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brianadarnell_gw

Knobs vs. Pulls

15 years ago

Hello All, My kitchen design is almost complete and the last decision is knobs vs. pulls. Our KD has informed us that on drawers wider than 27", there will be TWO of whatever we choose- knob or pull. For some reason, this is really bothering me as I was expecting to be able to locate one pull in the center of the larger (36") drawers. Has anyone delt with this? Have you deregarded the norm (2 pulls) and gone for a center pull on such a large drawer? These are brookhaven cabinets so they can drill the holes for me at the factory if I choose their spec'ed pull. I can always swap out the 2 knobs for 2 pulls later, but the whole will be drilled so there will be no going back to a center pull. Please help before its too late!

I'm trying to post a layout image.

Comments (16)

  • 15 years ago

    You absolutely do NOT need two pulls on a 27" drawer! In fact, that looks busy to me. One longish pull is all you need, UNLESS you want to go with two.

    Do you have an idea of the kind of pull and/or knobs you want? If you can show us, then others who are better at this than me can give you advice.

    BTW, I much prefer pulls than knobs on drawers, but that's just me.

  • 15 years ago
  • 15 years ago

    Any idea on what style of pulls you're interested in? A more modern long bar pull or something smaller and more traditional?

  • 15 years ago

    Breezygirl, I haven't chosen a specific pull yet (due to this dilemma), but I am thinking of using a cup pull.

    Do you see the 36" cabinets as a problem with one pull?

  • 15 years ago

    At this point we are looking at pulls with 5" centers on our 24 and 27 in wide drawers. Just one pull per drawer. If we had wider drawers, (30" plus) I would probably look at 8" centers (one per drawer). If you were doing knobs on the drawers then perhaps two would look good. Take a look at the Finished Kitchens and see what you like.

  • 15 years ago

    I'm actually more worried about functionality of the two knobs/pulls than the LOOK. I know the look matters, but I cook every night and I am worried about having to use two (clean) hands to open a drawer every time.

  • 15 years ago

    The current trend is super long pulls, and only one of them.

    Get a sample and see how it feels.

    The collective wisdom of GW can outdo any KD out there....

  • 15 years ago

    Cup pulls are usually on the smaller side. How wide are your widest drawers? You mentioned drawers over 27". How much over?

    I'm not sure about a single cup pull on a 36" drawer. The visual balance would definetly be off and it seems odd ergnomically also. (Take this with my bias in because while I like the look of cup pulls in someone else's kitchen, I don't think they're functional for me who races around during meal prep with dirty hands trying to get everything ready with fussy kids running around. I can't imagine trying to clean up inside a cup pull that I got dirty. Bin pulls are easier to clean, IMHO.) A larger bin pull (6", 8" or more) would look better and be more functional in my eyes.

    You could always mix bar pulls on the longer drawers and cup pulls on some smaller ones if you'd like. But do it carefully.

    A lot depends on the style or look you are going for. Modern or vintage? Traditional? Transitional? I echo the suggestion of looking on the finished kitchen blog for inspiration. It's great eye candy!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchen Blog

  • 15 years ago

    If you're comfortable with the look of the long bar pulls, it seems like they'd make meal prep with sticky hands a breeze. I'm not sure of all the styles out there, but I'd personally try to find ones that don't have any bar that sticks out past the screw part (on the outside edges). I've torn more clothes than I can count by catching them on older style handles that stick out on either side of the screws. It's no fun to be racing around the kitchen only to get caught mid-movement and hear that tell-tale rrrrip.

  • 15 years ago

    not choosing a pull that extends past the screw mount bar is a good thing to do also... there are many options that do not.
    get pulls with a good projection also - I like about 1.25" projection.

    pulling a drawer out from the center area is a lot easier than by one knob at one end of it.

    it's your kitchen - get what you want, like and can work with...

  • 15 years ago

    I am so glad to hear some people vote for one pull per drawer. We have vintage hardware and I can't find extra long ones that go with them, but I'd still like to try to get away with one pull each for my 36" drawers. I figure I'll wait til the cabs are in and mock it up.

  • 15 years ago

    Ok...I'm feeling better after hearing from you guys. THANK YOU!!! I think I am leaning toward not having holes factory drilled. This way, I can decide once I see the cabinets installed. Thanks for your help!

  • 15 years ago

    My drawers range from a bank of 15", a bank of 19" and 2 banks of 30" drawers and they ALL have a single 7" pull on them and they look good to me. I only wanted one pull on the wider drawers and the same length of pulls on all the drawers and so it was a real balancing act for me and this length worked out the best.

  • 15 years ago

    Oh yes, don't do factory drilled holes. You'll want to have the option for a last minute change after you've obsessed about it for weeks! ;)

    The cabs will different in and then you hold get some sample pulls to hold up to make sure they are what you want. Good luck!

  • 15 years ago

    Bah, humbug. It's your kitchen, if you want the functionality of a single pull in the middle, go for it. I have various sized drawers from 24 to 39 inches wide. I did NOT want two of anything on any of the drawers, and thought I wanted cup pulls. Unfortunately, one cup pull of any size on the larger drawers looked lost, and I wasn't sure I'd like the functionality of it. Then the folks here told me that Restoration Hardware makes their hardware in various sizes. Bingo! I chose the Quincy style pull. There is a 4 inch pull on the 18 inch garbage pullout under the prep sink, 6 inch pulls on anything smaller than 36 inches, and 8 inch pulls on everything 36 inches and up. They went in yesterday, and I snapped some pictures before even putting things back into the drawers--so I'm posting a link, but please ignore the clutter on the counters. I know I shoulda cleaned first and snapped photos later, but oh well... :-)

    Drawer with garbage pullout, 24 inches wide. The 6 inch Quincy pull is actually almost 7 inches long. (6 inches hole to hole):

    Drawers flanking the cooktop are 23 inches wide, pot drawers under cooktop are 39 inches wide. The 8" Quincy pull is actually almost 9 inches long:

  • 15 years ago

    lots of people do single large cup pulls. rest. hardware has them. i used them. & functional.good

    Here is a link that might be useful: duluth pulls