Standard Builders Grade kitchen cabinets like this can be opened without handles or knobs because they are beveled on the back of the doors and drawers.

Thank you! Am I going to have to get builder grade? I don't have a huge budget, but I'd rather have better cabinets than that. Those are kind of hideous. They all look like cheap oak. Last time I did a kitchen, I had natural maple custom cabinets that were a lot like shaker but with more rounded edges. My guru-of-wood reused leaded glass from the 1920s butler's pantry cabinets in some of the cabinet doors. I had polished nickel knobs and handles in that kitchen. The kitchen before that, I had natural cherry with arches - I loved those but that kitchen was 25 years and 2000 miles ago. That kitchen had no knobs or handles only because I could never figure out ones that I liked.

Bonnie, so far you haven't looked at what's out there to purchase. People for the most part are not selecting cabinets with arches. That kind of went out in the 90's

Cabinet makers are making cabinets for people who have no issue with using handles. Here are some current kitchens. Decide if you're spending $3k or $25k and that will help decide what you can look at.

You start with a floor plan. You start with APPLIANCES and where they will go for convenient prep. You do flooring and cabinet finishes together. Cabinet style should suit your tastes, and your home, as should the finish, painted or otherwise.

My point? Cabinet hardware is jewelry. It takes a lot of thought to make cabinetry look good and function well with NO hardware. Begin at the beginning.. which is NOT hardware, or lack thereof..

Where's your LAYOUT ? What do you love or hate about your current kitchen? What is your budget? Do you like or hate your appliances......

Don't put buggies ahead of your horses. Get a good independent kitchen designer, not a cabinet salesperson. At the very least. do a drawing accurately and post is here with all dimensions, appliances etc. Forget arches unless you want to buy a dated kitchen : ) There are many ways to get traditional style...........it STILL begins with layout and function. And budget.

I just remodeled my kitchen which did have those builder grade cabinets with no hardware. They were actually very sturdy and at this point. about 20 or more years after they were installed, they were in fine condition. We bought the place 2 years ago.

They were a medium wood stain so the hand oil was not too much of an issue but what WAS an issue, was that without a handle, it is not always obvious which way a door opens.

As I mentioned we just remodeled and I have pulls. If I had planned to keep the cabinets, I would for sure have installed pulls or knobs.

I guess it is personal preference, but I didn't find it practical to not have knobs or pulls. Just my 2 cents.

I love the sleekness of kitchen cabinets with no hardware. Something I see often in European or high end modern kitchens. Never thought of the finish degrading because of our body oils. Not sure it would deter me from getting cabinets with integrated handles or push button hardware though - I'd have to research it properly. Here's a blog post from Emily Henderson showing kitchens with 'no hardware" cabinetry. I know Ikea offers such cabinets as well. One example from their kitchen inspiration link. And here's an Architectural Digest article discussing hidden pulls and the like. Good luck with your choice. Hope you'll share your discoveries and choice as you move forward with your kitchen plan.

IMO you are getting ahead of yourself. Arched cabinet doors are already dated and IMO a very contempory look is not handles or knobs but keep in mind you will also then have no protection for the cabinet doors from dirty hands so the finish on the cabinets needs to be considered. I like pulls and knobs usually IMO they are kind of the accessory in the kitchen but the push open id a very clean look but IMO only works with flat panel high gloss cabinetry in a very contemporary kitchen so you need to think about your style for sure.

Arched cabinets - truthfully, they wouldn't work with this home and this kitchen. I just loved them 25 years ago, and I still love the cherry wood. Most of my current wood furniture in living, dining, and family room are natural cherry furniture from Scandinavian Design. The home at which I'm re-doing the kitchen is a second home, and it's a 1980s house. I can't be there until mid-September, so I can only draw a basic floorplan, not the full, exact thing, but I need to get started ASAP when I get there, and I will NOT have handles. It's the one basic requirement for this kitchen redo. I'm looking for ideas on cabinets that would work. And I'm looking for ideas on everything else.

Maybe I'm weird. I'm a fairly serious cook, and I know I won't be getting an appliance suite. I couldn't care less if they don't all match precisely. There will be no over-the-range microwave, the refrigerator will be large and side-by-side, and the cooktop will be induction. IDK if it's going to be a slide-in or separate oven and cooktop. Sink is going to be big, deep, and single-bowl. Dishwasher is going to be deep and quiet. That's the only thing I really have in any way decided on - going with a Bosch. Countertops are going to be soapstone - my heart's desire. I loved chemistry classes.

I used to have what I called a "guru-of-wood", a one-man outfit who did my last two kitchen redos. Lots of custom details, worked around some semi-stock cabinets, including coordinating woodwork. But he's on the other side of the country (east coast), and this home is in Texas.

This is the kitchen I'll be re-doing - total gut, but keeping the basic layout, since it works for me. This kitchen is pretty awful.

tartmeup - thank you for those links. They're just exactly the sort of information I was looking for, and they may have sold me on flat, panel cabinets. I like the solid-color ones, and some of the woods that are less grainy and knot-free. I've googled and googled, and never could come up with much. Again, my thanks!!!

I know this is a contemporary/minimalist look, but I really like finger pulls and have them in both of my kitchens. They impart a clean, modern appearance, but still allow you to keep greasy fingers off the cabinet doors and drawer fronts.

Glad to be of help, Bonnie Riley. Reading your list of wants for this kitchen, I'm wondering if you'd be interested in "un-fitted" kitchens. There were a couple of threads about this kitchen "style" in the forum if you want to search. Also, read the comments in the Emily Henderson blog post I shared. There are a few from European readers who've lived with hardware-free kitchen cabinets for years with no complaints. In any case, it sounds as if you know what you want and that is start to getting a kitchen you love. Your new kitchen looks spacious and light-filled so those are great features!

A photo search is always a good place to start. Here are some options I found that might help point you in a useful direction.

Lenox Street · More Info

Russian Hill - John Maniscalco Architecture · More Info

Portola Valley · More Info

Contemporary Kitchen · More Info

Modern Kitchen · More Info

Genuardi residence · More Info

From the contexts, I fear that these are mostly not cheap options, although Ikea might serve you well (and several designers here swear by them)...

You are looking for magnetic push latches.

Flopsycat1 - The more I look at pictures of our crappy kitchen, the more I think a more minimalist look is the way to go. We also have two houses - my current one, in California, has a pretty traditional kitchen, and it came with the house. It's not exactly what I'd want in a kitchen, but It's new enough that it's not ready to be redone. The kitchen in Texas is a nightmare, and if you've seen the pictures, you know I'm right. It's an '80s modern house, and it is so ready for a new kitchen, so those flat sorts of cabinets are looking more and more like the right way to go. I really like your pulls.

It's so hard to know. what to do. We bought the house in Texas, and had to head back to California for the summer almost immediately - closing on the Texas house was put off and put off and put off because of Covid - the sellers were in another country, so there were all sorts of things to sort out. I'm doing long-distance dreaming and wishing and hoping. I seriously have no firm budget - I know I should do that - and I need to get to organizing the new kitchen as soon as I get back to Texas. Compound that with the fact that we're 50 miles from a decent-size city (Austin), and that makes it all the harder. I did some basic measuring, and I need to sit down with graph paper and draw it out for more purposeful planning, but I feel like finding the right cabinets, or at least the right look, is where I need to start.

Bonnie,

I’ll attach a pic of the little kitchen in our vacation house in the Arizona mountains. As I said, I’m pretty much of a minimalist, so the finger pulls were perfect. The reason I don’t like the magnetic push latches is that you still have to touch the door with greasy fingers.

Before moving to AZ, we considered the Texas Hill Country outside of Austin, which is quite beautiful.

These are trying times for all of us. I’m sure your project will turn out great in the end.

Flopsycat1 - those cabinets would suit me just fine, and I love your range hood. I will NEVER EVER have another microwave over my range! I need to figure out a good microwave solution as I'm mentally designing my kitchen. Do you have any ideas? We're at our other house until mid-September, and being that I'm 1800 miles from the kitchen I'm going to redo, I'm doing a lot of thinking and planning, pinterest-saving, etc., until I get there.

Yippee!!! We're closing on our house sale on Friday, finally sold our previous condo in Texas, and things are going smoothly, so I'll have the money to get my kitchen redone without worrying so much. I'm still a budget-conscious person, so there's not going to be a $10,000 refrigerator or a Wolf range, sad to say. One splurge, and it's not a huge one, is that I'm going to get an induction range or cooktop - don't know which as yet - and that will mean replacing a bunch of pots and pans. Alas, my Calphalon hard-anodized is not going to work. I really do like to cook, and gas isn't an option unless I want to deal with propane.

Bonnie- Our cabinets were custom made. I designed the layout and put the microwave in a compartment on the other side of the island. There are also a couple of banks of deep drawers which are great for storage. Never having designed a kitchen before, we love it and wouldn’t change anything. Of course, being a vacation house, it’s small. Don’t think I’d be brave enough to do the same for a primary residence.

Congratulations on your house sale!

flopsycat1 - you did a great job! Do you have a microwave drawer or a traditional door-front microwave? Do you like having it at a lower level? Ooohhh - deep drawers - nice! There are so many things to think about, and it's been almost 20 years since I redid a kitchen. And once before that, too. I was very happy with what I came up with on both those kitchens, but I had a smaller budget, so there weren't as many options. Such a first-world problem. Are your cabinets painted or some other surface material?

THANKS!

Hi, Bonnie! We have a traditional microwave. No problem at all with having it at a lower level. I think a microwave drawer would also have to be installed at a lower level. Cabinets were fabricated and painted at the shop. I really enjoyed designing the kitchen, but, as I mentioned, it is a small vacation house and a relatively easy project.

You could check out the IKEA kitchens there in CA, and do the planning and ordering at an IKEA in TX.