Can You Handle That?

It's finally done!

For Christmas this year, I asked my friends and family for gift cards so I could purchase new cabinet handles for my entire kitchen. It's crazy how fast the cost can add up when you have 8 drawers and 28 cabinet doors. But happily all those gift cards had it covered and then some!

And they look fabulous.

Here's the kitchen before I got in there.

The old handles were relatively new and in good condition, but the style just wasn't me. It was too ornate, and the darker "antiqued" metal didn't go with any of the other metal finishes in the room. I think I might try to sell them on eBay or Craigslist though. So that may help me recoup some of the cost as well.

My first step was removing the drawer cabinet faces so I could get access to the handles. After wanting to replace these for years, boy was this a happy sight.

Here's the new handle on the left and the old one on the right. They fit the same holes (3" center-to-center) but the new ones are a bit longer looking. They're in a gorgeous brushed nickel finish, which goes with the sink and faucets, the lights, and the paper towel holder.

Here's the old handles on the built-in cabinets near the basement door. Super old ladyish.

And here's the new, more modern handles freshening things up a bit.

The kitchen looks like a lot fresher and more modern with these new handles and pulls, right?

I can't say I don't still want to paint those cabinets white, (or the uppers white and the lowers grey) but I feel like since they are in such good condition I should probably just leave them alone.

Wouldn't that Rockport Grey color on my freestanding cabinet look gorgeous on the lower cabinets? It definitely makes the handles pop on the cabinet.

Oreo likes things the way they are though.

Few more close-ups of the new handles.

I love the mix of two different styles of handles that go well together but keep things interesting. You know me. Never one for being too matchy matchy.

So that's my little kitchen refresh. I ended up cleaning all the cabinets as I changed out the handles, so this project ate up the better part of three days. (I'll be back with some pictures of my newly reorganized cabinets soon). But if you were just swapping out the handles you could get 'er done in under two hours.