Change Your Cabinet Knobs, Change Your Life
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Changing yourdoorknobscan be hard; changing cabinet knobs is easy and makes a big aesthetic difference. They’re “the hardest-working guy in show business,” saysLikeMindedObjects designerElise McMahon. They’re a standard size and, in most cases, don’t require anything more specialized than a screwdriver to install. (The exception: If you’re moving a knob’s location or changing a knob to a handle, you’ll need to drill.)
Monica Khemsurov, the co-founder of Sight Unseen and the founder of hardware storePetra, has a few tips. Steer clear of knobs you have to pinch to open: “You want to be able to get your hands around it or under it,” she says. She also recommends unlacquered materials, since knobs are constantly being touched by oily fingers. On high-touch surfaces, lacquers and coatings will “eventually wear off and you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen when the coating is gone,” she says, but a “living finish” allows metal and wood to age naturally. To find the best knobs for your drawers and doors, I put together recommendations from 11 experts, including designers and home DIYers.
Brass
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Sarah Leon and Teddy Wolff, whocompleted a DIY renovationof theirhome in Brooklyn, bought over a dozen of these inexpensive knobs from Amerock, which they originally found as a dupe for asimilar DeVol knobthat was backordered. (“I’m sure the DeVol ones are nice too, but they look the same to me,” Leon says.) They’re durable, weighty, and cheap enough to buy in multiples.
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Old-home expertRobert Khederianlikes these vintage-inspired knobs from House of Antique Hardware. The Amerock knobs above are made of zinc with a brass finish, and these are solid brass. “At just under $11 each, the price is hard to beat,” he says.
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Rejuvenation Massey Drawer Pull
Both Khederian and Strategist senior editor Crystal Martin recommend Rejuvenation’s knobs — specifically their unlacquered brass. “The factory-new finish will yield to a wonderful patina that develops over time,” Khederian says. Martin agrees: When her knobs first arrived, they were “yellowish and very shiny,” she says, and they took about a year to develop a rich patina (pictured below).
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“When I need a cheap drawer pull that looks sexy, I go into lighting-supply places,” says McMahon, where it’s easy to find a “$1 sphere that can bolt right onto your cabinet.” (You’ll have to supply your ownscrews; look for hardware that can accept an 8/32 machine screw.) She recommends Canal Lighting & Parts in New York City or the online retailerGrand Brass.
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Order Studio recommends this high-character cabinet pull from Petra; you can choose between an all-brass look or a contrasting black backplate.
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A beautiful wavy brass handle by homewares designer Matilda Goad.
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Block Shop Block Knob
Another knob from Petra, this one cast in brass from a hand-shaped clay mold.
Other metals
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In our guide to thebest doorknobs, designerAna Claudia Schultzrecommended buying vintage knobs from the same era as your house, a strategy I fully endorse.Here’s a searchon the encyclopedic vintage house-parts store Olde Good Things filtered for knobs with multiples available. I especially like these chrome-plated ones, which feel sleek, modernist, and a little wacky.
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Order studio also recommends these concave stainless-steel knobs, which come in three sizes and are perfectly proportioned for a hand to grip.
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“I’ve gotten a bunch of furniture secondhand that I will then buy replacement knobs for on Etsy,” sayswriter and designer Talia Mayden. She’s a fan of iron for its texture and weight — “I’m usually trying to find the heaviest knob possible” — and recommends matching your hardware to your materials: warmer woods with warmer metals (gold, copper, or brass), and cooler-toned pieces with cooler metals like nickel, chrome, or pewter.
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“Frank Traynor is an incredible, wild person and has done a very wide range of artist practice,” says McMahon. She loves these soldered and gem- and stone-encrusted square pulls, part of his Perfect Nothing Catalog project. (Morehere.)
Other materials
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When I moved into a new apartment last year, our first DIY was swapping out the Ikea kitchen-cabinet knobs for ceramic ones with an irregular speckled pattern that reminds me of vanilla bean. I found mine on eBay, and these knobs from Westwoods Cabinet Hardware are similar.
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Homan Rajai ofStudio AHEADalways recommends switching out cabinet hardware in a rental kitchen. “If you can afford a splash of paint, there is nothing like painting the cabinets an ethereal light blue. It’s beautiful with rounded walnut hardware where the grain shows through.” He recommends looking on Etsy: “The platform champions independent creators and small businesses. The price points are great, and the work is high quality.”
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Per McMahon,Lil’ Deb’s Oasisco-founder Hannah Black is also sourcing her knobs from Etsy. “Black always knows how to dress up her kitchen in a DIY way,” McMahon says. “She’s used these resin-poured very simple, very colorful handles.”
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Vintage Cast Iron Cabinet Knobs
One more Etsy rec: In my search for a swap for an out-of-stock speckled knob, I came acrossApple Picker Vintage, which has an impressive collection of vintage farmhouse-y porcelain knobs. (Look for the tag “NOS,” which stands for “new old stock” — a vintage product that was never sold and often comes in original packaging.)
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Writer Erin Boyle bought several of these Shaker-style knobs for a cabinet-repainting project. “I’m hoping they’ll do some heavy lifting to turn my builder-grade cabinets into something that reads more classic and understated and less ‘whatever was available to the landlord at Home Depot.’”
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Melanie Masarin, founder of Ghia, firsttold us aboutthese nylon drawer pulls from German hardware company Hafele’s Hewi line. They come in a million colors and shapes, like a littlecylindrical finger gripand arecessed oval pullif you’ve got the means to cut a mortise.
Some tools to install your knobs
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The Strategistis designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read abouthere. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
