Where to Place Knobs on a Cabinet

Once you decree to change out cabinet hardware you might find the style you pick won't look that great if you try and replace the knobs in the same spots that the old ones were in. Well what to do? You unquestionably don't want to go back to the same boring old hardware. Instead you need a good insight of your options for where to place knobs on a cabinet.

The most unavoidable place to put a knob will be on a side opposite a hinge. The leverage allows you to open the door with almost no effort. This is great for those that might have a disability limiting their grip strength. The only exception to this rule is if you have roll out bottom cabinets, you know, the giant drawer types. Those you'll want to setup the knobs centered on the cabinet to keep it from binding up on either side.

Door Bottom

Well that gives you a rough idea of where to put the knobs but you probably need something a slight bit more exact. Unfortunately there's no magic recipe for where to place knobs on a cabinet. It's all going to come down to how the cabinets are designed and the size and shape of them and your kitchen.

There's a trick you can use to frame out where to place the knobs without just randomly drilling a bunch of holes into the cabinet face and hoping for the best. Head out to the hardware store and pick up a small tub of plumber's putty. Plumbers putty is a non-hardening compound that's slightly tacky. You can pull off slight dollops of it then use it to just stick the knobs to the cabinet.

Here's what you'll do.

Open up the tub of Plumber's putty.

Pinch off a piece of putty about the size of the tip of your thumb.

Roll it into a ball.

Take the cabinet hardware and press the putty onto the back of it. Now you can just stick the knob onto the cabinet face wherever you think it will look right. Repeat this for a integrate of the doors so you can get an allinclusive feel for how the knobs will look sitting in a row. You can reposition the knobs just by popping them off the cabinet face and sticking them back on in a new spot.

Once you've figured out the right look for the cabinet you'll need to portion the knob offsets from the bottom and side edge of the cabinets. You can then use those measurements as a template for knob placement. Mark the offsets on each of the cabinets and duplicate check to make sure they aren't slanting up or down.

The last thing to do is attach the hardware. Just drill the holes in the cabinet and slide a bolt straight through the hole and tighten the knobs down onto it. It's all a pretty straightforward job. Where to place knobs on a cabinet is a fully personal choice. You'll know what looks right once you get the knobs in position.

Where to Place Knobs on a Cabinet

photo scanner with feeder 2 door refrigerator freezer