mrs mjt -- Sorry I don't have an answer, but am planning a very simular kitchen and will be looking back to see what other's say . . . But what a gorgeous kitchen! -- reminds me of Holligator's beautiful cabs -- did you use cherry as well? Is there any stain on the wood? What did you use for under counter lighting? BEAUTIFUL!

I had the same question a few months ago when placing pulls and did some research on the web. Most sites are saying placing it a tad bid higher (about 1/16 of an inch) to trick the eye. Check out the link below.
http://www.amerock.com/enUS/Solution/Mounting_your_Cabinet_Hardware__Mounting_Pulls.html

The Europeans would center it on the stile.

Don't know the answer, but I sure like your kitchen.

I centered mine on the recessed center panel. Yes, you look down, but you also look from across the room giving you a different perspective. What about when you look from the side? Anything centered horizontally while standing in front will look off-center when looking from the side.

I think no matter what you do if you're very picky about things "looking" centered or lined up from all perspectives you're doomed for disappointment. As we move around something...vertically, horizontally, different distances...our perspective changes.

To me, the best thing to do is actually center them and not worry about what they will look like from above, below, or the side.

JMHO!

debsan & rjr220, Thanks for your kind words about my kitchen. I'll have to post a picture of the other side so you can see the corner cooktop and frig. Yes, I have natural cherry cabinets with no stain except the stain called natural. That picture was taken in October, after they were installed and I'm amazed how much the cabinets have darkened. Will have to check on undercabinet lights and get back to you.

hokies, So did you use the designer's trick when installing your pulls? If so, how much did you adjust from the center and did you like the outcome?

antss, Thanks for your input from the Europeans since the pulls orginated there!

buehl, Thanks for the reminder that I will be viewing cabinets/ pulls from various angles so they'll look different depending on where I'm standing. I hadn't thought of that but you are absolutely right. My kitchen is at the end of a rectangular Great Room so I will often be looking straight into it.

Yes, I did use the designer's trick and installed the pulls 1/16 inch above the center and pretty happy with the outcome.
Though 1/16 inch is not much but it somewhat makes a slight different on the eye. I guess it all depends on your preference.

Several ppl on this forum did the same thing a while back. I will try to search for it and post it later.

I answered on the other post that I mounted mine centered, and I agree with buehl. As long as the installer takes particular care to make sure that all your pulls line up horizontally, I think either way would be fine.

I mounted my pulls in my last kitchen in the top rails - it definitely gives it a more Euro/contemporary look. Just IMHO, I think pulls would look better mounted in the recessed panel in your kitchen since it looks like your rails are pretty slim as compared to your stiles.

Lovely kitchen, BTW! I'd love to see pics of how much they've darkened. My cabs are cherry, but I started off with a dark stain so I haven't noticed any change yet.

Are you using the same pulls on the upper cabs?
Will they be mounted on the stiles?
Just something to consider.

Below is a link to a pic of the kitchen in our last house.
We didn't have stiles, so had more freedom of placement, but the location of the pull placement on the drawers was totally driven by the integrated dishwasher panel.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://gallery.me.com/puertas#100077/old-20kitchen-201

The upper cabinets will have pulls mounted on the stiles, but I will mount the pull on the recessed portion of the base cabinet drawers because I like the look better and mom2reese is right in saying that the horizontal stiles on the drawers is smaller than the vertical stile.

mom2reese, I didn't even realize my cabinets had darkened until I pulled open a drawer on my island the other day and noticed the difference. I'd be happy to post pictures but I'm not savvy at it so have to get dh to help so not sure when I can do that.

Nice kitchen!!

Funny - I didn't even know that handles were supposed to be "cheated" to look centred, even after all the time I have spent on this forum. I think buehl is right - the angle will depend on your perspective, and what will look "centred" from one angle won't necessarily look the same from another.

We centred ours and love the look. Here are two different angles:

We also have some on the stiles:

Very timely as I have very similar cabinets and have been searching kitchens to see how the bar pulls are installed. I saw many installed on the upper stile but I do not like that look.

Glad to see some examples here of the pulls centered, as I prefer. I think I will just go ahead and have them all centered vs cheating them a little. My kitchen is part of a great room and viewed from many different directions and I think that will look best overall.

elizpiz, Thanks for the photos. Great kitchen!

gldnfan, I'm going to do the same as you as my kitchen is also part of a great room viewed from many different angles.

I posted on another thread but I'll ask here, too. Does anyone know of a ready made template for installing bar pulls between 6-14 inches long? My dh installed 2 pulls tonight and it took him forever to measure, etc. My cabinets are custom so my base drawers are lots of different sizes so it'll take quite awhile to measure each drawer.