Even if you regularly keep up with home decor trends, you may find yourself looking at your perfectly fine room and think, “This needs a little sprucing up…” You can update your kitchen and bath cabinets with ease in one small step-updating drawer knobs. It’s like adding a new piece of jewelry to a mainstay in your wardrobe-it can bring a little jazz or it can compliment the design that is already there.
Stop in at your home improvement store or browse the Internet and you may be overwhelmed. It might be best to get an idea of what look you’d like to get with your new cabinet hardware. One way to whittle it down is to consider the materials used for the knobs.
Ceramic is a popular choice-it’s an artist’s medium, so your choice can give you tiny works of art to add to your home. If you want a clean-lined, geometric look for your drawer knobs, you can find simple mushroom-style drawer knobs, or you can choose tiny spheres that look like gumballs. But if you want a colorful, festive choice that pops, ceramic knobs give you plenty to choose from. What about knobs with bright glazes, elaborate painted bands, delicate florals, or an elegant black geometric with silver etching? If they are hand-finished, you might find that each one is a little bit different. But if you’re looking for artwork, that individuality works in your favor. Because ceramics lend themselves to different shapes, you’ve got plenty of choices if you’re looking for something whimsical–a tiny ear, nose, or lips for a little sass in the master bathroom, little pumpkins and baseballs for the kids’ bathroom, and pretty pink “jewel”- encrusted versions for the dresser in your little princess’ bedroom.
If you’re going for retro-elegance, glass is a wonderful choice. Antique reproduction drawer pulls showed up in abundance with when shabby chic decor took off a decade ago. If you want to paint a tired dresser white and add a set of green glass hexagon drawer knobs, you’ll have a homemade bureau worthy of an antique shop. Add a pair of fluted glass drawer knobs to a built-in cabinet, and it can look as good as the day the cabinetmaker finished it. Pressed glass knobs are molded into shapes, so you can find pretty pink drawer pulls that looks like a rose to use to spruce up your mother’s bathroom cabinets.
Glass knobs of all sizes and shapes can also be found in contemporary styles like iridescent diachronic art glass and fused glass in rich, clear colors. Add some of these to a set of simple kitchen cabinets, and you make a design statement that is all about your attention to detail.
Metal is the most common material used for drawer knobs, and has been the go-to choice for traditional designs. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for common hardware. While a wrought iron pull in the classic mushroom shape will never go out of style, you can find a contemporary designs like an open-weave birdcage, a coil, or a spiral in this traditional finish. If you would like to show a little tongue-in-cheek humor, you can choose a fun design like a vintage taxi, a cowboy boot, or a tiny margarita glass to reveal something you fancy without creating an entire themed room. Metal mixes well with other materials, so it’s easy to find metal drawer knobs with inlays in wood, leather, and stone.
Pick some new drawer knobs, and you can find that tiny details can make a big statement about your style.