cabinet knob placement

[Gregg Feldstone]

I have a very basic question about the correct placement of cabinet knobs. These are to go on raised panel rail and style cabinet doors made with 90 deg. corners. Is there a general rule of thumb for knob placement? Should they be over the rails or the styles? I know it's mostly personal preference and ergonomics but I would simply like to know what the standard is? This is a tall bathroom cabinet with two sets of french doors (two top,two bottom). The doors are 12.5"x48" and 12.5"x37". They are very sturdy and have good hinges, so there is no flex noted when pulled at the top or bottom corner. Please advise. Thanks.

[Rick Potter]

I always put mine on the stiles a few inches from the rail, depending on the size door.

Rick Potter

[James Biddle]

What I do now is locate the lower cabinet door knobs on the same centerline on whatever upper drawer fronts I have. Then I make that distance the same on upper cabinets. If it's a pull instead of a knob, I use the drawer front centerline as the outboard pull hole.

[Mark Bolton]

Its completely subjective based on the style, joinery, preference of the owner.

[Mark Bolton]

What I do now is locate the lower cabinet door knobs on the same centerline on whatever upper drawer fronts I have. Then I make that distance the same on upper cabinets. If it's a pull instead of a knob, I use the drawer front centerline as the outboard pull hole.

Are you saying that if you have a 5.5" tall drawer front you would locate your handle/pull on a door below (centered in the stile) but 2.75" down from the top edge of the door? And then on an upper you would locate the handle/pull 2.25" up from the bottom edge?

This seems like it wouldnt work too well in many situations?

We tend to center any pulls handles on the flat portion of the stile if there is a profile on both sides (edge profile and sticking). The vertical alignment is completely dependent on the style, size, visual weight, of the handle or pull.

[Steve Keathley]

There isn't really a standard. It's preference. I just had to do this on new cabinets in the kitchen. 2 1/2" wide rails and stiles. I positioned the knobs centered on the stiles and 3" from the bottom/top of the cabinet door. I used a handy jig to insure they were all positioned the same and to speed the job along.
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[Gregg Feldstone]

Steve, your jig simply fits over the corner of each door, correct?

[James Biddle]

Are you saying that if you have a 5.5" tall drawer front you would locate your handle/pull on a door below (centered in the stile) but 2.25" down from the top edge of the door? And then on an upper you would locate the handle/pull 2.25" up from the bottom edge?

This seems like it wouldnt work too well in many situations?

We tend to center any pulls handles on the flat portion of the stile if there is a profile on both sides (edge profile and sticking). The vertical alignment is completely dependent on the style, size, visual weight, of the handle or pull.

Yes, the knob or pull gets centered on the stile in all cases and a pull is mounted vertically on a door. I'm only talking about the vertical positioning of the knob or pull. There I use the centerline of the upper drawer front to set the vertical positioning. (In most cases, that puts the pull/knob directly opposite a hinge.) That creates a nice sight line around the kitchen by having the lower door knobs aligned with the drawer knobs and the upper doors symmetrical to the lower. I probably didn't describe it very well, but I haven't had or can imagine a situation where it doesn't work.

[Steve Keathley]

Steve, your jig simply fits over the corner of each door, correct?

That is correct. We just played with the positioning of the knobs using double sided tape until my wife was satisfied with the look . Then I took the measurements and transferred them to the jig.

[Mark Bolton]

Yes, the knob or pull gets centered on the stile in all cases and a pull is mounted vertically on a door. I'm only talking about the vertical positioning of the knob or pull. There I use the centerline of the upper drawer front to set the vertical positioning. (In most cases, that puts the pull/knob directly opposite a hinge.) That creates a nice sight line around the kitchen by having the lower door knobs aligned with the drawer knobs and the upper doors symmetrical to the lower. I probably didn't describe it very well, but I haven't had or can imagine a situation where it doesn't work.

Thanks James,
Interesting, and thanks for the explanation. I think we are generally close to your rule I guess initially it sounded a touch low to me.