Door handles and knobs give cabinets their final touch resulting in a specific look or feel– these additions are the cherry on the cake, really.

 Selecting new handles and knobs can be difficult simply because there are so many to choose from. They come in all shapes, sizes, colours and materials. Your options are endless. But the fundamental consideration is that handles or knobs are not just beautiful, decorative accessories –they serve an important role! They facilitate the opening and closing of your cabinets.

Think practically and keep in mind that It might be tricky to hook your clothes on weirdly shaped knobs and handles. Also consider how you will mount the handles.  You can’t go wrong with horizontal ones for drawers and vertical ones for doors. It should however be based on personal preference.

Another important aspect that will inform your decision is that you touch certain handles while working in the kitchen which can be messy – so rather choose an option that will clean easily, won’t fade and won’t show finger marks easily. If you refurbish or repaint your kitchen, it is important to replace the handles or knobs too. Your original kitchen was more than likely installed years ago and much has changed in styling trends. Be sure to choose handles that will match with your countertops, doors and drawer fronts as handles that matched your old solid wood cabinets might not look good together with a more modern high gloss kitchen such as those made from MelaWoodSupaGloss or similar material. Just changing the handles can give your kitchen the facelift it needs.

Remember that when you replace any handles or knobs, the new ones should fit into the existing screw holes. Alternatively, cover the holes or replace the doors in their entirety.

When attaching the new handles, the door handle positions should be visible by one or two tiny indentations on the door on the opposite side to the hinge. Hold a scrap block of wood against the face of the door to make sure a breakout doesn’t occur when the drill bit pushes through.

Align the door handles and screw the bolts in by hand from the back of the door. Only squeeze a quarter turn on the screwdriver to create a tight fit and prevent the screws from stripping. Then voila! You have a masterpiece with the vital trimmings – the cherry – included!