Talking Kitchens, Bathrooms & Renovations: What Are The Best Types Of Handles?
When you’re answering a question like “What’s the best sort of handle for my cabinets?”, given there are literally so many handles out there that come in many different types, shapes, colours – it’s not an easy question to answer.
However, the fundamental question probably should be “What’s the best way to open a cabinet?”. And the best way to open a cabinet, in my opinion, is with a handle but that’s probably cause I’m an old guy.
Handleless Drawers
When it comes to kitchen renovations, there is a huge movement today across the world towards handleless designs of one sort or another.
The other method we could use when we don’t want to have a handle is what’s called a J-grip. With this type of handle, the face of the drawer itself is machined up towards the top so it’s clean. You don’t actually see anything and it’s easy to put your fingers up into it and open it up.
That’s known as a J-grip and that, together with the finger box, and the touch to open or the push to open types, are the three main ways we access a cabinet when it doesn’t actually have a handle.
With all of these modern drawers, there’s something that you might have noticed too. As they have a soft closing, there is a little bit of a compression on the runner which makes it a bit hard to open for the first, say, 50-60 mm.
So it can be a little bit hard at the start when you first pull it open, but then it releases and opens smoothly and easily. This is done so that the cabinet or drawer can’t be accidentally opened. All modern runners have this function.
Are Handles Better?
There is also an argument to be made for why you should use handles, because after all, there are zillions of handles on the market and they’ve been around forever. However, there are a couple of good reasons why we should consider handles as well as no handles.
Particularly where an older person is concerned, they might have an arthritic hand or arm. With a handle, your arm and your shoulder do the work when you grasp the handle. So for an older person that’s often a big help.
If they are arthritic, or there’s not a lot of strength in their fingers, handleless drawers or cabinets don’t help them. When an older person grabs the handle, and their fingers are doing all of the work, it’s not their arm it’s their fingers doing all the work.
A lot of older people, typically elderly ladies, have difficulty opening up a door like that. That’s where a handle, in fact, can be more practical or more useful for a person than one of these handleless designs.
We hope that these tips and ideas have given you some inspiration when it comes to designing and planning your dream kitchen.
Let’s Talk Kitchens & Interiors have been designing and building bespoke bathrooms in Melbourne and greater Victoria since 1972. Over those 48 years, we’ve made every mistake known to man, so why not take advantage of our hard-won, learning experiences and call us today!
If you would like further help designing your luxury bathroom call Let’s Talk Kitchens & Interiors today on (03) 9068 5496 to speak with one of our qualified Interior Designers or book a consultation.
