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You've had your new kitchen installed, and now it's time to choose your door handles and knobs for your cabinets.
How do you choose a stylish kitchen cabinet handle? What should you keep in mind to make the right choices?
Since 1958, La Quincaillerie has been guiding you and helping you choose knobs and handles for your kitchen, walk-in closets, and other furniture. We’ll share our experience, advice, and recommendations with you to help you make the perfect choice.
What materials should you choose for your kitchen handles?
Furniture handles and knobs can be made from a variety of materials: brass, zamac, leather, wood, aluminum, etc.
A finish is sometimes applied to enhance their appearance: varnish, paint using various techniques, specialized polishing, patina, etc.
In principle, all furniture knobs and handles, regardless of their material, can be used in a kitchen. However, certain materials and finishes will “wear out” with heavy use.
Therefore, if you want your kitchen cabinet handles to remain durable over time, we recommend avoiding the following materials:
- Unvarnished wood
- Leather
- Natural stones
On the other hand, if you like materials that age and develop a patina over time, you can use unvarnished wood and leather.
What kind of handles should you choose for a white kitchen?
If you have a white kitchen, the choice of handles can greatly influence the atmosphere and style of your space. For a white kitchen with a modern, minimalist design, handles made of stainless steel, brushed aluminum, or chrome will add a contemporary, bright touch. These materials create a subtle contrast while maintaining a understated aesthetic.
For a warmer look, brass or copper handles can be an excellent option, offering a refined contrast that adds personality to your white cabinets. Finally, if you prefer a more traditional or rustic style, stained wood or wrought-iron handles can complement a white kitchen beautifully, adding a touch of authenticity and character. Whatever atmosphere you wish to create, the handles you choose for a white kitchen should complement and enhance the elegance of your decor.
What kind of handles should you choose for a black kitchen?
In a black kitchen, the choice of handles plays a crucial role in enhancing the elegance and depth of the dominant color.
For a modern and sophisticated look, gold-plated brass or copper handles contrast beautifully with black, adding a touch of luxury and sparkle. If you prefer a more understated, monochromatic style, matte black or brushed stainless steel handles can blend in perfectly, creating seamless visual continuity. For those who wish to add an element of texture and character, dark wood or black leather handles can also be an appealing option, adding a subtle warmth to the overall look. Whatever your choice, kitchen handles should complement the richness of black while adding a distinctive touch to your space.
Which should you choose for your kitchen: a doorknob, a side-mounted handle, or a cabinet handle?
To accessorize your kitchen cabinets and give them the look you’re after, you can choose a doorknob, a side-mounted handle, or even a cabinet handle. There are no restrictions. Let your imagination run wild.
Nevertheless, based on our experience in this area, we would like to offer the following tips to help you make your choice:
- Handles for kitchen cabinets often make it easier to use large, low drawers and open your cabinet doors. This is because they make it easier to grip the handles and, therefore, to open them;
- Kitchen cabinet knobs can be mixed and matched with door handles in your kitchen. The result can be very attractive. For example, you could easily install knobs on the upper cabinets and handles on the lower cabinets in your kitchen;
- Edge handles often provide discreet and functional handles while helping to establish a distinct style within the room (coordinating with faucets, light switches, etc.);
- Les poignées profilées dites “poignées gorge” qui s’intègrent directement sur les chants de la portes ;
- Recessed cabinet handles that attach to the inside of kitchen cabinets.
If you're choosing a door handle for your kitchen cabinets, we have a few more tips for you regarding its shape.
What shape should you choose for a kitchen cabinet door handle?
The kitchen is a heavily used space in an apartment or house. It’s a gathering place, and all the furniture in the kitchen gets a lot of use.
At La Quincaillerie, we’re able to offer you kitchen cabinet door handles with exceptional designs —but without ever compromising on ergonomics.
Therefore, we recommend that you consider how easy the door handle you choose is to grip when making your selection—especially for kitchen cabinets that you’ll be using very frequently. For example, for the door of your refrigerator cabinet, we recommend that you carefully select a cabinet handle that offers a secure grip.
In other words, the cabinet handle you choose should allow you to open and close the door easily. We therefore recommend that you avoid so-called “pinch” kitchen cabinet handles—that is, those you have to grip between your thumb and index finger—and opt instead for handles that are operated with your whole hand and can be grasped.
Another important point to consider is the orientation of the handle: vertical or horizontal kitchen handles? The choice between a vertical and a horizontal handle depends primarily on ergonomics and the style you want to give your kitchen. Vertical handles are often preferred for tall cabinets and refrigerators, as they naturally follow the movement of the hand when opening. In contrast, horizontal handles are generally chosen for drawers and the doors of base cabinets, offering a more intuitive and aesthetically pleasing grip. It is therefore crucial to consider the purpose and frequency of use for each piece of cabinetry to determine the best handle orientation.
That’s why we recommend that you visit us to make these choices. We have thousands of designer door handles and knobs on display, allowing you to test how they feel in your hand and get a sense of how they’ll feel during these everyday actions
. Our kitchen cabinet door handles will complement any decor.
What sizes should you choose for kitchen cabinet door handles?
If you choose furniture handles for your kitchen, you’ll find a wide range of sizes among the thousands of items we offer.
You have two options:
- Choose the same size of handles for all the kitchen cabinets you’re fitting; this will ensure visual harmony in terms of handle size.
- Choose furniture handle sizes that are proportional to the size of the drawers and/or cabinets you’re fitting. A narrow drawer should therefore have a small handle, and a very wide drawer should have a very long handle. This works perfectly and creates a very pleasing aesthetic.
We recommend that you consider this aspect using your floor plans. Feel free to stop by our store with your floor plans so we can help you make the best choice that combines design, ergonomics, and the final look. Our teams have extensive experience in this area.
How can I replace the handles on my current kitchen cabinets?
Sometimes you come to us to replace the handles and knobs on your kitchen cabinets because you no longer like them or because you want to give your home a fresh new look.
It couldn't be easier—all you have to do is:
- Either open your cabinet and/or drawer and remove the current handle. All you need is a simple screwdriver, and then come see us so we can help you choose a replacement handle.
- Either measure the center-to-center distance of your current cabinet handles so you can choose a handle that will fit perfectly into the holes that have already been drilled.
It’s important to know that mounting spacing is usually standardized. In France, for example, the spacing is a multiple of 32 mm. You can find handles with spacing of 32 mm, 64 mm, 128 mm, and so on. So we’re sure to have just what you’re looking for.
Finally, if you ever encounter an unusual center-to-center distance, we can offer you a custom handle solution that will fit your specific measurements.
Additional Tips
We're passionate about what we do, so we'd like to share a few more tips with you on choosing kitchen appliances:
- If you want to hang household linens ( such as dish towels) on your handles, be sure to choose kitchen cabinet handles that are deep enough to accommodate them.
- Some of our furniture knobs are available in coat hooks. It may be a good idea to include a few coat hooks during installation so you can hang your linens in perfect harmony with the handles and furniture knobs you’ve selected
- We recommend that you wait until you have your door handles or knobs before drilling the holes to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
- Feel free to draw inspiration from our customers’ projects, which we share on our Instagram account @laquincailleriesaintgermain. There you’ll find inspiring photos and renderings.
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