Cabinet hardware is the cheapest meaningful change available to a kitchen or a bedroom, and the only difficult part is measuring.

Why It Works

Handles are the element the eye lands on and the only part of a cabinet you touch.

Swapping them alters the character of a run of cupboards without touching the doors, and it costs a fraction of anything else that would have the same effect.

It is also reversible, which almost no other change to a kitchen is.

Knobs or Pulls

• Knobs suit doors, take one hole and are simpler to fit
• Pulls suit drawers, particularly heavy ones, and take two holes
• Mixing knobs on doors with pulls on drawers is a standard convention
• Pulls are easier for anybody with reduced grip or arthritis
• Knobs catch on clothing and pockets more than pulls do

Ranges carrying knobs in quantity, of the kind at bino.us.org where the category runs to dozens of designs, exist because a kitchen needs a great many identical pieces rather than one.

The Measurement That Matters

For pulls, the centre-to-centre distance between the two fixing holes. Not the overall length of the handle, which is longer.

Getting this wrong is the commonest error, and it means drilling new holes in doors you did not want to drill.

Measure an existing pull from the middle of one hole to the middle of the other, and buy to that figure. Common sizes exist, and yours may not be one of them.

Screw Length

The second thing people get wrong. Screws must suit the thickness of the door.

Too short and the handle will not tighten. Too long and the screw protrudes through the face of the door, which cannot be undone.

Most hardware ships with one length. Thicker doors need longer screws, sold separately and cheaply.

Count Before Ordering

Every door and every drawer, including the ones you forget: the corner unit, the plinth drawers, the cupboard above the fridge.

Ordering two extra costs very little and prevents a second order in a different production batch, since finishes vary.

Finish Consistency

Brushed brass, matte black and chrome all vary between manufacturers and between batches.

Buying the whole quantity at once is what keeps them matching.

Fitting

A screwdriver and ten minutes for a whole kitchen. Do not overtighten into engineered board, which strips.

Keep the Old Ones

For a rented property, so the originals can go back.

Try One First

On the cabinet, in the room’s light, before ordering thirty.