Choosing the perfect hardware for your kitchen cabinets

So, you’ve selected a gorgeous colour for your freshly painted kitchen cabinets. You’re almost at the finish line of your updated space! But there’s one last important thing to consider — the hardware.

Kitchen cabinet hardware (sometimes referred to as cabinet drawer pulls) can make or break the design and functionality of your room. Whether you want them to blend into the space or act as a stunning accent feature, it’s essential to consider the finish, shape, and material of the hardware.

Here’s our rundown of the essentials for choosing the best fixtures for your rejuvenated space.

Modern kitchen cabinet hardware styles

Edge, Rectangular, and Recessed? Oh my! There are hundreds of different shapes and styles of cabinet hardware on the market. To make things a bit easier for you, we’ve assembled the most modern and stylish options that our clients in Windsor are reaching for.

Bar Pulls

These straight pulls are cylindrical and rest vertically or horizontal on the cabinets. Their versatility makes them an incredibly popular choice, and they best complement modern and industrial kitchen designs.

Cup Pulls

These sleek, half-domed shaped pulls are popular for horizontal drawers. You’ll see here that they blend well with Bar Pulls. They’re comfortable on the fingers, and a great option for softening the sharp edges of a kitchen. Our clients with farmhouse-style homes often go with this hardware.

Button Pulls

Ah, the classic and understated Button Pull. Their relatively small size makes them a good choice for clients who don’t want to draw a lot of attention to kitchen hardware. But these petite knobs don’t necessarily have to blend in –- they can also create a lot of visual interest when paired with other shaped pulls, or act as an accent when used with certain materials or colours.

Material is essential

While the shape of our hardware can certainly impact the look of our room, it’s the material and colour of the pulls that will make the big difference from a design perspective. For example, both modern and farmhouse kitchen styles often feature Button Pulls, but using wood for the buttons would only make sense in the latter design.

As a general rule, metal is a modernizing material, especially in brushed nickel, matte black, stainless steel and chrome shades. If you’re looking to rejuvenate your kitchen into an industrial, mid-century modern, or Scandinavian style, metal kitchen cabinet hardware the way to go. This material is also the easiest to match to other fixtures like sink faucets or stainless steel appliances, which does wonders to harmonize a space. The exception to this rule would be the use of antique fixtures, often made from metal but in unique shapes like Rings or Bails.

WARNING: At Paint Grade, we use high-quality fixtures from our trusted supplier Richelieu. If you’re shopping for knobs yourself, be wary of shops on Amazon that sell coated plastic fixtures masquerading as real metal. These will degrade and chip much faster than their high-quality counterparts.

Metal may be the most common material, but it doesn’t mean it’s the only one you can use! Kitchen cabinet pulls can be made from wood, leather, acrylic, and even ceramic. When painting your cabinets, we’ll offer you 1-on-1 expert advice on the best material for your design goals. 

Quick tips for choosing the perfect hardware

• "Decorative hardware is like a man's tie," says Greg. "It can be subtle or bold, blend in or stand out as the key feature, but always pull the look together."
  

• Matching your material to the rest of your kitchen is guaranteed hack for creating harmony. Always keep the faucets, handles, and even light fixtures in mind when making your choice.
  

• Don't forget function. These are objects you'll be interacting with nearly every single day! If you wear jewellery, pulls may not be the best choice, as you can force the hand into an angle that would damage the paint of the door. If you select a uniquely shaped hardware, make sure it's not too difficult to clean.
  

• Overwhelmed? Let us give you a hand. We're always happy to hop on a call for a free consultation.