My suggestion would be to either find pulls that are the same size as the existing pulls or paint the cabinets - this will allow you to fill the holes and use any size you want. Another more expensive option would be to replace the doors. Good luck and I hope you get some good advice

This is what I did. The original and the lipstick on pig version where I painted and changed hardware as a temporary fix.

Levismomma;

Wow, what beautiful wood cabinets -- those are from the 70's? You are so lucky to have escaped the dark wood laminate -- or any laminate, in fact. You've done a great job updating -- I know that all of us would like to see more pictures!

I really like the silver handles on the left: the one to the immediate right of center. I see what you mean about the ring -- are you close to an Ikea? They make a handle, the Varde, that has a metal base that is optional -- it may cover the ring that you see. Also, it is a silver pull, but actually has just a hint of gold to it, which may work quite well with your cabs. They really put the pulls in a weird spot.

Another thought -- what are you going to do about the hinges?

Congratulations on your new house!

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea pulls

I would paint these or if you like the stained cabs, at least sand and refinish....then put on new hinges and pulls. If you do that, not only will get good use out of perfectly great cabinets, but I think it will update your whole look!

The cabinet doors can be taken off the hinges and sanded separately. I know it sounds like it is a lot of work, but if you see some of the transformation on this website that others just like you have done, you will surprised!

Good Luck! How wonderfully fun it is to buy your first home and how special that both dads chipped in to help!

We kept our 30+ yr. old cabinets. DH cleaned them, sanded them, and then stained them a darker color. We then replaced the brass hardware with brushed nickel. The original cabinets-boxes and fronts-are solid oak so they were still in good shape but looked "tired." In the picture the top cabinets are the "new" and the lowers are the "old." Picture doesn't truly show the stain/color change. Cabinets went from a true honey golden color to a medium chocolate brown color.

Thanks for the responses and suggestions! How difficult is it really to sand and restain the cabinets? Not sure I can talk hubby into another project, but I would love to do something with them. The color would have to be very similar to still coordinate with all the existing trim, but getting rid of some of that oranginess would be wonderful! And then of course we could choose any hardware we want. We plan to update the hinges too.

Depending on the size of your kitchen -- how many doors and drawers there are -- refinishing/staining/painting can be a huge undertaking. But it will certainly be the best way to get the best result.

Are there any woodworkers in the family/friends circle? A woodworker could possibly tell you what the finish is, and you could possibly do a light sanding and coat of whatever finish on the damaged area. It wouldn't give you a perfect fix, but it might be good enough with the shiny new hardware to get you through a few years (when the moving in projects exhaustion has subsided) and you can do a real makeover.

I'd take a door or drawer to a paint/stain store and see if they have any stain you could glaze over those areas.

I'd do a good cleaning of all of them first - that might even change the tone of them. but I think you should be able to cover up those areas enough to not even be noticeable.

I like the 'silver' one on the left also. hinges will need changed out also.

Ummm, I'm going to be a kill joy and say I think a warm based cabinet hardware would work better. Your cabinets are a warm color,but if you paint or stain then that would make a difference. Silver is a cool color and goes better with cool based cabinets.
If you wanted to you could paint the cabinets warm or cool white and the white would work with your existing trim.
I've seen a lot of kitchens that were painted and looked fine with a different colored trim.

It's for sure that I'm not a pro decorator but have learned about the cool and warm colors when I had a personal color analysis many years ago.

Good luck with your project

If they are solid wood, I'd be in favor of a really good cleaning and then try a restoration product. There is a possibility that it won't work, but it may be enough to disguise the wear marks from the handles. When trying a product like this, choose the back of a drawer front or bottom edge of a base cabinet door/drawer front - some place that isn't usually seen.

If it works, you should be able to fill the old hole with maple or birch colors filler before starting the finish restoration and attach the handles all the way to the right - my favorite of your choices.

Here is a link that might be useful: Furniture finish restoration

Congrats on your new home, levismomma! You have gotten a lot done in such a short time and I'll bet it already looks like a new kitchen.

If this were my kitchen, I would clean the cabinets really well, keep the old furniture-style hinges and add oil-rubbed bronze hardware.

I know that you said that you like silver, but I didn't see anything in the kitchen that called for silver, whereas both your wood and your countertops call for darker tones.

You can still add silver through a shiny fruit bowl on the counter, a nice stainless toaster that you leave out, etc.

What is the overall look that you are going for? The pulls that you were experimenting with read modern/contemporary.

Thanks everyone! I agree the particular color of these cabinets is probably more suited to gold toned hardware, but the floor and counters actually have alot of gray in them which is where I was pulling the silver from. I think at this point I've decided to leave the hardware as is.... if I am going to take the time to put on new pulls and hinges I want to do something to update the color of the cabinets too. So as soon as time and money permits that is my goal!

I added a before & after pic as it was requested, this kitchen pales in comparison to those posted on the site, but for us its a huge improvement. My white interior shutters should be here soon.... can't wait!

Here is a link that might be useful: Here is a before and after pic of the kitchen too