I really need to get a FAQ page together and have it as a tab on my home page. It seems you all have a lot of the same questions. Until that FAQ page shows up {please, Fairy Blog Mother?}, I’ll try to answer the most popular ones in the form of a post. In just the last few weeks, I’ve had more than one question about the measurements of our kitchen cabinet hardware. They are the stainless steel IKEA LANSA handles and I blogged about adding them to the cabinets here. They’re available in packs of two and cost ranges from $6.99 to $9.99 per pack. They’re suitable for cabinet doors or drawers 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick. They come in several lengths for various types of use. The sizes listed on IKEA’s website and packaging are the distances from screw hole to screw hole. The length of the actual handle {longer than the hole spacing measurement} is listed under ‘product dimensions’ on the IKEA website. We only used 2 sizes in our kitchen: 10 1/16″ and 6 1/4″…which seems to now be listed as 6 5/16″.
On our taller 42″ upper cabinets we installed the 10 1/16″ handles…
Above the microwave and refrigerator we used the 6 1/4″…
On the wider lower drawers we added the 10 1/16″…
On the narrower drawers to either side of the stove we added the 6 1/4″… {Note: the bottom door is really a pull-out trash/recycling center so we placed the hardware horizontally for ease of function.}
Finally, on the kitchen island we mixed things up. The wide drawers have the 10 1/16″ handles while the cabinet doors have the 6 1/4″ handles.
I think the thing to keep in mind while picking cabinet hardware is the width/height of each door and drawer. Personally, I like the hardware to mimic the size of the cabinet or drawer. A big ol’ door would look awfully naked with a teeny handle. Likewise, a smallish drawer would look pretty silly with a crazy big pull. Keep things to scale. You may even want to buy several sizes and hold them up to the doors/drawers before making a commitment. Just return the ones you don’t use. I’d also suggest buying a few extras {we have 2 backup handles of each size we used} in case something happens to the handles and they need replaced. If it’s been several years since you installed your hardware, there’s a good chance it’ll be discontinued.
Adding hardware to plain stock cabinets and even older outdated cabinets is a cheap upgrade. We love ours. Try it yourself!
FYI – I was not compensated in any way for this post. I just love sharing great products!
images: all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, DIY