My cabinets have the grip cutouts on the inside. I do find it annoying sometimes so I end up pulling on the top of the drawer to open it. As much as I adore cup pulls I will put in open handles and knobs in the next kitchen.

I have bin pulls on one piece in my soon to be demolished kitchen and I wouldn't use them again either. I like the look, but they are just a bit awkward to use. It's not terrible and if you really like the look you could probably live with it, but I am a busy cook with three little kids so I like to be able to open things quickly & easily while I'm working and bin pulls aren't great for that.

I've wondered about the grabbing issue, as well. For me, though, although I love the look of the bin pulls, I can't go with them because i can't shake the fear of having an unseen spider under one.
*shudder*

I love the look of bin pulls, but did not use them for just the reason you state--I wanted to be able to pull them open from the top. I thought they'd annoy me. I also didn't want something that was hollow. In the end we went with Quincy pulls from Restoration Hardware. They are very heavy and solid feeling. Ours are Oil Rubbed Bronze.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quincy Pulls from Restoration Hardware

chilibeans-I'd welcome a spider compared to what ick my kiddos might have left there after grabbing with dirty hands. Ewww.

threeapples-thanks for posting. I have been debating this in my head as well. DH loves them (the look) but I think opening would be quite awkward and I think I'd be pulling up all of the time.

Autumn.4- I hadn't even thought about kid grime. Yikes on account of my three little kids, too.

I like the RH pulls linked above. Nice!

Haha, you killed it for me, chilibeans. I'd rather whatever goop my two little ones would stick under there than a spider any day!

I think I'm going to pass on the bin pulls because they would bother me in their awkwardness.

Thanks for the RH link--I'm off to check those out. I hope they come in unlacquered brass.

SIL had them in an old home, think they were original and she hated them for the reason you mentioned. Yes they matched the period of her house, but helping out in the kitchen during a few holidays was enough to tell me I wouldn't want them. I think of that every time I see a kitchen posted with bin pulls, but can't remember anyone ever asking your good question!

So glad this was mentioned! My wife really wanted bin pulls, until I demonstrated the awkward fashion of opening drawers. She hesitantly gave in, and we chose a regular pull. Some of the auto makers tried a similar version of a door handle back a few years, so happy to be rid of that car!

This post was edited by ctycdm on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 9:01

This is one of those threads when GW becomes a parody of itself.

Good call on not going with the cup pulls. This was a good thread until it evidently became a parody.

This post was edited by IowaCommute on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 1:57

Have cup pulls in the kitchen and 1 bathroom. Love them for looks and use. Nothing is awkward. No spiders. If you feel crude, its time to clean.

I can't help with bin pulls, but I got all my unlacquered brass hardware from Cape Cod Brass. They have different lines, so some are lacquered, some are hollow, but if you poke around long enough, you'll find what you need.

RH and Pottery Barn aren't quite to the brass revival yet in cabinet hardware (at least they weren't earlier this year...)

I'm linking to a previous thread on this subject.

My thoughts.... in a modern kitchen with nice drawer glides, drawers and their pulls take one single finger to open. Whether your hand is facing up or down is insignificant. I have bin pulls and never considered my hand facing up as being an issue, and it's hard for me to imagine why that would be a legitimate problem for someone if the drawer glides are decent. Going from my old kitchen to this kitchen, it never crossed my mind for this issue to bother me. By contrast, I just received a new car and I keep trying to turn the wipers on on the right side.... :p

With all that said, the only annoyance with my bin pulls is that I can't use my feet to open them. Yeah... you heard that correctly. :) (This comment is not for the sake of the parody. I just like to multitask. ;))

What I do find annoying about the hardware in my kitchen are the knobs on my island that occasionally catch clothing as I pass...

Here is a link that might be useful: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0922272919805.html

I would guess the cup pulls and kitchens are probably too busy for spiders. Yikes. Ive had very large wolf spiders appear on my shoulders after moving brush. A stiff drink and a shower later I was okay.

debrak_2008 says,

If you feel crude, its time to clean.

Quote of the day.

ThreeApples - Look at Top Knobs. Our pulls and knobs are solid with no lacquer.

Haha.

Ok, I'll look into the helpful vendors you all listed--thanks everyone!

Hmmm... spiders? Great. I'll think of that now every time I pull open my drawers by my cup pulls. It hasn't occurred to me to be bothered by the ergonomics but the thought of the dirt up in there has occurred to me. Maybe it's time for a cleaning!

Having said that, the other thread was useful too, esp. the comment about arthritis and cup pulls. That's valid.

What? This needs cleaning? Cup pulls really catch dust! :)

No problems with cup pulls for me on old furniture with wooden slides. In a kitchen that age, they would drive me batty. In a new kitchen, I don't think I'd mind cup pulls. I do have small hands though.

Aren't choices great?

I have architectural pulls on all my doors and drawers and I don't notice that I can only pull one way. Hmm.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pulls

I have bin pulls only on the top drawers. I have regular handles on the bottom ones, so that they can be grabbed from above.

We have bin pulls and it never even occurred to me that they could be considered tough to use! I stick my hand out and they open. How much easier does it really need to be?

I've had knobs and normal pulls as well. I think any of them are fine so just use the ones which you like best.

LOL, KateKouros!! I have bin pulls on all the drawers in the kitchen...even my feeble mind has no problem with them. I also have them on my antique table, with sticky drawers(is that crude enough that they need to be cleaned??), they work fine.

Nancy

My carpal tunnel is bad enough I have to consider surgery and yes twisting your wrist and pulling hurts. So we may not be idiots after all.

Have bin pulls from RH, no problems. As stated above, these are new cabinets with soft close and nice glides so no issues. If it is was an old creeky cabinet could see it being a problem.

I've had bin pulls for going on 13 years and have never given them a thought, so I guess I don't have a problem with them. Love the look and can't imagine my kitchen with out them. I agree with others who have said, choose what you love.

Muscle memory .. Your hand will figure it out pretty easily and it is not a thing that you will notice after the first week. Seriously.. If you like it, go for it.

We have Schaub bin pulls in the kitchen and I find them quite comfortable to use. We got the large ones which are wide enough for four fingers even with my DH's larger hands. They are solid brass with a very nice feel.

Some bin pulls are made from stamped metal with a rolled edge and they don't feel nice to me. The edge is too thin.

I don't notice any twisting of the wrist when I use them. For me it is as comfortable as coming down from the top.

We have 3 grandchildren in the kitchen and I haven't found that they get any crud in them. If the kids are opening drawers with dirty hands, then the stuff in the drawers is like to be dirtied by them.

Amerock also makes a solid brass bin pull with a very nice feel. It isn't as large but it's a nice size and a much lower price than the Schaub pulls.

I've never tried to use my foot to open the kitchen drawers, but I have the Amerock pulls on the drawers in a little printer stand that my DH made for me. It holds the printer/copier/fax under my work surface so it is close at hand but doesn't take up space on the work surface. Since I'm usually bare foot in the house and sitting in my desk chair when I use the printer, I sometimes use my toes to open the paper drawer.

This post was edited by cloud_swift on Thu, Mar 28, 13 at 21:11

I have never considered this issue. After worrying for two seconds because we are using then, I realized that the bin pulls on all our built ins have obviously not generated any negative thoughts in the several times a day we use them. Whew.

wondered if it's awkward to have to reach underhand to open drawers with bin pulls

I had bin pulls in an apartment and it not only drove me nuts, when my tendonitis was flaring it was painful to rotate my wrist to get my fingers under the pulls.

Have had the RH Gilmore bin pulls in brass for two years -- got them just before RH discontinued the brass. No problems at all. Surprised to see these comments. I really like mine. Actually find them more comfortable or ergonomic than conventional bar pulls.

Well, this is one of the reasons I decided to go with bars for the drawers - we have some low drawers and it would mean bending down lower to open, rather than being able to hook fingers from the top.

So perhaps my concern was unfounded but that did play in to my decision.

"it would mean bending down lower to open, rather than being able to hook fingers from the top"

Is this true? I am really asking, as I don't understand that logic. My body is in the same position, it's just whether my hand is facing up or down.... right?

I do not have to bend at all to open drawers.... unless they are low drawers in which case it wouldn't matter what type of pull was on them.

Ditto what hobokenkitchen, goldengirl and threegraces said.