Kitchen Redo, Step Five: Hardware

Following Step Four: Polyurethane...

It could have been easier than it was (that sounds familiar).  But anyway, first things first, choosing that hardware.  I recommend browsing some websites (Pulls Direct is where I ended up buying) to find the hardware you want, then Googling it to find the best price. I went with the Hickory Hardware Craftsman line, their round knobs and cup pulls, in highlighted oil-rubbed bronze.

Maybe you know some other great place around town to go, but don't limit yourself to the selection at Home Depot or Lowe's.  Embrace the wonderful world of online shopping!  Anyway, I first had the brilliant idea that I would just spray paint the old hinges with Krylon in oil-rubbed bronze so I wouldn't have to buy new ones.  Yeah, as soon as I took them off and cleaned them, I realized that wasn't going to work!  So I bought these hinges, also from Pulls Direct.  Can't beat the price on those babies.  Oh, and make sure you count and double count and triple count how many you need of each!  Trust me!  (On the bright side, Pulls Direct has very reasonable shipping...)
Now, installing that hardware.  Here are my hard-won tips:
- Make templates out of cardstock or posterboard, and tape them onto your doors and drawer fronts with painter's tape, so you know where to drill each time.  (Make sure you measure and remeasure when making these.)

- Choose a drill bit just a little bigger than the diameter of your screw.  Not so big that the hole would be bigger than the round part of the pull that attaches to the drawer (not a concern with a lot of cup pulls), but enough so if your measurements are slightly off, it will still work.
-  You know the saying "Measure twice, cut once"....?  Well, I would recommend measuring three times, then drilling!  :)
- I held my cabinet doors down with one arm on my counter top, and making sure it was hanging off the edge, then drilled the hole all the way through with the other hand.
- Put the hinges on the doors next.  The holes on my hinges lined up perfectly to screw them back onto the cabinet bases, but not to screw them into the doors.  So I had to drill new holes.  I put the hinge in place, then used a pen to trace each circle and drilled the holes.  If you have to do this too, use a drill bit that is smaller than your screw, and position it in the drill so it does not stick out further than the length of the screw.

This will help prevent you from drilling all the way through your cabinet door and putting a hole in your laminate counter tops (saving our pennies to replace those with granite, especially now there is a wee little hole in them!).

- Then put the screws through the holes and start twisting on knobs.  I did it most of the way by hand, then used the drill with a screwdriver bit to tighten the rest of the way.
- You'll need two people to get the cabinet doors back on.  One to hold them in place, and one to put in the screws.  We usually got the screws started with the screwdriver and finished off with the drill.  BUT BE CAREFUL.  Go slowly, or it is very possible the force of the drill could break the head of the screw off, leaving the body of the screw embedded in your cabinet base.  Which you will then try to get out by drilling more holes all around it and repeatedly yanking and twisting (and trying not to think in profanities).  If this does happen, take a deep breath, then fill up that gaping hole with wood filler and move on until it is dry the next day.  In all likelihood, the hinge will cover it up anyway, and as long as the other screws are secure, it won't matter that one of them is only anchored in wood filler.  Trust me.  (If you're really worried, do it by hand with a screwdriver.)
- On the drawer fronts, the screws must sink down into the drawer front so that nothing protrudes.  The back of the drawer front must be flush against the drawer to reattach.  This means after you drill the hole for the screw, go back with a larger drill bit, about the same size as the screw head, and drill right over the screw hole (MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS ON THE BACK!!!!!), down about an eighth or a quarter of an inch. (Or you could use a countersink drill bit, but since it was on the back of the drawer front where it wouldn't show, and I didn't want to buy one, I didn't.)

- Getting these on is much trickier than the knobs.  Put the screws through, and try to get both holes in the pull lined up with the screws, then start turning the screws to get them going.  Then use a screwdriver, and tighten with the drill.  If this doesn't work, you may need to drill a little to the left, right, or just an all around bigger hole (this is why I told you to use a drill bit that is larger than the screw..that will hopefully take care of this problem before it even happens).
- Then attach the drawer fronts to the drawers, using the same screws they had before.

And you're done with the hardware!
Now just a recap of our shopping list for this step:

Pulls (make sure you count and recount!)

Knobs (ditto)

Hinges (if your old hinges don't match your new hardware)

Drill (consider renting if you don't own, can't borrow or don't want to buy)

Drill bits

Screwdriver bit

Screwdriver

Cardstock (to make template for drilling holes)

Next up, Step Six: Decorative Molding...