We regularly receive homeowner questions from TaylorCraft Cabinet Door Company’s Houzz page asking where to place knobs and pulls on cabinet doors. Providing homeowners with a visual of cabinet door hardware placement can position your cabinet shop as a source of knowledge and help prevent misunderstandings. Communicating hardware placement standards to customers can also boost satisfaction and future recommendations, and reduce frustration internally.

TaylorCraft Cabinet Door Company’s Cabinet Door Hardware Placement pdf below shows common cabinet doors and drawer fronts and where to place knobs or pulls. Feel free to use this document internally and with your clients.

Hardware Placement on Cabinet Doors

Both knobs and pulls are almost always centered horizontally on the door stile (the frame piece that runs vertically). Some companies place knobs a little higher or lower on the stile than others, with the range typically between 2″ and 4″ from the bottom or top edge of the door. Some center hardware vertically on the stile rather than place it towards the top or bottom of the door.

Where to Place Knobs on Cabinet Doors

For knobs, we recommend the knob holes be centered horizontally on the door stile and on upper cabinets, place knob holes 2-1/2” up from the bottom of the door. On lower cabinets place knob holes 2-1/2” down from the top of the door.

Where to Place Pulls on Cabinet Doors

For pulls (having two screws) on upper cabinets, the pull should be centered horizontally on the door stile and the bottom hole should be placed 2-1/2” up from the bottom of the door. For lower cabinets the upper hole should be placed vertically, 2-1/2” down from the top of the door.

On tall lower cabinets, with a center rail, such as pantry/broom closets, knobs and pulls should be centered horizontally on the door stile and vertically on the middle of the center rail.

On tall upper cabinets with a center rail such as tall linen cabinets or pantry cabinets, knobs and pulls should be centered horizontally on the stile and 2-1/2” up from the bottom of the cabinet door.

For cabinet door profiles that have a lot of detail and not much flat area, we recommend selecting a knob or pull with a narrow footprint and placing it on the most flat portion of the frame profile, in the center of the curve. Below are several knobs and pulls with a narrow footprint that would work well on a curved, or detailed frame profile with a small flat area on the cabinet door frame profile.

Where to Place Hardware on Drawer Fronts

Knob and pull holes should be centered horizontally and vertically in the middle of the 5-piece or slab drawer front. Some people like to install 2 knobs or pulls on very wide drawer fronts that will be filled with heavy items. However, people tend to use only one of the pulls/knobs when opening the drawer, so using only one and centering it is typically recommended. Do not install hardware on false drawer fronts in front of sinks or cooktops unless the desired effect is frustration, confusion or humor : )

We’d love to hear your feedback on what has worked and what hasn’t and what your set of standards is for cabinet door hardware placement.