Old Goats Ridge Notes: 5 Things to Consider when Choosing Cabinetry Hardware

One thing that sets Old Goats Hard Goods apart from the rest is the team’s ability to put cabinetry style, design, use and functionality into everyday context. This was particularly true when Joni gave a recent rundown on choosing the right cabinetry hardware for a home’s kitchen and bathrooms.

There were the obvious points — material, shape, style, feel in your hand — and the less obvious points, like “chicken-y fingers.” Chicken-y fingers? Yep. “When your hands are covered in raw chicken and you don’t want to touch your cabinet handle, easy access for your elbow or foot matters.” So true.

Here are five things to consider when you’re choosing kitchen and bathroom pulls and knobs.

Material — Cabinet hardware comes in a few base materials. Typically, these are bronze, brass, steel and, less commonly, wood or leather. While the metal materials can look similar, there are subtle differences that set them apart. Bronze, for example, can impart a more rustic look, while brass tends to be slightly sleeker in appearance. “We install a lot of both bronze and brass,” said Joni. “We find that bronze fixtures capture the ‘rustic’ look many of our Montana and Idaho clients are trying to achieve. On the flip side, there are a variety of beautiful brass pulls and knobs that can either add a dose of pop, or blend with the cabinetry material and style.”

A cabinet pull in the Old Goats Hard Goods Whitefish, Montana design studio, selected for its ability to seamlessly blend with the walnut shaker.

Finish — Cabinetry hardware finishes vary widely, providing plenty of options to complement, contrast, make a statement, or blend in. It’s worth considering sheen versus matte finishes, patina, or how the finish will age with use and exposure (some will wear to allow more of the base material to show through), and texture.

Bronze cabinet pulls lend a rustic, artisan look.

Shape and Design — If you’re looking for cabinetry hardware, it’s well worth making an appointment to visit to Old Goat’s Whitefish, MT or Sun Valley, ID design studios, where you’re greeted with walls of cabinetry pulls and knobs to try out. “When you think of how many times a day you’re opening a certain drawer, it’s worth spending a few minutes learning which pulls and knobs feel good to you,” said Joni. “Being able to get a good grip on a pull is important. Some styles might look nice, but if you can’t wrap a few fingers around them to properly leverage the hardware, you’ll go nuts, especially in areas of your home that see a lot of use.” Design is also worth considering. Small detailing, such as softened corners or a back plate, can offer plenty of wow factor, while creative trends like cabinet pulls designed to look like twigs or branches can highlight your home’s mountain modern aesthetic.

Round and flat combine to give this cabinet pull style subtle uniqueness.

Knobs versus Pulls — Deciding between pulls and knobs, or going with a combination of the two, is where functionality and style really come together in cabinetry hardware selection. Joni chimed in, “There is the option to stick with a single style throughout the entire home, and that can be really beautiful in a stylistically consistent way. But you can also mix and match pulls and knobs depending on room and use. You can go with pulls in the kitchen, where drawers are being opened and closed all the time, and knobs in the same style and finish in an adjacent powder room, for example. Back in the kitchen, if you want to add some variation in shape, you can install pulls on larger drawers and knobs on smaller cabinets.”

Use and Placement — Which gets us back to chicken-y fingers, or how we actually live with and use our cabinets. CAD software will sometimes default to placing two pulls in a single larger cabinet. “You can do two pulls — it can create a really nice symmetry on a cabinet’s face — but it can also make for an awkward reach to one side of the drawer or the other. Alternatively, a large, long single pull can become quite a statement on your wider drawers.”

Kitchen and bathroom cabinetry hardware can be overwhelming when you go at it alone, but Joni and the friendly team at Old Goats are happy to walk you through the choices — and chime in on style and trends — any time. If you’re in the market for quality cabinet pulls or knobs and are building in the Northwest Montana or Sun Valley Idaho areas, make an appointment to spend some time trying things out. Joni’s last thought on the topic: “This can be a really fun and creative part of the home remodel or build process, and a unique way of making your cabinetry even more of a design statement.”