The best hardware color for white cabinets can vary depending on who you ask, which trends are in style, and the color of your countertops and flooring. However, white kitchen cabinets tend to pair best with hardware colors that offer high contrast, including:

• Black
• Brass
• Bronze
• Brown
• Wood
• Rust

Not necessarily—but there’s a caveat. While nothing is stopping you from mixing and matching your kitchen faucet fixture to your cabinet hardware, most kitchens will have matching finishes within the room itself. Doing this makes the room feel more cohesive than it would with these mismatched details.

The answer for the best hardware size depends on whether you have knobs or pulls on your kitchen cabinetry.

For drawer and cabinet pulls, it’s best to find options that are roughly one-third the length or height of the door. 

If you use knobs, most cabinet and drawer knobs are about 1 ¼ inches in diameter. Smaller sizes are available, but we generally discourage people from using larger knob sizes for kitchen cabinetry.

Kitchen hardware can cost anywhere from $2–50 each. In general, knobs tend to be less expensive than drawer pulls, and the material in the hardware will be the greatest determining factor in the price.

In total, depending on the number of drawer pulls and knobs you plan on installing, you could pay up to a few hundred dollars to purchase higher-end hardware for all your kitchen cabinets and drawers.

With as many possible combinations of finishes and styles as there are available, there are several factors to consider when you’re shopping for new kitchen cabinet hardware. Not only should you choose a combination that you like, but you should also make sure it coordinates with other elements in your kitchen, such as the cabinet color, flooring type, and other features.

Knobs vs. Pulls

While there are reasons to include both knobs and pulls in your kitchen, even in combination, it’s also important to know the differences between them and how they’ll impact your project.

As a rule of thumb, pulls are best suited for drawers, while knobs are best for any type of door. However, there are plenty of known exceptions—especially with taller fixtures. Cabinet pulls are great for tall pantries, ceiling-length cabinets, and other situations where reachability improves functionality.

Handle Pulls

Handle pulls (also known as drawer pulls, cabinet pulls, or bar handles) are simple yet functional. The pull has a long rectangular bar that is easy to grip and pull and that attaches to the surface at each end. Handle pulls are offered in the same shapes, styles, and finishes as knobs for coordination. Unlike a cabinet knob, a pull requires two or more screws for securing, so choosing the right size is important. For a door or drawer that does not yet have mounting holes, select a size that feels comfortable but also looks good.

Bow Handles

Bow handles are pull-out handles, but the grip comes in a variety of designs that include a wavelike shape or a porcelain-like finish. They are ideal for traditional-style kitchens, as they offer a vintage-inspired feel.

Cabinet Knobs

Cabinet knobs are preferred by those who like the vintage style. Knobs are circular and fixed at the opening corner of a cabinet door. Cabinet knobs come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. Round, oval, square, rectangular, and other geometric shapes are common. Knobs typically require only one mounting screw to make installation simple. Knobs may not be a good option for drawers due to the limited area to hold.

T-Bar Handles

Similar to bar handles, T-bar handles differ in shape, as they come in a tube shape. T-bar handles are often suited for single-colored, flat cabinet doors, giving the kitchen a smooth look and modern and ultra-modern kitchen styles.

Bin Pulls

Bin pulls (or cup handles) are dome-shaped handles that are easy to grasp from the bottom. Bin pulls can be round, oval, square, or rectangular and offer a vintage look. Like handle pulls, bin pulls typically require two or more screws for mounting.

Edge Profile

Edge profile handles are an excellent choice for a pristine, clean look. Edge profile handles are hollow-channeled bars fixed to the drawer edge. You put your fingers in the hollow space to use it. The design protrudes slightly and makes it appear as if the cabinets don’t have handles. These are a good choice for contemporary and modern cabinets.

Here are just some of the kitchen hardware finishes we offer for your kitchen update project:

Here are some of the styles you can capture with the right kitchen hardware installations.

Contemporary and Modern Kitchens

Modern and contemporary aesthetics in the kitchen both tend to be associated with minimalism, sleek architectural lines, and muted color palettes featuring white, gold, and beige.

However, modern-style kitchen hardware tends to capture a broader period in addition to the minimalist elements, such as 1920s Art Deco geometric and color patterns, or natural wood finishes that were prevalent throughout the 70s and 80s.

Traditional or Classic Kitchen Designs

With a heavy focus on character that maintains a light, airy feel, traditional and classic kitchen designs tend to feature a lot of white, trimmed cabinetry.

With that, the accompanying kitchen hardware frequently features chrome, nickel, or gold finishes to accentuate the depth and openness of the room.

Rustic and Farmhouse-Style Kitchens

Farmhouse and rustic-style kitchen designs tend to rely more heavily on natural wood accents, exposed brick, and visible crossbeams, especially in older homes. To punctuate the aesthetics of this style, cabinets and drawers will typically have wood or solid-colored knobs, especially in light or pastel colors.

European Kitchen Designs

European kitchens feature sleek, clean designs for a modern feel. Where most other kitchen styles have drawer pulls or cupboard handles, European cabinetry typically only has recessed handle grips.

In more modern-influenced European-style kitchens, it’s common to see some cabinets have no visible hardware at all.

Seaside Kitchen Aesthetic

The seaside or coastal kitchen aesthetic is meant to impart the feeling of having a summer beach house on Cape Cod, complete with a color scheme that relies on white and accents of seafoam or ocean blue. If the hardware in these kitchens isn’t borrowing from that palette, it will frequently use a light wood finish to emphasize the beachy feel.

Transitional Kitchens

As the name implies, transitional kitchens tend to marry design elements from both modern and traditional kitchen styles. With a color palette that emphasizes neutral or pastels, transitional kitchen hardware tends to have either a wood or matching colored finish.

Decorative Kitchens

Certain trends within decorative kitchen styles are also starting to emphasize bold pops of color on cabinetry—seeing dark brown or blue cabinets is becoming more commonplace. However, with these bold choices, many kitchen decorators use chrome, nickel, or gold kitchen knobs and drawer pulls to provide contrast.