Getting a handle on your kitchen

The best handles for your kitchen cabinets from our collection

Take a look around your kitchen. What do you see? If it is all looking a bit tired and jaded, perhaps this autumn is time to change all that.

..You still have time to transform your kitchen before Christmas! Yes, really.

The good news is that you can make a huge difference to your kitchen without having to have everything ripped out. For example, replacing the doors on your kitchen cabinets can make everything look just like new.

But if you do replace the doors on your kitchen cabinets, one thing to consider carefully is the kind of handles you have on those doors. Handles can be something of an afterthought, but they are an integral part of your kitchen cabinet doors and make a definite style statement.

So in this article we take a quick look at the best type of kitchen handles for your kitchen. 

Before we do, let’s just clarify that there are two main types of doors for kitchen cabinets, handleless doors and doors with handles. So we’ll take a look at the advantages of each, then explore the kind of kitchen handles you could have if you decide on doors with handles.

Handleless kitchen cabinet doors

Some kitchen cabinets have handleless doors. Instead of pulling a handle, the door or drawer can be opened either by gently pushing the door or drawer to release it, or by using a cleverly concealed handle or rail.

Some of the advantages of handleless doors are that:

• They provide a contemporary and minimalist finish to your kitchen.
• They can maximise the space in your kitchen as there are no protruding handles.
• They can potentially be safer than doors with handles as there is nothing to catch yourself on.

DIY Homefit supplies a comprehensive range of stunning J-Pull handleless doors. The example below shows handleless J-Pull kitchen cabinet doors in Gloss Light Grey.

Kitchen cabinets with handles

Handleless doors can look wonderful, but so can kitchen cabinet doors with handles. 

Some of the advantages of doors with handles are:

• They are always easy to open and close, with no “knack” to the process.
• They can sometimes be easier to clean than handleless doors with concealed handles.

And of course the main advantage is that you get to choose the handles so you can create a customised look for your kitchen cabinet doors.

Let’s take a look at some examples of handles:

Bar handles

Bar handles can be simple or ornate, so can blend in with any style of kitchen. See the two examples below. The example on the right also shows a drop bar style that hangs down to be more flush with the cabinet door. Bar handles can be created from a variety of different metals, embellished with porcelain or ornate detailing.

Bow handles

Bow kitchen handles have a curved and elegant design, which adds a subtly tailored look to your cabinet doors. Choose either a chrome finish as shown below left for a slimline look, or a more distinctive metal such as nickel – shown below right – for a more dramatic look.

Cup handles

Cup kitchen handles are a wonderfully versatile type of handle. They are available in a wide range of finishes, often metallic as in the examples below. Which also means that there is a wide choice of colour options so they coordinate well with your kitchen cabinets, whatever the designs and style.

Knob handles

Knob handles are always popular. They look particularly good with traditional styled kitchens, but can also work effectively with contemporary kitchens. Knob handles are not necessarily round: the image below left shows a T shaped knob handle. As you can see, these also have a metallic finish, but knob handles are also still available in a more traditional wood finish, as shown below right.

We hope that the above tips are helpful and that you can find ways to make small but significant changes that transform your kitchen. 

For further inspiration, take a browse through our range of kitchen handles, and get your kitchen transformation started.

And do check back here soon for more lifestyle tips from DIY Homefit.