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handle placement on a curved cabinet door stile

9 years ago

Hi,

I have some kitchen cabinets that currently have no hardware. I'd like to jazz up the look by adding some hardware but the style of the door does not make handle placement very obvious. The door does not have flat rails and stiles as they are slightly curved. Since the design of the door allows fingers to grab the door, I do not think this design was intended to have hardware. Nonetheless, I'd like to add some if I'm able. Does anyone have any advice on adding hardware to a curved stile?

Thanks!
Jenny

Featured Answer

chicagoans

9 years ago

If the surface you are drilling into / installing pulls onto is curved, then it sounds like you'll want to countersink the holes for the pulls so that the legs of the pulls are embedded into the stiles rather than having edges sticking up.

I believe this could be accomplished with a Forstner bit that makes a flat bottomed recess with a small starter hole where you would drill a regular, smaller hole for the screw to go through.

I think that's a job for a skilled installer rather than an average DYI, but never having done it I could be wrong.

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Comments (8)

badgergal
9 years ago
I have several curved cabinet doors. There was no problem with installing my pulls. If you post a picture of your cabinets one of the experts on here should be able to help you.
here's what a couple of mine look like.
SDgirlygirl
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, Badgergal. It looks like the panel of your door is curved whereas the stile (the vertical edge piece) is flat. My cabinet panel is flat but the rails and stiles are slightly curved. I'm not tech savvy so I'm having a hard time loading a picture. I'm trying to find a photo online depicting my specific problem- no luck yet.
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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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Thanks for all of the responses. It sounds like everyone thinks it should be centered on the upper stile. I definitely think it would be more functional that way. I'm trying to get used to how it would look. Through the magic of PhotoShop I've created a preview. Does this really look OK?
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Thank you everyone. That confirms my original thought (and yes, Buehl, that's exactly what I said, that I"d have to bend over to open those middle handles) I'm glad to know that I can tell my mom that I was right HAAHAHA. The next pressing issue is finding cup pulls that I like, if I go with cup pulls. The only thing I dislike about the cup pulls is that in a lower cabinet you can't just hook it to open it from above, you have to reach under...I'm not sure if that will be a problem or not. And so far, they've all just seemed way too small...
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Would you put the handles on the stiles or on the center part?
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Comments (11)
We will have similar kitchens. Mine is Grimslov white (formerly Adel) with Amerock Revitalize in ORB. We are tall and I can't imagine bending down further than we need to, so on drawers only the top drawer will have the handle centered, and the middle and bottom drawers will have the handle centered on the top stile. I've pinned some examples of that placement on this board, if you would like to see: https://www.pinterest.com/tracieed/kitchen-hardware/
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chicagoans
9 years ago
PS: You'll want to look for pulls with narrow legs and no back plates.
HU-481680855
5 years ago

The outside frame of my bathroom vanity doors are also slightly rounded and puffy. I tried to capture that in this picture. How would I install a two holed knob on this style door? Is it even possible? Here is a picture of the two holed knob.

Should I hire a professional to do this? Or can my husband do it? He is handy but not a professional handyman or cabinet installer. Thank you.
Genevieve McDuffie
4 years ago
I have this exact issue. My cabinets are nearly identical to the white/cream cabinet pictured above. I need to know how to install my handles.
Tom Owen
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Same issue here, but I want to install handles anyway for looks and to protect the cabinet door finish.
HU-532919208
3 years ago
Help! Having the same problem. Just got new cabinets and didn't think about attaching hardware. I bought 50 pulls and don't want to pay a restock fee. How about an escutcheon? Where to buy them? My pulls are smoked black glass with copper.

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