Knobs or long handles on kitchen doors?

[WellTidy]

I am in the process of deciding on a new shaker style painted kitchen - first time I’ve ever put one in. We are a busy family of four, and spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I cook from scratch every day, so every element gets a lot of use.

I am toying between having knobs or long handles on drawers and cupboard doors. I’ve realised that every kitchen I’ve lived with has long handles, so that’s what I’m used to. They seem so easy to grab and you can open drawers one handed with them. But this is an opportunity to have something different, maybe more ‘luxury’ looking, and choosing exactly what we like.

Interested in hearing how people with knobs find them, and whether they’d actually prefer longer handles. But all views welcome.

Not shaker but we went for plain long handles very easy to use even if my hands are mucky can open with one finger hooked

We just ordered a new shaker style painted kitchen. We are getting small round brushed brass knobs.

In our house the internal door handles and wood burner handle are already brass so trying to theme it in.

The only type of handles I really really didn't want are those cup handles, I imagine them being really grimy inside and you can't see whether they are or not. Also there are some metal long handles with fake leather and stitching around them. They must get so grimy and be hard to clean.

I may be overthinking the knobs

I got these.

What I've gone for is a mix of pragmatism and what looks better - so knobs for doors, and handles for drawers or anything you have to pull. We got antique brass mushroom knobs from Yester Home and I thought the quality was excellent. As for the handles, we went for relatively thin, elegant ones rather than those huge ones you see in the likes of Magnet.

I think shaker kitchens look best with understated accessories, so keep it small and dedicate. I love deVOL kitchens for their look - check out their Instagram and see if you think knobs or handles look better. They do love a good cup too, but they were too fussy/tricky to clean for me.

Yea, I’m practical above everything else, so I’m always thinking of what will be easiest to keep clean! Though I do sometimes wonder if always making the practical choice about absolutely everything means that I can lose sight of the overall look, and will end up paying a lot of money for something really ubiquitous. Nothing wrong with ubiquitous but this is our chance to have something lovely and I don’t want to miss it.

It’s a no to the cup handles because of the grime that I know would collect and for the same reason anything with a cutout (sorry @Chasingsquirrels but I know my limitations!). I wonder whether a door knob and a drawer handle will be the balance.

And a satin/Matt type finish rather than polished, I’d imagine?

I’m making out that we are absolute slobs - we really aren’t!

Although the house is 1910s, we’ve recently replaced all brass door furniture with satin nickel throughout, so I won’t be able to have brass. And I’m unsure about anything matt (v hard water area) or too on trend like copper as we will have to live with the kitchen for a couple of decades!

There's also this kind of handle. Easy to grab and quite unobtrusive.

OP I posted a pic of my shaker kitchen with combination of brass knobs and handles, but withdrew as I'd posted about our mortgage elsewhere and didn't want anyone identifying me. Happy to share some photos via DM if you're interested in what combo looks like!

I like the look of that handle a lot @LizzieMacQueen but to me that is awkward to clean, as you can’t easily clean the very top edge of it. Maybe I’m looking for something boring. I do love that colour combo though, I’m saving the photo!

I would love to see your kitchen please @onelittletwolittle if you’d be willing to send it to me.

I wish it wasn’t taken for granted that all kitchen cupboards have to have the same handles. I think it makes them very boring and slabby , if you like shaker style then you are already preferring a look which is more like furniture than a laboratory.

the last kitchen I did was based on a water theme ( we were beside a river) so it had two designs of wavy handles, and some knobs like little drops of water . The smaller handles were on the narrower cupboards, the drops were mainly on the small drawers. It gave me pleasure every time I used it.

you can get some lovely painted ceramic knobs from specialist shops ( also eBay) which are the same size but different designs. And descending briefly into practicality, once you have drilled a cupboard for long handles, you are condemned to them forever, whereas you can always replace knobs with handles, at least on doors.

We went for knobs on cupboards and pull handles on drawers with our shaker kitchen.
Took us bloody ages to make a decision.

I should have taken a photo with the door open so you can see what it is like. A little wipe is all it needs.

It was our kitchen designer that recommended them. We have knobs on the other side.

I love them @LizzieMacQueen , they look fantastic. And I love your kitchen inside and out. I also have to decide whether I want oak or walnut inside the doors and drawers. Do you like the walnut? We have all white china and I think the darker colour offsets it, but I wonder if it is too dark to find anything that isn’t white inside! Please would you mind sharing the colour of your doors?

We have long handles but asked for some of them to be placed differently to normal
that they look right with the run of cupboards and drawers
so for example they handle is central and horizontal on the cupboard under the sink / not vertical and on one side!
it makes no difference to how the cupboard opens but looks much better.

Here's a photo of my kitchen OP - a mix of knobs and handles against white shaker 😊 I agree with PPs that a mix looks nice!

@WellTidy

The colours are F&B purbeck stone and downpipe.

I love the walnut inserts. We have walnut elsewhere in the kitchen and it brings it all together.

I went for Buster and Punch's pure stainless steel handles, rather than any kind of stainless steel effect or coated handles. They are beautiful.

@kitchen100 that looks very nice indeed, and I like the mix too

thank you for answering @LizzieMacQueen - those colours look great together and I think I will opt for the walnut too, it looks really classy. We have walnut colour amtico laid in various patterns in the rest of the downstairs of the house and I love it

In inherited a kitchen where the handles had stick out bits that kept catching - and ripping- my pockets. so watch out for that.

I love handles that don’t bump my stomaxh. Think they were called D shao but they’re curved.

I've just chosen a shaker kitchen and have the knob dilemma ! I think we're going to have these knobs and cups .

I had armac Martin cup handles and knobs in my last shaker kitchen and didn’t find them a bother for cleaning at all - I’m not a cleaning obsessive either. I certwinly
didnt feel they were dirt traps. They never dated and I loved the kitchen up to it being taken out for building work (the quality of lnobs / cup handles was so good I’m reusing for new utility room). I’m just awaiting arrival of my new shaker kitchen which is purbeck stone (loved seeing yours @LizzieMacQueen!) and stiffkey blue island - I’m having devol Bella brass cup handles and knobs (the colour is perfect) as I think they are such a classic combination in a shaker kitchen / period property. I love cup handles - I like the solid feel of them for drawers and the contrast with knobs.
@LizzieMacQueen - do you like your purbeck stone please? Hoping it’s going to looks soft in a south facing room and change nicely throughout the day.

@LoveLabradors Yes. I love how the colours change throughout the day. But i have dogs so, despite our best efforts, you do see the occasional scratch.

I vowed when we got the kitchen that we'd repaint every 5 years. That's the beauty of shaker. But that fell in covid and we haven't got round to organising it yet. 😁