Time to go feel up the goods. By actually handing the various options, you'll probably be able to thin down the number of things that appeal to you. Take a door or drawer front if you have one.

Does the SD mean San Diego by any chance? If so, take a trip to San Diego Hardware. They have an amazing selection on display.

My selection process was to look at seemingly every single knob and pull in existence, both online and locally, after which I became completely overwhelmed by the endless selection of styles, colors, finishes, brands, sizes, prices, and degrees of quality. After suffering way too long in that torturous stage, I finally entered the "I give up" stage and I have been stuck there for quite some time. I think I may have already set a record for length of time using blue tape for handles, and time is still ticking away.

I started with a decor theme and finish and Googled to narrow down my choices (using Image view). Once I had some candidates, I ordered samples or went to some dealers.

I wasn't sure what I wanted or the finish either. I looked at a lot of possibilities in my KD's shop. Thought I liked one until I saw it on some cabinets and then decided I didn't like it at all. Funny how that works.

Undecided, I headed out of the shop past the displays and saw one that I knew was what I wanted, in the right finish. It turned out to be the only decision I made where I never second-guessed myself.

My KD sells jsut Richelieu line in his shop, and local headquarters for this CANADIAN BRAND IS HALF HOUR DRIVE. All My handles at the time, where reverse C shape. I did go to an upper end store to see other brands, but decided to keep with the allowance. I had 3 pages of favorites, then kept narrowing down.

One I really liked at Richeleu was a thick hammered oval, in several colors. If my kitchen was more traditional, that was #1. (Someone posted a picture of that lovely pull.) My #2 was a thick pull, like the Ikea ones, where the end only came out a short distance, so I didn't think people could catch their clothing on it. (Had I known I would be switching fridge to one with that style door handle, that would have been my choice). Anyway, went with simple line, with detail on the edge. I still think mine should have been 128 mm, not 98 mm, but I can live with them.

OP & Jellytoast, I hope you both find resolution soon.

My SO is 6'3", and he has no problem with the pulls. My drawers are now loaded with glass casseroles, or Le Crusett, and one small pull works fine.

Frankly, when we first started the cabinet selection process, I saw some really cool pulls and thought that $3.50 wasn't bad. But then we got the drawings from the cabinet designer and found that we'd need 48 pulls. $3.50 became a whole lot more money at that point.

So I've decided that pulls are not that important...I've found some good ones on ebay - from Amerock, I think. Simple that will compliment our cabinets and countertop. They cost about $1.40 each.

DH specifically asked that the pulls not have ends that pointed out. He wanted the handle to be one piece. We have euro pulls in the bathroom and he said the edges keep catching on this pockets and belt loops. So, that was one style that I was able to quickly cross of the list. That helped a lot.

Feel, feel, feel, ....since it is something I touch many times a day, I picked my pulls on feel first, and looks helped too!

My experience was similar to Jellytoast, although I did finally make a decision. Figuring out what metal finish you want to use is a good first step. You may find a pull, a knob or an appliance pull you love & then make your other choices based on that piece. I looked at lots of pictures & spent hours in multilple cabinet hardware stores. Hardware he##, backsplash he##. Currently I'm in paint color he## on the home decorating forum. If you can recommend a rich beigy gold or a warm gray with gold undertones, please hop on over to the decorating forum and let me know.

This post was edited by romy718 on Tue, Nov 19, 13 at 1:39

Ditto what Jellytoast described!

I'm a visual person, so I browsed this forum, Houzz and other sites to see what types of hardware I found appealing. But I would also echo the suggestion to get samples to *feel* them, too. Some may have quirky designs that may make them uncomfortable for you to use from a tactile perspective.

At the end of the day, it's a very personal decision. But I have to say that I've not come across any ugly hardware. Even for those outside my own design style, I think, "Wow--that's cool!" If you follow function first, your own tastes will dictate what's best for your kitchen. This is the fun part... enjoy it. :-)

The thing I found most distressing about the hardware search ... even if you find something you like, you then have to decide if you want knobs or pulls (or both), whether or not to use a variety of sizes, and how to determine which size would look best on the various sizes of doors and drawers. In my cases, I wanted knobs AND pulls, and while I did find a pull that I liked, I wasn't crazy about the knob that went with it. Seriously, it's exhausting and I feel like I need a whole lot of rest before I attempt the second go-round.

And once you find the pull of your dreams, you have to decide whether you want them vertical or horizontal (on the doors). I saw some beautiful examples of horizontal door pulls here, and thought for sure that was what I wanted. When I taped my pull samples on the doors of our old cabinets, they looked great that way.

But when the new cabinets were in place, and I held the pulls on the doors horizontally, it didn't do anything for me at all. I tried hard to love it - I'd been thinking about it for months - but it just wasn't right.

And THEN you have to decide where to position the pulls - top of drawer, or middle? One pull or two on wide drawers? All the same length, or proportional to the drawer width?

SDgirl, I understand your frustration, but I assure you, the right hardware is out there, and when you find it, you will love it. As someone else said - I rarely look at kitchen pics and think "Whoa, those pulls are awful!" There are a lot of ways to do it right.

I knew I wanted minimalist finger pulls so the cabinets would show more and you weren't just seeing a bunch of knobs. I suggest you look at kitchen pics on Houzz and you will know which looks grab you and which dont....then you will at least have a style picked out and can begin shopping the available options in that style.

I knew I wanted something with no crevices or hard to clean details. It had to have a good size finger area and no ends sticking out. And preferably brushed/satin nickel. No cup pulls for me even though I love the look. Who knows what gets stuck up in there?

So I went to any website I could think of and narrowed by anything I could without losing potential options. Usually by finish and price range (I always put in a bit more than I'm hoping in case the perfect item is only a little more).

Then I ended up with just a few that met all the criteria and caught my eye. And now I have Amerock Westerly pulls installed and love them!

Thanks for all the replies! This shows that there's no right answer out there, which is actually soothing to me because that means there's no wrong answer either.

Jellytoast your post made me laugh. It is exactly how I feel about this whole enjoyable (yet very frustrating and stressful) process. I have to remind myself that I CHOSE to remodel and that I'm LUCKY to have this opportunity. Emphasis added for my benefit! :)

So far I'm looking at pulls only and in some shiny finish. I'm really drawn to the RH Aubrey but seeing as how we need 50 of these suckers, the cost is mind numbing.

I have around 50 pulls in my kitchen too. I ended up with South Bay pulls from Knob Depot, and they had 10-packs for a 10% discount.

In the grand scheme of things, to spend an extra $500 (or whatever) on pulls that you love - and will see and touch every single day - is worth it.

Good luck with your search!

That's a good web site - thanks for the link. I didn't find anything that would work in our kitchen, though.

I guess cabinet hardware isn't terribly important to me. Lights were important; dh and I found some very cool lights for our house! But some aspects of our house - like cabinet hardware and garage doors - I want them to be quietly functional and allow the rest of the house to get the attention!

I found some knobs I liked, but the pulls that came with it were so low profile that you couldn't get your hand in them. I found another pull in the same finish by the same manufacturer that works well with the knobs I loved. I can tell the slight difference in them, but I don't think anyone else would notice.

Bottom line, make sure you get samples so you can see and feel them in person.

Good luck. I know I about drove myself crazy looking for hardware.