Doesn't having them on facing doors also mean that you have to close the catch side first? If you close the latch side first, the back of the catch side door might bang against the latch. You'll probably get use to it and start consistently closing in the right order, but the initial period or visitors might cause some damage to the finish on the back of the door.

I was worried about the same thing before they were installed. Yes, you have to close the left door first. And no, it isn't a problem and no one has damaged our cabinets by doing it the other way around. I have a couple of teens in the house and one is like a bull in a china shop . . . but no damage.

The consensus on GW is that the Rejuvenation Hardware latches operate the smoothest. That's what I bought.

I have antique latches on all my uppers. But my uppers are reclaimed Arts and Craft windows that were made into cabinet doors. The latches are never a problem to open close. The incredible beauty of having original latches far out weighs the 2 seconds it takes to turn the latch and open the cab. I hope you find the latch that will appeal to you too ! Here is a pic of my baking area

{{gwi:612474}}

I love latches, but do find them annoying. I put them in my dining room built in hutch so that I can have the look without the inconvenience as these door are opened infrequently.

Since you love latches, put them somewhere, but maybe not on the most frequently opened door. Mixing and matching is a great look.

I love the look. I'll be doing stacked cabinets, and the shorter cabs on top will definitely have the latches. The lower set of uppers (sorry if that doesn't make sense) won't have abutting doors, so I'll use egg knobs. Some friends of ours have a hutch in their breakfast nook with a latch. It's where they keep their everyday dishes and glasses. The back-and-forth between the dishwasher and this cabinet is way more of a problem than a slight turn of the wrist while you're pulling on the knob. If you're arthritic, I can see that the smaller knob and extra movement might cause some problems. But for most people, it's not likely an issue. I say go for it!

Thanks for all the responses. This is definitely a "form over function" thing for me. DH told me again that I have final say, although he looks at me strange when I start defending the latches. So maybe if I do go with just a few of them we can have a good compromise. Maybe have the latches on the fridge cabinet, and a set on the sink doors. We don't have to worry about arthritic issues just yet, and our kids are 11, 4, and 2 so the younger ones won't be reaching the upper doors for a while yet. I think the biggest thing, is that I can't seem to find them anywhere locally where we can test them and see how they work. That's why I posted the question here.

Judydel - I love all your choices. Do you have more pictures I can see. Where did you find your glass knobs?

"But do you really want something so archaic in your brand new kitchen?"

HELL YES. :)

I think they are appealing, charming and nostalgic. For me, it's worth the extra second of laboring to have that look that I wanted so badly. (Really, it's not a big deal!)

In our kitchen, we have them on all of our cabinets (except the island cabinets..... that is where the trash cans live.... we wanted easy, one-handed access to trash cans...... fussing with a latch if you're trying to throw something away could be dirty.)

Others above mentioned the logistics.... opening the latch door first, closing the catch door first.. These are just things I do naturally now. No worries. Also, no guests have done any damage or been confused on their use.

I would recommend getting them if they pull on your heart strings, like they did mine.

If you have a choice on a pair of cabinets, put the latch side on the door you will use the most, if applicable.

BTW, I purchased mine at Rejuvenation Hardware. That was the only place I could find with latches with consistently smooth mechanisms. Every single one worked perfectly and was flawless.

My parents' kitchen, in the house where I grew up, had latches of a different style (more icebox-ish), but same idea. You had to open the right-side door in order to open the left. Having experienced that all my life, it never bothered me for even a second. After I moved out and lived with more typical non-latched cabinets, when I came back to visit it did seem annoying. My point is that how irritating you will find it probably depends on your previous experience, what you're used to, and may change with time.

Personally, if my parents ever sell their house, I'm stealing all the cabinet latches and installing them at my place. I adore the way they look and I know I'd get used to them again.

Thanks Slush : ) I bought the glass knobs through Lee Valley.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?p=46355&cat=3,46742,44008&ap=1

The larger glass "wardrobe" knobs I bought through Emtek (Old Town).

Here are a couple of more photos showing the various knobs installed.

Help me understand this. If you have frameless full overlay doors, and use these latches on a pair of doors that butt against each other, so that the latch is on the right door and the catch is on the left door - how do they actually hold the doors closed? Since the catch is free to move as the left door swings open, how does the ''catch hold the latch'' as Suess might say?

Somehow I am thinking you could simply pull on the latch without even bothering to turn the knob, and both doors would open. If you want the doors to actually be ''latched shut'' you need to have some way of holding the catch stationary which means preventing the left door from opening.

Correct? Not correct?

johnliu, Our 1920's vintage cabinets have an iron hook-latch on the inside of the door with the catch. It's similar to plastic child-safety latches--one pushes the hook down to release it, so that's another step. I do it without thinking about it--to me, the beauty of vintage cabinets is worth the extra (unconscious) effort.

john is correct. There is nothing holding the left side/right side so I just pull gently and the whole thing comes open. I have glass shelves in all the cabs.Works fine for me. As I said and then others said, the beauty of the antique hardware out weighs any shortcomings/effort to open or close. c

In that case, seems the OP's worries are over?

First, I want to say that this thread should come with a warning. I should have used a bib before seeing all the pix posted. Even though I had seen them before (or at least, most), I drooled copiously!

If it matters to you, get them. They are lovely and the extra second or 2 is a minor thing. Put them wherever you want but if you think they might bother you, do as suggested and put them on the lesser used cabs. If you are on the west coast, you can justify them as being great in an earthquake ;)

We put up with a lot for form. As women, we wear high heels, buttoned pants, big earrings, Spanx, etc...(usually not all at once, lol). We spend extra time on doing our hair and makeup. An extra motion won't kill you!

Seems to me an icebox latch gives a vintage look while eliminating the turning step, no?
{{gwi:1918148}}

Oh, forgot to address johnliu's question--there is a separate piece that holds one door stable, if you want to use the turn latches in the traditional way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Elbow Catch

marcolo, Thank you. I couldn't dredge up the terminology for elbow catch. On our base cabinets, I attached the catch to the top frame, rather than the shelf bottom--more convenient than reaching down under a shelf.

Hi Slush - lookin' good!
we have the same taste for sure! Katie's kitchen was my major inspiration as well.

I did the Gilmore pulls from RH on the drawers, the RH glass knobs on main uppers and latches on my lower doors and way upper doors.
The way upper doors are almost all fake (soffits) so i bought some cheapy latches on ebay $7 each. They are terrible quality, don't turn well, and don't close unless you your manually re-latch them.

I bought RH latches for my lower doors and they were kinda crappy too! but $11 each, rough turning and didn't close close on their own.
So i went with latches from Rejuvenation.com ($25 each - ouch!) but they are fantastic! quick and easy to turn to open and just push the door to close them and they self latch again.

it's only been a week with them but i like using them a lot and EVERYONE comments on them and how cool they look!

The other option to hold the non-latch door is magnets, which is what we used. (I actually bought elbow latches but then our cabinetmaker preferred magnets and we didn't much care, so that's what we went with.) They work in basically the same way, except that there's no release---you just tug the door. Incidentally, the problem is the same for frameless door pairs as it is for framed inset without a center stile (which is what we have for convenience).

I find that you get used to latches pretty quickly and they become second nature, so I don't think about the extra step to open the second door---it's just automatic. That said, my husband was afraid he'd hate them, so we used handles on our most frequently used doors (lower level of stacked uppers, broom cabinet) and I think it looks fine to mix them. We only used the latches on inset cabinets, but that's largely because in our case, two of our three frameless doors (we have a mix) are actually pullouts so there was no pair anywhere.

Oh, and we also have Rejuvenation latches---I ordered several to test and theirs were the smoothest by far. Pricey, but worth it.

oh ya, our framed inset double doors (that have no center post) also have magetic stoppers.

well, all of them have the magnets.

Hi~

Just chiming in. Thanks for the mention, btw.

I loved our latches and also loved the icebox latches we used on bottom cabinets.

I learned from this board to get Rejuvenation latches and they were smooth & no big deal to use. Worth the extra nanosecond for the looks :)

I planned on using them again in the next kitchen, but I'm also feeling the glass knobs this time around, too...hmmm.

Katie

Why not buy two latches (for the sink and fridge cabinets), live with those installed for a while, and then decide if you want them for the rest of the cabinets? You can just use blue tape handles on the other cabinets for a few weeks while you see how you like the latches. That way, you haven't wasted any money if it turns out they bug you.

Thanks again all for your responses. I decided to order them for my uppers and do some glass knobs on the few cabinets I have. Seems that many of you don't have to much of an issue with them though a couple don't like the workings of it. lolauren I love what you said about getting them if they make my heart sing. They do so I'll take the plunge and see what happens :) I still can't believe what a struggle this has when it seems like such a small thing in the scheme of the kitchen remodel.

judydel - GORGEOUS kitchen :) Thanks for sharing.

celineike - I want to see more pics of your kitchen!! How's it coming along?

artemis78 - I'm confused about the magnets...do you have a link or pictures?

DH installed our Bertazzoni range and put our old fridge back in the kitchen last night. Today is dishwasher and hopefully pot filler install. Getting closer!!! I'll post pictures soon.

Somewhere, recently, and on the internet, I saw cabinet latches that had a deeper catch, for use with overlay cabinets. (Not mine, as mine have routed edges.)

Perhaps at VanDykes? Either way, just putting that out there for those who mentioned using them with overlay cabinets.

And, yes, go with form over function, if you hate them, you can always change them down the road, looks like you have painted doors. A little putty, new hardware. If you don't get them, you'll always want them.
I am redoing my cabinet doors specifically to have cabinet latches. Seems wrong to live in a 20s house that does have them.

Those of you that have the Rejuvenation version, can you confirm that they come with slotted screws? (obsessive, I know.)

Glad to see a combination of hardware in some of your kitchens. I love the latches, bin pulls and glass knobs and am considering a combination. Besides the looks, we were considering the latch pulls for bottom cabinets because we were thinking they might also be "dog-proof." Our last dog could open bottom cabinets, so we ended up only being able to put canned goods and cookware in bottom. Current 2 dogs aren't quite that smart or food motivated, but we will always have a dog, so though latches might foil any future pets!

OT: Judydel!!! I lost your email addy and now it is not available through GW. Just wanted to say sorry for dropping the email ball. Pregnancy/baby threw me off my game. But all season I've been thinking of you while canning!

We are close to having all cabinets in and needing to commit to hardware. I posted recently asking about a mix of hardware, then found this older post, which addresses some of that ? Wondering for those of you who ended up deciding on mix of glass and metal hardware how you like the look? Or, are you wishing you'd done all metal or all glass? Also, anyone ever try this suggestion to get nickel screws to match dark hinges - spray paint the screws darker, allow to dry well and use this way? This was suggested by one company in order to get nickel screws of glass hex knobs and pulls to match our dark hinges. He said because screw is recessed into knob, paint wouldn't rub off. Will definitely use 4-5 latches (dark from Horton Brass) Probably not on all due to cost and maybe due to little less easy to use. I think I'd like any of the final choices we are looking at, just kind of wish I could see it all together before buying. I have seen a couple yellow painted cabinet kitchens w/dark metal hardware and that looks great. A little harder to visualize the glass, but know I love the always-looks-clean look of our original clear glass door handle knobs. Wondering also though if we should put up w/no handles for a little longer and wait for the black and white hex counter, white subway backspash and cherry for other counters to go in to get a better idea which look would be best for final kitchen? Maybe I'm just thinking out loud on all this, but if anyone else has anything to add, would love to hear. Love all your kitchen photos.

Well you are not alone loving those latches. I am definitely getting them but I am going for a framed kitchen. They are childproof which is what I want. And so beautiful. I love the oval knob ones you have.

Dippy

Ok, I'll admit to not having read every post on this thread, but I'll chime in anyhow.

First, there has to be 'ornamental' latches out there - i.e. ones without the 'latch' itself. Just the housing, with no closing mechanism. This way the doors are never latched closed. This eliminates the worry about which door to close first, the hassle of turning the knob to open etc.

Second, being frameless IKEA cabinets the doors will have standard soft-close BLUM hinges I presume on them, which means the doors don't need any help to stay closed. You don't need any magnets to hold the doors closed, but you do need something to pull them open, which I'm sure has been discussed already above somewhere.

Slush!! I've been wondering how you were coming along. I haven't seen you around lately. Your kitchen is looking amazing! My breath caught for a second with the first glimpse of the MN. Yours does that to me every time.

To stay on topic, the latches look great, and I'm glad you're happy with them! So much better than DH saying I told you so. ;)

Slush!!!!!!!!!!!Your kitchen kills me. It is just too beautiful. I absolutely love it. The latches look great.

Thanks Breezy and Briana - We are pretty much at a stand still with the finishing touches. We had an issue with our contractor with the final bill (that they gave us and they are NOT EVEN FINISHED and was 2K over what we signed for). So frustrating and they haven't been back in over a month....we still owe them a few grand though so hoping they will come back if they want their money. Once they make our attic opening smaller - we can finally move on with crown moulding and finish paint. (Kitchen remodel caused us to have to paint 5 different rooms in the house that surround the kitchen.) Still have to do under cab lighting, plugs and base boards but at least the kitchen is functioning.

I really am dying to post "Finished Kitchen" pictures and feel like it's never going to happen ARGH!

Don't worry...I'm right there with you. My kitchen is technically finished, but not ready to be posted. We couldn't get our GC to finish our house and we still owe him 35K, which I guess pales in comparison to what he owes his subs. grrrrr. We did move in last week, which was a little tardy since our original target was March, then April, then May, June, July and oops...we almost missed August! You'll get there.

Slush, nice kitchen! I too was following your Moon Night install awhile back.

I do like your latches (and never would have picked them, which is why this blog is so great). But, I like your cup pulls even better. They are so inviting, I want to pull out a drawer and start baking.

I have a combo of Rejuvenation Cupboard latches on uppers and Cliffside icebox latches (like marcolo posted above.)

Echoing others who posted this, but I tried many latches and the Rejuvenation latches (whoever makes them) are the best. They are not too much work. In fact they are easier to use than the icebox latches which really surprised me. (I nearly put those icebox latches on all cabinets because I thought they'd be easier, but they're not.)

One other comparison, I purchased one Restoration Hardware medicine cabinet for our powder room that came with a cupboard latch and it sucks. Those restoration hardware latches would be way too much work for cabinets you're going in and out of a million times a day. Stick with Rejuvenation and you're golden. (No I don't work for them, but for the amount of money I spend there, I wish I did for an employee discount! LOL)

What's the deal with these GCs walking away without finishing the job?! We ended up firing our plumber who, although DH paid him entirely, didn't finish several little things. (Don't get me started on DH paying him fully without my approval....) Don't people have pride in their work anymore?

I think I've heard that the last 10% of work takes 50% of the time, or something like that. Patience must be hard when you're so close to the end.

Slush, what are you doing for UC lighting? I need to figure mine out, but the whole subject of so many choices confuses me for some reason. I can't wrap my brain around it yet.

Briana, so glad you moved in! That must be exciting! Actually using the beautiful kitchen you've been planning for so long?! Wow!

I can't wait to see both of your reveals.

Hi there

I hope you dont mind me asking but I love the hood over the range in your inspiration photo. Could you tell me if you have sourced it and if so where. I would love one similar. Your kitchen is going to be fabulous by the way. Those latches are MINE!!!

Dippy

i also LOVE the look, but would never be able to put up with them. is it wrong to put "faux" latches on the more frequently used cupboards? if nobody makes such a thing (maybe someone should, since they are so in right now) could you cut off the male part of the latch so that it is flush-- and then just use magnets to secure the doors? if you have self-closing type soft-close doors, it seems like it could work????

Not sure what happened to the first link I posted for convertible latch pulls, but here's another source:

Here is a link that might be useful: And they're on sale.

Slush~ Your kitchen is looking awesome!! Congrats!

kawh707~ The hood is Modernaire (PS 26 or 29, can't remember). Brushed Stainless Steel with polished rivets and a front rail. Contact person was Pat Hartman

Katie

I know that the issue of using latches on frameless cabinets as been discussed over and over again, but there is one aspect of this which I can't find an answer to....

I was going to use convertible latches on the uppers of my stacked, framelss cabinets. I have two cabinets that are singles and don't have a mate. If you use the convertible latches in the always unlocked position, could you place the other side of the latch on the back end of the cabinet I front of it. I hope that makes sense.

Thank you

i just had mine installed and LOVE them! they give it the vintage flair i was looking for and are not much extra effort to operate. the vintage look makes the kitchen - it is the small touches. as others have suggested, i went with the rejuvination ones as they performed better than RH ones. in polished nickle... oo la la!

Thanks Katieob and Colorfast!

Breezy - we haven't fully decided yet on the UC lighting. We were leaning towards LED but not sure if the cost is worth it for us. I think until we get the contractors to finish and work out the final bill with them, everything else is on hold. At this rate it will be Christmas before it's done.

Califkitchen - I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. We do have a single door and did put the other side of the latch on a piece of filler we had to use for a blind cabinet. I can post a picture if you'd like to see it.

Judydel: I'd love to know where you got the rest of your knobs & pulls. I'm looking for ones just like those.

Just found this thread. Can a anyone chime in on the use of magnets with the latches and how child proof they are? Where does the magnet mount and how strongly does it latch? We have a toddler, so that's a consideration. Our original inset cabinet does have latches and we love them so would like these for the doors. Can they be child proofed?

Is there any danger/damage to the soft close function if you push it hard to latch?

Hoping someone can weigh in here about a well regarded cabinet company/GC who has refused to install the Rejuvenation cupboard latches. He claims the latch holes are too close to the door edge and the wood might split. Rejuvenation claims these are a best seller. The cabinet doors are close (no gap). It doesn’t make sense to me given all the great reviews and pins on Pinterest of cabinet latches. Thanks in advance!

I can only say that we have had the Rejuvenation latches for 12 years and I still love-love-love them. No split wood or any other issues, and two of the cabinets get daily use. Ours are on flush inset cabinetry (and we also have one on our bathroom cabinet, with no issues there either).

I will say that lining up the latches is important and takes some precision, so I can imagine a GC not being super excited about that. But our cabinetmaker had no problem getting it right, and that's not specific to Rejuvenation's latch design.

ETA: We have solid poplar frames with MDF panel inserts for painted cabinets. The material could make a difference?

I used Hardware Resources latches about 10 years ago on my upper doors (near ceiling) and again 2 years ago on my Butler's Pantry. My installers had NO issues with installing them and they work great on my FLush Inset cabinetry. You can "Lock" these into an open position, so you don't have to turn the knob. I would only use these on little used areas though, to be honest.

Click link

Hardware resources latch

wow this is a blast from the past…

I agree these are a more labor intensive install—especially assuming any learning curve, eg flathead screws should align—those hours not accounted for in original labor bid, GC doesn’t want to lose money.

(If they do relent after refusing might brace for a change order.)

I’ve used Rejuvenation latches for several kitchen/bath projects. No damaged doors, latches function smoothly.

Perhaps not best idea for anyone hoping to age in place (that pinching/closed grip tough with arthritis…) I’d agree to weigh practicality on any heavily used cabinetry.