How to install cabinet hardware

Cabinet hardware provides functionality and style, but its presence is often overlooked or taken for granted. That is, of course, until you move into a house with kitchen cabinets that are void of this practical feature. If this happens to you, fear not; adding pulls or handles to your doors and drawers is a simple project that won’t break the bank. I completed this task on 20 cabinets in about 2 hours. Below, I share how to install cabinet hardware.

Positioning and aligning each pull or knob consistently and accurately is of great importance. To do this, you could spend time in your shop making a fancy wood jig, or you could purchase an alignment template at your local hardware store. My advice is to choose the latter, especially when you can buy one as inexpensive and accurate as the ALIGNright from Liberty.

I found this handy template in the cabinet hardware section at Home Depot for only $8.48. The package includes an alignment template for cabinet doors and drawers and a 3/16 in drill bit. Plus, it is versatile for knobs and handles ranging from 2.5 to 5-1/16 inches. My pulls were 3 inch.  

Here is an image from the Home Depot website showing the two templates.

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Below are the ALIGNright templates that I purchased in the package and out of the package. Upon inspection, the plastic is transparent to aid marking, and the fences are wide enough to sit steady against the cabinet surface.

After familiarizing myself with the template markings, it was time to mark the cabinets. Here is the corner of one of the cherry cabinets that needed a pull.

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On the cabinet door template, I marked the holes matching the 3-inch pull with arrows. This helped me mark each door more quickly and consistently.

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Next, I firmly positioned the template against the corner of the door using both fences. Then, I marked the holes. I used a black sharpie pen to fill the hole, making the mark easily visible.

The marks were 1/16” – the size of the template hole.

I used a 1/16” drill bit to make a starter hole, only drilling about ¼” into the door. I wanted just enough depth to provide a centering hole for the 3/16” drill bit used to make the final hole for the hardware bolts.  

After drilling the 3/16” holes, push the hardware bolt through from the back and screw on the pull.

Handle secured!

The same process applies for a knob: set the template, mark your hole, pre-drill, drill, insert and screw.

For drawers, the process is the same, except you’ll use the drawer aligning template. This template has a fence wide enough to rest on the drawer unaided. The template also has a center hole, which is used for marking knobs but also functions as a centering point for pull positioning. I used this hole to center on the middle of the drawer, then marked the 3-inch holes.

​After positioning and marking, pre-drill, drill, and place your pulls.

There you go, it was that easy. Now you can have consistently, accurately placed cabinet hardware that makes your cabinets more functional and stylish!