Knobs & Pulls & Hinges, Oh My!

I've always had a little thing for cabinet hardware. (Cabinet hardware & plumbing fixtures, but I don't let cabinet hardware know about my crush on plumbing fixtures & vice versa, natch!) I'm not sure if it's the magpie in me that is drawn to the shiny stuff or if it's the way they are displayed, so many yummy options to choose from.

{ Jeffrey Alexander's display does it for me }

So, when I was presented with a cabinet hardware dilemma I was thrilled! Here is the question: "I'm trying to decide on kitchen cabinet hardware. I was leaning towards some simple oval knobs...I was wondering about the possibility of putting cup pulls or handles on the lower drawers and then knobs on all the doors. They would all be from the same suite, with the same material, but do you think it would look mismatched?"

Short answer:

"No"

Medium answer:

"No. I don't like everything matchy-match. You want to have the finish the same but as long as you keep with a similar style I will look great."

Long answer:

"I love the look of cup pulls & knobs mixed. I did it at our East 13th house:

{ Kitchen, East 13th Avenue }

And I loved them so much I did something similar in our current home ("if it ain't broke don't fix it" and all that). Here are photos below, apologies for the poor quality:

{ note our Siamese cat, Sinatra, inspecting the scene }

Here are my picks for oval knobs & cup pulls, with options for a few different budgets & in different finishes, but all more traditional/transitional in style as requested.

~ CUP PULLS ~

{ Lee Valley's cup pulls }

Lee Valley's products are well priced & good quality. These ones pictured above only come in chrome but there is another line that is satin chrome which may suit:

{ Lee Valley's Kitchen/Office Suite }

Apparently the B, C, & D frame pulls are discontinued (C & D are sold out, limited quantity of B available). I do like the look of E.

Restoration Hardware always has nice stuff. They'd better. It's in their name & all. I like this pull:

{ Gilmore Pull }

and this one (with a little cleaner lines)...

{ Duluth Pull }

Or perhaps something like this from Home Depot:

{ Amerock Pull }

And finally some cup pulls by Richelieu. Here is one option:

{ top left range of cup pulls }

~ KNOBS ~

Oval knobs are harder to find than round ones but here are options from Richelieu:

Of course Restoration Hardware has a few options:

{ Aubrey Knob }

{ Ephram Knob }

Lee Valley has some stainless oval knobs:

{ Round & Oval Knobs }

Putting in new hardware can be an inexpensive way to spruce up your existing cabinetry. It's kind of like eyebrows on a face - done right the eyebrows look great & you almost can't tell what it is that's so appealing about the person. Done wrong... WATCH OUT!!!!