Contemporary and Interesting Cabinet Handles

Modern Cabinet Handle Styles for Kitchen Design

Cabinet door pulls can really set a kitchen style by accentuating the cabinet doors. A lot more of the cabinet design happens at the door than pretty much anywhere else on the box of a cabinet.  Sometimes it can be decorative elements added such as base shoes, crowns, and even scribe moldings. Those elements add a bit of detail and decoration, but the door itself is the particular place where the majority of the design style is placed. The door pulls can compliment that particular style and also bring in new elements to the design.

A picture below shows a collection of bar pulls. Unlike knobs and other styles of cabinet door pulls, bar pulls mount with two fasteners each and have a relatively straight run of interrupted horizontal bar that goes from side to side. Some bar pulls are also installed at cabinet doors in a vertical position. They’re all made with a very similar style.

In the case of the examples shown below, these particular bar pulls are made in different lengths. In some cases, certain bar pulls can be used at a consistent length throughout the entirety of a kitchen. Generally, the shortest width drawer base might determine the maximum length of a bar pull. In this case, even if there’s a relatively short drawer base, 12 inches wide or less, there are options that can be used, even in the lower range of sizes.

collection of bar pulls

This particular collection all happens to be coated with a black paint, similar to a lacquer you might find on wood cabinets. The particular finish has a satin or matt sheen. In some ways, we think satin or matt sheen is a better alternative than the shiny gloss finishes. The shiny gloss finishes have a relatively high degree of reflectance and they happen to show off or accentuate any smudges such as fingerprints or dirt. It’s like a high gloss cabinet finish. They’re actually harder to keep clean.

Technically, they get dirty equally as anything else but the problem is they show off whatever dirt or smudges they might have. Satin or matte finishes do a better job of hiding those smudges or areas of spots or dirt.

Contemporary and Interesting Cabinet Handles

In some cases, cabinet door pulls will stand with perpendicular bars, away from the face of the cabinet doors. This offset allows for a space for people to stick their fingers when they are pulling the doors or drawers open.  Here though, they’re made with a different style. The entire rear part of the hardware rests against the face of the cabinet doors. Instead of having an offset to allow for an opening away from the door, in this case the door pulls have a concave shape that allows for a bit of texture when pinched. Essentially the concave surface at the two sides of the hardware allow it to kind of fit well between fingertips.

cabinet door pulls will stand with perpendicular bars

The next example, shown in the next picture below, is similar in some ways but really different. It has that same medium brown satin finish. But the hardware shown in the pictures above looks sleek and modern. It does have an almost industrial type of look or aesthetic but it doesn’t cross deep into that range of design elements. In contrast, the angle iron looking hardware with embellished fastener heads at the mounting locations is intentionally made to look extremely industrial. It looks like somebody took scrap metal from a waste pile and cut it up and welded it in their garage. It’s intended to look like there is something industrial about.

In certain types of cabinets, where they are very rustic, this might look really good. There’s other examples, as well, where wabi-sabi type styles may use contrasting elements to achieve a high quality looking or interesting looking finish. For example, sleek or modern type cabinets could be paired with this type of hardware, within the right color schemes, so that the two different styles actually complement each other instead of clashing.

brown satin finish

Like the other type of style, shown above, this style also has a range of sizes. This range is different though because there’s less increments within the range, yet it goes even smaller. The smaller sizes will be useful on thin drawer bases and cabinets where large pieces of hardware are not really necessary and or where the larger pieces of hardware will not fit within the limited space.

thin drawer bases and cabinets

Dupont Kitchen & Bath Can Help

As dedicated and local DC metropolitan kitchen and bath builders and installers, we pride ourselves on turning your visions into reality. Your kitchen and bathrooms can reflect your unique style and be designed with personalized aesthetics. It can be a process from creative designs to the realization of your dream space. Specializing in kitchen and bath construction, we bring expertise and skills to every project. If you’re contemplating a renovation, upgrade, or modernization in the local market, we’re happy to be your team. Consult with us, and we can start together on a path to redefine and elevate your DC living experience.

Visit our website to learn more about our services and use our quick contact form to get in touch with our team.

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