I spent the weekend in Norfolk, VA with my two wonderful sisters (Alana and Caitlin) and Alana’s boyfriend, Eddie. We had fun kicking some DIY butt! Who knew you could have so much fun installing cabinet knobs!
Most of the projects were centered around Alana’s kitchen. The kitchen was remodeled a few years ago, but it was never really finished. Our mission this weekend was try to complete some of those unfinished projects.
One of the tasks we accomplished was installing cabinet knobs on the kitchen cabinets. Another was touching up paint on the walls (but that is another post for another day.)
Caitlin made a template out of cardboard that made it a snap to install the knobs.
First she measured the corner square on the cabinets. It was 1.5″ square.
Then she made a hole in a piece of cardboard 3/4″ from two edges of the template. So, this way we knew our hole would be centered in the square every time! And she marked the outside corner with a little arrow.
Making sure the arrow was pointed at the outside corner, I lined up the template at the corner of the cabinet. (We used the edge of the raised panel, instead of the actual corner of the cabinet.)
Then, I used my drill to make a mark where the hole would go.
After that, I removed the template and slipped a piece of scrap wood behind where the hole was being drilled.
Then I drilled into the cabinet until I felt it enter the scrap wood.
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| Can you name my facial expression? a) I just got a whiff of old yeasty bread. b) I’m really concentration on my drilling. c) I’m trying not to laugh at my sister taking my picture. |
Then Caitlin threaded the bolt through and screwed on the knobs. Perfectly beautiful and those of us with fat fingers and short fingernails can get into the cupboards now. Who knew you could have so much fun installing cabinet knobs!
For your viewing pleasure, I thought you might get a laugh out of one of the outtakes of our Charlie’s Angels inspired picture. We were doing our best at making a sexy face. Caitlin said “sexy facial expressions” must not run in the family. Not sure what’s with that fish face I’m sporting. So much for my sexy look.
I like it, but keep in mind readers that if the corner is mitered (like mine are) this placement will not work as it will be too close to the cut of the miter. I like cabinets with a butt joint so you can place them like you did. My builder chose my cabinets, so no choice.
If your cabinets were glued at the joints, you should be fine to put your knobs in the joint. But, you can also position them wherever you like. By the way, I recently used this new cabinet hardware jig and love it better than the cardboard template: https://www.prettyhandygirl.com/install-cabinet-handles-easy-way/
thank you for validating my knob placement! I just put knobs on our newly painted cabinets and my wife says…”why are they low?”
I told her that we own the cabinets and can put the knobs anywhere we want. Apparently “normal” people put the knob 2.5 inches from the bottom and line it up with the molding line on the cabinet face – but I put mine on just like you did, in the corner.
Thank you for confirming that knob placement is subjective! 🙂
Jeff in Indiana