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Door Handle Placement

16 years ago

I notice that most newer kitchen cabinets have the door pulls in the lower corner of the door while my 25 y/o kitchen has the pulls a little higher and a little more towards the center of the door. I am getting ready to replace my doors and wonder where I should place the pulls. I was tempted to put the pulls in the same location just out of habit, but if it's going to make it look dated again, maybe I need to reconsider placement. Please advise!

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Comments (7)

abbycat9990
16 years ago
Here's how it looks in our kitchen: pulls in the corners.
debo_2006
16 years ago
It's all personal preference with the style of door that you have.

A suggestion is to scotch tape the hardware where you'd like the permanent install to see how it feels and appeals to you. The tape won't harm the doors. Try it for a few days. You can even put one on a few doors in different places to see what floats your boat. This is a good idea to use when you are trying out a few different styles and finishes too. That's what I did. I ended up going with the hardware more toward the bottom corner.

I dislike the hardware in the middle of the door. It just looks plain wrong to me, IMO.
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Personally, if I saw a door handle one finish on one side and another on the other side, I'd find that strange. Door handles should match each other in the house (or so I thought), not the finish in each room. It will be much more noticeable that you have a two toned door knob than the fact that the door handle doesn't match the other metals in the bathroom. People do not normally notice what door handles match the interior of the room they are in. At least I never have. Unless you think the people who visit you would actually think a two toned handle is appropriate, I wouldn't try that trick. What do the interior door knobs in the rest of your house look like? Also, remember, too much matchy matchy is boring and not noticed but instead blends all together. If you change to a two tone knob then which one should the hinges match? See my point? One thing can lead to another and before you know it you're stressed to a frazzle and for what, a door knob? I'll show you my grays hairs to prove my point. LOL My guest bath hardware is in an antique bronze, almost black finish, yet the door knobs that are in that room and throughout the house are crystal with brushed nickle back plates. Do you think anyone is going to look at my crystal door knobs and think, oh she should have put in antique bronze? Of course not. As long as your selections are stylish, the metal color is not the breaking deal on a bathroom door. Forgot to mention the handles on the antique dresser in my guest bath are antique brass, a third finish in that tiny room. Yet, it all is very beautiful. You have to trust your heart and your eyes sometime and not just think everything has to match exactly, because it does not. Good luck and let us know what you decide.
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I just finished my reno. When my installer put 2 knobs a tiny bit below what I asked for (he forgot I asked to align the base of the knob with the bottom of the rail), he said..I am sorry..I owe you 2 new doors. I didn't replace them - it didn't bother me, but I didn't even have to ask, he was going to do the right thing... he knew he didn't do what I asked for. Patching would not look good, I am afraid. Ask for replacement. Good luck. Your cabinets look beautiful.
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It is very high and I am vertically challenged, so I will use it for things that we use on occassion. I am using knobs on the cabinets and pulls on the drawers and garbage storage.
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I would place them so that the bottom edge of pull lines up with bottom of the trim on cabinet door. So a little bit farther down than in your first picture. Hope I described it right. I tried to find a photo to illustrate....
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socalthreems
16 years ago
I've seen them in both locations and I decided to do mine in the lower corner (but not too low - actually about 3" up from the bottom) because (a) I am only 5"1" so it would be pushing it for me to reach it in the center of the stile of the door, and (b) I am a fan of symmetry and was worried that then I would need to put the lower cab knobs in a similar location, which would be really low for a taller person. I never thought of it as a problem of being "dated" though - more of a practicality thing.
Happyladi
16 years ago
My doors in my 1983 cabinets were put in the middle by the builder and I always hated them there. I never used them and the cabinets showed a lot of wear where I used my hands to open them.

I put the handle on my new doors in the lower corners and it looks much better and works better, too.
ging9
16 years ago
My friend has hers in the center of the doors and it is about 27 years old. I definately think it dates it. I also think it is easier to open on the lower corners than reaching to the center. Just my two cents.
roserx
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for all of your responses. I think the placement of the pull is also dictated by its size. If one is using a 4-6" long pull, it might look out-of-place tucked into the lower corner vs up-and-in a few inches towards the center of the panel.
solferino
16 years ago
In my BIL's cabinet shop, here's what they typically do:

lower cabs: drill for knob or upper end of handle where bottom edge of top rail meets center of stile

upper cabs: drill for knob or lower end of handle where top edge of bottom rail meets center of stile

I know pretty much everyone here is TKO so a definition may be superfluous, but the rail is the horizontal board at top, bottom and sometimes middle of the door; the stile is the vertical.

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