The hunt for the perfect chrome cabinet pull

In one of my earlier posts, I detailed our current (ugly) cabinet hardware, and how disappointed I was to find out it was original to the house. It would have been easier to discard that cabinet hardware if it had been an 80s addition or the like.

Let's just say I got over my anxiety of switching out the original hardware. I thought it was ugly before, and it's still ugly, even if it's original. I envision chrome cabinet pulls for my kitchen, so I need to stick with what feels right. Stick with what's right! Do what you want! Listen to your gut! I sound like a syrupy sweet 70's style self-esteem film strip. (Anyone remember "Free to Be You and Me?")

(I just realized that it's been eons since I've said the words "film strip." It sounds strange rolling off the tongue these days.)

The quest for the perfect chrome cabinet hardware wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. With all the retro and reproduction sites out there, I thought there had to be someone who specialized in this stuff. And there are sites like that -- if you count the sites that categorize their selection by finish so that you can browse through the 1500 chrome handles that they carry. It's a little overwhelming.

There were a couple of looks that I was going for. I thought it would be cool to have the "chevron" handles -- the v-shaped ones that frequently appeared on dressers. Let me tell you right now that it's nearly impossible to find those. I got really excited when I found a site that carried them ... only to click on the link and be told that their site is down for maintenance. (And has been for days ... must be a big job.) I knew the search was becoming fruitless when images like these started popping up in the search results:


My search terms: "chevron cabinet pull."

How this came up, I have no idea.


So ... second vision for cabinet hardware: a chrome arched cabinet pull that has etched lines in it -- kind of what you'd normally find on the steel cabinets. These ones are relatively inexpensive, and have a nice retro look to them.

Another option would be a classic chrome arch with tapered ends. There are many of this style to choose from, but for me, price was the main concern. I'll have to switch out cabinet pulls and hinges, on everything, so the cost will escalate quickly if I'm not careful. I would recommend starting here at the myknobs.com website. This is the only website I've found so far that has all their finishes broken down into very specific categories. Other sites I've found have subcategories such as "light finishes" or no subcategories at all. When you know the finish you are looking for, why waste time wading through anything else? The search is agonizing enough as it is.

A question of cabinet hardware ...

The cabinet hardware we currently have has always struck me as ugly. It almost looked like something that came from a 70s or 80s obsession with everything cowboy.

I tried to imagine how they would look once the kitchen was redone, for we will be having kind of a black and white theme going on, and these cabinets (original to the house) will be painted white. Sure, I'd love to get new cabinets. But, ah, there's a little bit of a price issue there.

So the other day I was browsing through my new bible -- a 1957 Sears catalog that I snagged off eBay, and lo and behold, I find this:

















Turns out that the ugly arrows are original to the house. Argh! How I wanted to get rid of them and replace them with chrome, but now I'm rethinking it. (Just for the record, we do NOT have the hinges with the straps. Thank god for that; it would be entirely too much.) No surprise, these are "Early American" style -- back when people weren't sure whether to decorate with a modern flair or cling to the days of yore, so they tended to do a little bit of both.