The most common mistake when it comes to kitchen hardware, is the case of positioning the cabinet handles and/or knobs.
While there are no rules to follow as such, there are a few guidelines most interior designers suggest are worth following, when positioning your kitchen hardware in the best place.
One designer states that 'Care needs to be taken with the positioning of the cup handles. For example, a cup handle works horizontally but not vertically, such as for a wall cabinet. In this case, a smaller cabinet knob can be used.' A cup handle is generally used on drawers, or cabinets that pull out such as a dishwasher, and would be placed central on the drawer and top centre on a pull out door. Should you have a wide pan drawer, you could use two cups per drawer, but usually this would be for drawers over 800 wide. It isn't essential to use two handles, it would just be for aesthetical symmetry.
Bar, D, Bow and other pull handles can be used either vertically or horizontally. Whilst there is no rule to say where the exact placement is for these, it is generally assumed to be placed at the top right/left (depending on the opening of your cupboard) for base units, and bottom right/left of your wall units. Handles placed too high will look out of place and potentially be difficult to reach. Where the handles sit along the length of your cabinet doors is up to you, but you will want handles and knobs on your base units to be in the top third of your doors, and in the bottom third of your wall units.
The same would apply to cabinet knobs as it does for handles. Generally, you will always want your hardware to be positioned 50mm away from the top and side edges of your cabinet doors, or the bottom for your wall units.
Profile handles are an overlapping handle that wraps around the top or side off your cupboard door/drawer. Again placement is up to you, but usually the cabinet doors of your base units will have them sitting along the top of the door, so they are horizontal and in the middle. The length won't make a huge difference, but most people will go for one that sits central on the top of the door, and have an even amount free on either side. For example, a 400mm wide base door could have a 200mm length profile handle placed in the centre, giving 100mm either side. As for the wall units, they still need to be within reach, so most people will have them placed vertically in the bottom third of the door.
You also need to make sure that whatever hardware you choose, is placed in the same place on every cabinet and drawer, otherwise uneven handles will instantly bring down the look of your space.
The Handle Studio Ltd may not be qualified interior designers, but we have picked up some knowledge along the way over the years of trading. So if you have any questions or just want to confirm an idea, give us a call or drop us an email, we will be more than delighted to help you where we can.
