I m not sure there is a rule.

The larger they are, the easier to use. You could also use two smaller versus one large, but that is not as easy to use, either. Heavy drawers need larger handles too.

It is somewhat of an aesthetic choice, so try some samples on a drawer. When you find hardware you like, they may only have a few sizes in that style. Draw them to scale on an elevation plan ... that helped me decide.

The December 2010 issue of "Fine Woodworking" has a helpful article, "Get a Handle on Your Pulls". There were comments on balance, aesthetics, comfort and strength for load of drawer. Accessing this article might be helpful.

I found for me, once I knew what style I liked, playing around to check placement of knobs and number of handles per drawer (1 or 2) were most pleasing to my eye gave me the best idea.

I am trying to figure out what to put on my 36" wide drawers. I am using vintage hardware and they just did not make 10" pulls in my style. I will probably have to go with 2 per drawer, but would rather not. I have been searching high and low for the similar 1940s-50s style of my normal size pulls and have not found any comparable.

Has anyone done a single 3" pull on a 36" drawer? It sounds so puny.... It does not help that I do not have cabs yet (or the floors) but I hate waiting until last minute...

I will second what pussuskattus suggested...although it is definitely more work/time, we found that it was very worthwhile to mock up the drawers and try out our handles that way.

We ordered various sample sizes of our handles and DH cut some scrap wood planks in the lengths of our drawers. We then just placed the handles on each board and it was VERY quick and easy to determine which size to go with. It was surprising what we found...definitely some different outcomes than what we had thought before mocking up.

There would be no need to cut wood, though...could easily just use posterboard or scrap cardboard from a shipping box. And the ribbon idea would be easy, too. Would save the step of buying the pulls if you don't know for sure yet what you want. Good idea for next time!

Good luck with your search on the vintage pulls!

I have two pulls per drawer on all drawers >= 30". There are no issues with using one pull to open/close a drawer for even my heaviest drawers...36" drawers full of pots & pans and 30" and 27" drawers full of glass mixing bowls, glass casserole dishes, glass "Pyrex" dishes, etc. It's been almost three years and so far no issues with misalignment, etc.

Now, I do have Blumotion glides, so that may be a factor. However, I think any good hardware will fare the same. So, get good hardware and then determine what you like...one longer pull or two smaller pulls on those wide drawers!

I remember reading here that someone else used that 2/3 rule. I was planning on testing that out when picking pulls. I already know the style I want.

I love the ribbon idea for testing length. I'm gonna steal it!

Our will be IKEA so Blum all the way.
I have searched through so many hardware sites, I thought my eyes would bleed and see the same ideas done by different companies, over and over. You'd think someone would offer different styles and scoop the competition.... I'd also love to see each style listed once and when you click on it, see the differing sizes offered. It would take so much less surfing through entire product lines listed one by one for each size pull...grrrrrr....

We used the same single handle on everything, from 15" to 36" drawers. It's an IKEA handle, so is 9" long.

So sorry for the delay in thanking you all for your input. Somehow January was an extremely crazy month for us here. Barely got on to GW once a week to just check things quickly.

First, thank you to everyone for your responses. As always, very helpful input from you GW folks.

The cutouts of the drawers was very helpful, thank you lemondropgirl! Would not have thought of that on my own:)

I think we have determined we like the look of one pull size on all drawers instead of varying them by drawer size. Final decision this week...will let you know.