Last week, I wrote about upgrading your home’s lighting to give it a customized feel. You can read more about improving the lighting in your home here. In this week’s installment of “5 Easy Ways to Customize Your Home,” we’re talking about cabinet hardware.
In many non-custom homes, builders cut costs by leaving out kitchen and bath hardware. This isn’t necessarily wrong in terms of design and functionality, but adding new hardware or replacing old hardware is a great way to quickly and easily upgrade a room.
There are 2 types of cabinet hardware we’re going to discuss today: pulls (which include bars and cups) and knobs.
My favorite look for cabinet hardware is knobs on doors and pulls on drawers.
Using all bars can be visually overwhelming, and installing all knobs can make it difficult to open heavy drawers. Mixing the two gives a great balance to a traditionally styled room. Disclaimer: I have seen all bars used in a contemporary kitchen, and that look works well for modern homes. Every design “rule” can be broken.
One of the great parts about updating cabinet pulls and knobs is that there is a large price range from which to choose hardware. I have selected a few styles in a variety of price ranges below that can be used in both the kitchen and bathroom. (Prices are good as of date of publication.)
Lowe’s- Allen & Roth 227052– $3.28
Lowe’s- Allen & Roth 300920– $3.90
Pottery Barn- Boulevard knob and pull– $9.50
Restoration Hardware Hanson collection– $13-$19
Lastly, here are some tips to help you choose and install new cabinet hardware:
-If you purchase bars, aim for no corners or rounded edges and a low profile. (This is what I chose above.) It’ll only take a few times ramming your hip into the corner of a sharp bar before you regret your decision to purchase something like these:
-Match your hardware to your faucet finish for cohesive design.
-Use a mounting template for consistent hardware placement across your cabinets.
-If you want to add cabinet hardware in your bathrooms and in your kitchen, choose a
style that includes a variety of cups, bars and knobs. This will give you a cohesive look throughout the house without being “matchy. ”
-Ehow.com has a great tutorial here for filling holes in your wood cabinets if you’re replacing old hardware. Go here for the tutorial if you have laminate cabinets.