I've linked to a pic of the kitchen in our last house.
We used those handles and I tried to make them as long as possible wherever I could.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://gallery.me.com/puertas#100077/old-20kitchen-201

I've seen them done both ways and both look good; it's a matter of personal taste, I think.

I chose to use different lengths according to the height/width of the cabinet. I liked the way it turned out. Basically, for doors I got pulls that were 2/3rds the height of the door. For drawers, I got pulls that filled in most of the rectangle formed by the rails/stiles.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

BTW, I got a fantastic deal on my pulls on E-Bay. They are solid and not cheap looking or feeling.

Here is a link that might be useful: Inexpensive Cabinet Pulls

thanks for the replies!

mom2reese , that guy has great prices indeed! but i see that they are brushed nickel finish, and not stainless steel finish.. how does the brushed nickel look against the stainless steel appliances?

and wow, your kitchen is amazing!

Thanks! I still haven't decorated since I took that picture...one day!

The pull finish looks great with my SS appliances. I don't like to be matchy-matchy, anyway - I have a mix of chrome, brushed, and SS finishes in my kitchen. My appliances don't match, either, but I think the overall look is still pulled together.

One thing to note if you do buy from that seller is that his measurements are off for the larger pulls (e.g., a 12" pull is actually 11.75", that sort of thing - nothing too tragic). I ordered over a hundred pulls from them between my kitchen and bathrooms, and only one was defective. The seller promptly sent me a new one.

Here are some pics with an extra pull I had lying around so you can judge for yourself if it'll work for you. HTH!

Next to the edge of my cooktop
{{!gwi}}

Next to the wall oven
{{!gwi}}

thanks for these pics!! they look really close to stainless finish to me.
I think i am going to order from them also. I need about 36 pieces, and these prices are by far the lowest i have seen.

thanks again!!

no problem!

One other thing - you can send the seller a message about what you want to buy and he will combine the order/shipping for you if you are doing different sizes.

For our doors and drawers, I used the formula Length of pull = Length of door/drawer - 4".

I also bought from contempo on ebay. Excellent prices/quality. They are local to me so i just picked them up. Make sure you get the screws in two lengths.

(PS mom2reese: Gorgeous kitchen!)

drooool, gizmonike

gizmonike , mocking up the handles with blue tape is a great idea! THANKS!!

I will do that because I we just cannot decide on what length we want and if we want vertical OR horizontal on some of the smaller upper cabinets.

I had thought picking out the right faucet was a pain, but getting the right handle size and placement has been even more frustrating!

and wow, your kitchen is also amazing! Do you actually live in that house and use it? It looks so immaculate! like there is no sign of anyone living there :)

Thanks! Those photos were taken just when the kitchen was finished & we were moving in, so it looks a bit empty. However, I love clean counters, so we have not cluttered it up much -- it so helps to have a place for everything. We cook in it like crazy, so yes, we live there. Our kitchen is completely open & literally the center of our home. DH was a bit upset when I took so much time to figure everything out (THANKS, GARDEN WEBBERS!), but now he tells me all the time how much he loves the layout & our appliances. He and DS are cooking more than ever due to our wonderful kitchen.

I think Candance just left 2 houses... lol! wow - those are some kitchens.

picking handles is a bear also - I'm going with all pulls except possibly the smaller cabinets high up - where i can't even reach. might use knobs on them - to break it up. have one (2 doors) on each wall.
I have the good luck of doing my kitchen after my sister did hers - so she figured some things out that have greatly helped me.

Wow!! Absolutely stunning kitchens!! I've ordered 4 different sizes of SS bar pulls because our base cabinet drawers (36 of them) are various sizes. I mocked up the drawers with blue painter's tape which helped me decide what length to choose. I didn't use a particular forumla, but just did what I hope will look good. I decided not to go across the length of the drawers but to use shorter pulls (maybe half the length) as I have so many base cabinets.

Sure wish I would've known about Contempo Living for ordering pulls as I would've saved a bundle.

Mom2reese, Hoping you'll see this and responde as my cabinets style is the same as yours so wanted to ask about placement of your bar pull on your base cabinet drawers. Is each pull centered exactly in the middle of your drawer? Thanks!

They're exactly centered, mrs-mjt. HTH!

gizmonike - your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous, but I also love all the clever things you've done such as the outlets hidden above your trash pullout and the pullout that accommodates your plumbing. I've saved these ideas for my next kitchen :)

Dear Jake, I loved those pulls too, and I bought the medium-length ones, but here's what happened: gradually, month by month, they took out a pocket or shirt hem just about every time I turned around near a drawer. Clumsiness had to be part of it, admitted, but it was so frustrating that I wound up replacing the bar pulls with those pulls that look the same except for the ends, which are smooth right-angle ends, not bar stickout-ends as in your posted picture. (I hope this makes sense!) I'm planning a remodel for next year and I will not have the end-stick-out bar pulls again.

Good luck,
rc
in
VT

Thanks mom2reese! I adore your kitchen!

Has anyone used the stainless steel Pulls from Ikea?

the prices are dirt cheap! but they appear to be hollow.
But, I am not sure if that really matters or not.

I'm curious about the IKEA pulls too!

Here is a link to IKEA's handles.. I was just in the store, and they look great but seem to be very light, due to the fact that they are hollow.

I just wonder about the durability of these.

Mom2reese,
are the pulls you bought off ebay hollow?

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA Stainless Pulls

I have the Ikea Lansa handles - they're great value, and feel completely sturdy to me. I bought a 'T' shaped pull that matches perfectly, by another manufacturer, so I don't think that's an issue.

What IS an issue for some people is that they use metric screws, and the precise distance between the fastenings is metric also. This may mean if I want to replace them at a later date, I'd have to pick another Ikea style (not likely to be a problem - alternatively, I'd get them on a visit back to London). The metric screws only became an issue for me when I used a long pull as a towel rail, mounted on the end of the island table: I couldn't get long enough replacements to fit through the leg, and had to have them counter-sunk.

jake - the ebay pulls are solid and very heavy. THAT SAID, hollow isn't necessarily bad. Obviously when you hold a solid pull in your hand vs. a hollow one, one will feel heavier and, arguably, "more expensive." Once the pull is mounted, however, feeling heavy is not so much a factor. As long as they're not so hollow/thin that they could get dinged or dented, how they look (i.e., not cheap) and how they feel when you're using them are more important factors. I don't have experience with the Ikea handles, so I couldn't say.

FWIW, the Contempo (Ebay) pulls are about the same price or cheaper than the Ikea ones that are 21" or shorter, and you have a lot more options on sizes from Contempo. The Contempo handles also use metric measurements (when I mentioned before that the seller's measurements were a little off, that's why - he's advertising in inches instead of the mm as they were made). My guess is that most of the European-style bar pulls on the market are going to be in metric, actually.

re: screws, my installer had to use longer screws that she had on hand because the metric ones were too short. It looks like from Pharaoh's post that they'll send you the longer ones if you ask.

wow, i just found another EBAY seller that is even cheaper than the Contempo seller above!

and these are solid stainless handles, not hollow, and not nickel plated.

their feedback is great, and their pricing is dirt cheap!
check it out..

Here is a link that might be useful: Ebay Hardware Depot Seller

Cool - worth ordering a couple to check it out (that's what I did before I ordered the Contempo pulls in bulk. Just FYI, the Contempo pulls are solid stainless and not nickel coated - that's just how the seller is describing the finish. Not trying to push Contempo on you, of course! I suspect all these ebay sellers are getting their pulls from the same factories in China, anyway, LOL.)

mom2reese can you tell me about your backsplash.

irened - it's recycled glass tile from Lunada Bay called sumi-e. I have it in the Ohara Natural pattern in 1x2 brick. It comes in many different colors and sizes and has an imperfect, organic quality to it. I'm very happy with it!

Check out rdquilter's fireplace in this thread. She used the sumi-e in Zushi Natural.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sumi-e Colors/Sizes

Sorry to hijack but not sure where to post this?

mom2reese: I am in the process of staining my cabinets to a darker color as you have to contrast my hardwood floors; did you stain your cabinets? Thanks

sorry Jake20

codiyer - the cabs were stained by the cabinet manufacturer(Merit). They're cherry cabinets in "Truffle" stain.