This kitchen by Black Lacquer Design is making me re-think my choice of black cabinets, but we’ve got that gilding in common, though my choice was more muted. Image Source
I’ve heard it said that cabinet pulls are like jewelry for your kitchen. And I like jewelry. When I started looking at kitchen jewelry, I kept running into gold and brass beauties as I browsed Pinterest. Many people can’t get past their negative associations with the brass and gold of the past to even consider thinking about putting the cuties in their current space. But the new gold or brass feels much more modern (and much less Donald Trump) than what we found in the kitchens and baths of yesteryear. Think 1989, the T-Swift album, not 1989, your middle school picture. There are matte and brushed options, and the lines are considerably cleaner. But if after considering your options, the gilded hardware still gives you the heebie jeebies, you should absolutely not use it. The Universal First rule of Design is to only use what you love. And I was head over heals for those gold/brass tones.
Thankfully, gold handles don’t necessitate gold everything else. Just because you choose gold or brass handles doesn’t mean you have to choose a gold faucet or a gold microwave (do those even exist? If they don’t, they should.) I decided on 2 different lengths of gold square t-bar pulls for my lowers, and tiny cone knobs for my uppers. I love mixes, and a mix of handles not only keeps things interesting, but can help you to save a little money too. If you’ve fallen in love with handles that are a little more than you wanted to pay, you can use them strategically and fill in the rest with a coordinating but less expensive option. Usually, there is some sort of natural delineation in your cabinet configuration that can help you make the decision. Divide by uppers and lowers or drawers and cabinets. Go Wild.
I just *might* have the same faucet/sink combo as Brittany. Image Source
I ordered my handles, and apparently, a lot of other people did too. It would be a long while before I could get my hands on those handles. If you need to order hardware, do so as soon as you know you need it. For some reason, hardware manufacturers like to create demand for their handles by only crafting enough for the people who have fake Pinterest kitchens. The rest of us normal people have to wait forever, and by the time we get them, the Pinterest people have moved on to handle-less cabinets. I spent the first month in our new kitchen with classic, yet modern blue painter’s tape for handles. This makeshift hardware works by attaching the tape to the inside of the drawer so a little folded tail hangs out over the top and acts as a handle. Half of the time, that tail gets stuck inside, and there is no handle. When that happens, you start by grabbing the lip on the bottom of the bottom drawer and pull each drawer out, all the way up until you get to the drawer you want to open. By then, you’ve forgotten what you needed in the first place, and you don’t care if you have handles or not.
Stick around! I’m hoping to be able to reveal my kitchen sometime in the next 2 weeks…unless, of course, I chicken out.
The gold in this kitchen (featured in an Apartment Therapy article on gold) is gorgeous, but I can’t get over that live-edge counter. Image Source
A Nomad at Home 
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