Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
blingedup_gw

help! cabinet hardware - am I using too many different sizes?

blingedup
13 years ago

First, I want to give a big THANK YOU to all of the posters on this site. I have been lurking throughout my kitchen remodel, and the help I have received here has been invaluable.

I've been making decisions pretty quickly and easily after reading about whatever it is that is the current decision. I've stumbled now toward the end on something I thought would be easy -- cabinet hardware. I picked a style that I saw on some pictures here that I liked. I ordered an assortment of them from amerockforless.com (another tip I got here) and they should arrive any day. My cabinets were custom made, cherry wood, sherwood cherry stain with chocolate glaze. I love them. The hardware is Amerock Revitalize.

Here's my delimma -- I bought four different sized drawer pulls to accomodate the different height of cabinets and varying widths of drawers. I have 3" pulls on the short drawers, 7" pulls on the long drawers and pantry doors, 4" and 5" on drawers and cabinets in between, etc. Then I threw in a few coordinating knobs for a few upper cabinets that are really high and I probably won't use much. I ordered six 3", twelve 4", fourteen 5", and five of the 7" drawer pulls and 6 knobs . LOL. Can you tell I put a lot of thought into this?

My contractor said that they need to all be the same size. Is this true? It seems like some of them will look out of proportion with all the different sized drawers and cabinets I have. I lied and told him that a "decorator friend" said to do this (haha - needed a little credibility) and he said that it's probably trendy right now then, but will look dated in five years.

True or false? I like the look of different sizes (I think) but don't want to do anything that I will regret once those holes are all drilled in......he said I'll be sorry and it has scared me. Is he right? I spent a lot of $$ on these custom cherry cabinets. Of course I have to decide this right away!

Again, thank you for all of the help you've provided me. If you would've told me two months ago that the issue that would pull me out of lurkdom for help would be cabinet hardware, I wouldn't have believed it. This should be the easy part. :)

Comments (19)

  • itsallaboutthefood
    13 years ago

    I've seen it both ways. One man's trendy is another man's dated. We are planning different sized pulls to try and keep the pull to about 1/3 the length of the drawer. And some knobs. When it really comes down to it...what really matters is whether you like it.

  • User
    13 years ago

    I have several sizes of Revitalize in my kitchen, and am pleased. The question is, do you have lots of different sizes on one wall? For example, all the pulls on my island are the same, so there is consistency in that area. All of my uppers have knobs. So, there are rules and patterns creating a method to the madness, so to speak.

    --Janet

  • blfenton
    13 years ago

    I have 2 banks of 30" drawers, 1 bank of 15" drawers and 1 bank of 19" drawers and they all have the same 7" pulls with knobs on the upper cabinets. And I like they way that it looks. It was a bit of a balancing act to find a size that looked good on all the drawers which are shaker style. I know that others on this site put different sizes on their different sized drawers but that would, visually, drive me nuts.
    Cosistency, as janet 425 noted, is probably the key if you want to use different sizes. And it would also depend on whether or not you were going to use one pull or two on the bigger drawers. I only used one.

  • pharaoh
    13 years ago

    we used bar pulls that matched the dimensions of the door/drawer they were going on.

    So if a door was 30" tall, the pull was 4" shorter, 26".

    Thanks to ebay, i was able to find stainless steel bar pulls in every dimension I wanted. I like the look of the pull matched to the dimension of the cabinet.

    The longest pull was 60" for the pantry door!

  • cjc123
    13 years ago

    I have Amerock Highland ridge also on cherry cabinets, I have knobs on uppers and lower doors, 3 different size pulls on drawers and pantry and an appliance pull for a towel holder. NO way do they all have to be the same! I am detail minded and went one step further and put a piece of painters tape with the size pull noted on each place that hardware was going so there were no mistakes. My contractor at that point knew this was a CJC thing and admitted it was helpful. :-)
    CJC

  • carrie_eileen
    13 years ago

    We also used a few different sizes - the bigger drawers got 6" pulls, and a bank of smaller ones got 4". Doors got knobs. We just got several sizes and started playing around with them.

  • favabeans5
    13 years ago

    I have 3 different sized pulls.. We have drawers that are 15" and others that ar 36".. With the style of pull we selected it just wouldnt work if the pulls were all the same size.. It's your kitchen.. Do what you like not what the gc likes.

  • sabjimata
    13 years ago

    I have a mix of hardware, finishes and sizes. I think that, for most people, there needs to be some sense of order but just as you have different size drawers, I think you can have different sized pulls.

    Are they all the same style and finish? If so, that makes it easier. Then just match the pulls to the drawers you feel are appropriately matched. Sounds good to me.

    I would think the GC would want them all to be the same size b/c it's 1)easier for the install and 2)"that's the way it's done" --which is a silly reason.

  • timber.j
    13 years ago

    I have three sizes of handles on my stained cabinets-
    4" on the uppers above the fridge and stove
    6" on the rest of the uppers
    4" on the doors under the farm style sink and the small cabinet next to it
    The rest of the lowers are drawers, and the widest two banks have 8", the smaller bank has 6"

    The island is painted, and the doors have pulls (1 of the 4 pulls is actually the wrong one-no one noticed, even me, for quite a while)!
    The drawers in the island have cup pulls, and the small drawers have small ones, the wide drawers have 8" ones.

    They are all ORB. Nobody has ever commented on the fact that we have a bunch of different sizes, probably because they are proportionally about the same over all. I guess our friends and family are not very TKO!

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    13 years ago

    My goodness your contractor would be very unhappy with me. Between my kitchen and adjoining breakfast room I have nickel bridge pulls, orb bridge pulls, cast iron pulls, mercury knobs, antique bin pulls and old window sash pulls of an indeterminate metal. Of course I am going for an unfitted country kitchen look and I have only neutral colors and lots of patina.

    I think he is worried it will be confusing or a lot of trouble for him to keep straight.

    Try mocking it up and then do what you want!

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    13 years ago

    My goodness your contractor would be very unhappy with me. Between my kitchen and adjoining breakfast room I have nickel bridge pulls, orb bridge pulls, cast iron pulls, mercury knobs, antique bin pulls and old window sash pulls of an indeterminate metal. Of course I am going for an unfitted country kitchen look and I have only neutral colors and lots of patina.

    I think he is worried it will be confusing or a lot of trouble for him to keep straight.

    Try mocking it up and then do what you want!

  • timber.j
    13 years ago

    Just a tip to pass on to your contractor: My dh used a jig to install the hardware, and our cabinet maker friend advised him to put tape over the holes on the jig that he is NOT using-very helpful when doing several sizes!

  • michiganrachel
    13 years ago

    I think you can do whatever suits your taste and style. However, I am a simple, clean lined person and I have one size pull on all my drawers - ranging from 18 to 42 inches wide (1 pull on each 42 inch drawer). My pulls are about 6.25 inches from center to center (6.5 total). They do not look out of proportion at all. For reference, I have white shaker cabinets with a walnut island and my pulls are Amerock Kane in weathered nickel. We just moved into our house on Monday, so I will post pictures soon - once boxes are gone and window treatments are up.

    Good luck! I don't think you can go wrong with whatever you choose. Just look at lots of pictures and go withnwhat you like.

    Rachel

  • worldmom
    13 years ago

    I have polished nickel pulls of different sizes, polished nickel latches, and cut glass knobs with nickel backs for our perimeter cabs, and ORB bin pulls and latches for our island.

    I don't care for kitchens that have matchy-matchy hardware, but I also acknowledge that my choices would drive others nuts. Just do what looks best to you. :o)

  • sabjimata
    13 years ago

    Oooh Worldmom--pictures please!

  • Stacey Collins
    13 years ago

    I used Restoration Hardware pulls on all the drawers, and plain round knobs on all the doors. The RH pulls are in 3 or 4 different sizes, depending on how wide the drawer bank is. I don't think it looks weird at all! I especially love my 8" pull on the trash cabinet, because I keep a kitchen towel there. (Tip I got on this forum!)

    (kitchen in this pic was unfinished, but you can see the pulls and knobs...)

  • flwrs_n_co
    13 years ago

    Many people here have used a variety of sizes, styles, and finishes in their kitchens. Look through the FKB and try to stay focused on the cab hardware (I always get distracted and forget what I originally started out looking for). I love Sabjimata's kitchen. Although she didn't provide a link to her kitchen and hardware above, I hope she won't mind if I do. Look around not only the details page I've linked to, but the before & after pics so you can study where she used each kind of hardware.

    Don't let your GC bully you into using all one style, size, and finish. It makes it easier for him and is what's done by the majority--that doesn't make it the best solution. Do what YOU like and what will make you love YOUR kitchen!!!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sabjimata's kitchen details

  • blingedup
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you all so much for your helpful answers! I'm so glad I found this place. Tear out of our kitchen started January 10, and we should finish this week! I've read for hours, and hours, and hours on this forum during this time. I'm going to miss reading here when my project is finally complete! Thank you all!