how could you ever clean them without removing them all and soaking them? Nightmare.

But at least you can see anything that gets caught in them and clean them immediately b/f a major germ colony is established! It would also be a lot easier to spray w/lysol (if you like, I don't since it aggravates my asthma big time!) as you can easily get in the nooks & crannies w/o having to go into contortions to see underneath them, especially the bottom ones...which would probably have to be taken off to clean! And, trying to get all the PB&J from a cup pull would be just as trying as birdcage!

See...it's all a matter of perspective and personal preference! [I wouldn't want to have to clean PB&J from either one! The solid/smooth knobs & bar-type pulls are probably the easiest to keep clean, if that's an issue for you.]

Ours have not gotten dusty in the 7 months or so that they've been installed and only once did one get dirty (on the trash pullout), but it easily cleaned right up.

I'm debating the issue myself: the look is right, but my elderly mother will be spending a lot of time at my house, loves to cook, has significant compromise in wrists and thumbs.

So think about this: a cup pull on the very lowest drawer you have. How do you open it? You really don't twist your wrist, you drop your hand straight down, bend your fingers up at the knuckles.

You DO need to go a little lower than with a horizontally placed bar pull, where you don't need to bend a finger at all.

But probably better than a knob, that requires a grip of some kind.

Seems to me a cup pull would be fine for bad wrists or no grip strength, but not so good if the knuckles are fixed or painful.