We started our mini kitchen makeover the other day by painting out the dark wood trim of our cabinets (see that here).
The cabinets didn’t have any hardware – you pulled them open at the bottom (the area we just painted). Since we didn’t want to get fingerprints all over the new white paint and since we wanted to make these cabinets somewhat more attractive (they’re never going to be beauties, but they can get a bit of a facelift), we decided to go get some snazzy new hardware.
We settled on long slim handles. We liked the clean lines, that they match nicely with stainless steel appliances (which we’ll buy during our reno), and that they would go nicely with both a more traditional or modern style cabinet.
We liked the Vinna ones from IKEA (about $6.50 a pop)…
…but when we saw really similar hardware at our local Lee Valley (a Canadian store, for any non-Canadians out there) that was slightly cheaper and had a nice brushed finish, we were sold.
Since we were drilling new holes on all of our cabinets, I was seriously stressed about getting the measurements right. Before we did anything, I got Dan to hold up a handle on a cabinet and move it around until I liked exactly where it was placed (yes, this was probably kinda annoying for the hubs since I wanted to get it juuuust right). Then once we had the first one in place, I grabbed the ruler and measured all the dimensions (how far away from the bottom and side of the cabinet). A couple of trials-and-error holes weren’t going to look pretty, so I measured the hardware, measured on the cabinets, marked the spots, held up the hardware to make sure it looked right…
Updating Oak Strip Cabinets with New Hardware
…and then re-measured again, just to be sure…
Below you can see all of my pencil marks on the drawers.
Then my trusty hubby came and drilled where X marked the spot(s).
Then came the best part – installing the hardware. I was seriously giddy at this point.
And here they are all finished. Doesn’t it look so much better? A bit white-washed right now, so we’re trying to figure out if we want to paint the backsplash, but sooo much better than where we started. It wasn’t a super cheap project — since we needed about 20 pulls, we ended up spending around $150 (with taxes and everything). But like I said, these puppies are here to stay (unlike everything else in our kitchen which we dream about replacing).
Now to do something about the hideous floor. Stay tuned!