Revamp an IKEA Bestå with Designer Handles

Flat-pack furniture has democratized a lot of things: a living room assembled in one evening, a furniture budget cut by three, a modular system you recompose with every move. It has also, almost by design, standardized fronts. The Bestå is the clearest example: an anonymous cabinet, made to receive any door, often shipped bare or with a stopgap handle you barely notice. It’s precisely that blank slate that leaves room for a personal touch. On a generic piece of furniture, the handle is the one part that doesn’t come from the same mold as your neighbor’s.

The Bestå, a front waiting for its gesture

The Bestå was never meant to be a finished piece of furniture. It’s a system: a cabinet, a choice of fronts, a free combination of drawers and doors. Many owners keep it as is, with its original hardware, discreet and functional. Others see it as a canvas. Repainting the fronts, swapping a wood tone for lacquer, or simply replacing the original handle: these are the three classic levers for taking a Bestå out of anonymity, and the last one is by far the fastest to carry out. It touches neither the cabinet, nor the finish, nor the budget of a carpentry project. Two or four screws, and the front is transformed.

Our Essential collection lends itself particularly well to this. It brings together architectural silhouettes, square frame, cylindrical column, elongated bar, curved case, with no applied pattern: it’s the line and the material that carry the object, never a narrative ornament. A principle that speaks directly to the spirit of flat-pack furniture: a clean form you adapt, rather than a piece that imposes its own story.

Center-to-center, before everything else

Before color or silhouette, only one measurement really matters: the center-to-center, the distance between the two mounting screws. If your Bestå already has a handle to remove, that’s the number to take from the existing holes, never the length of the piece itself. If it’s a bare front, you’re free to choose: you drill directly at the center-to-center of the handle you’ve picked. At IKEA, the most common spacings run around 96 and 128 mm on standard doors and drawers, climbing to 160 mm on large low cabinets. Our two-point silhouettes, Palazzo Bar as well as Florentine Column, come in sizes from S to XL, from 96 to 192 mm, which covers nearly every Bestå format without needing to reopen old holes.

Knob or bar: what changes on a Besta

Nothing forces you to pick a single fixing type for the whole piece. One anchor point is enough for a knob: mounted on a tall door or a small drawer, it stays compact and never overloads the front. As soon as a drawer gains depth or a door widens, the logic shifts: two anchor points give the hand something to press against firmly, with no hesitation in the everyday gesture. Many Besta compositions mix both, knobs on the upper glass doors, bars on the lower drawers, a principle inherited from kitchens but just as relevant on a bookshelf or a low living room cabinet. The Palazzo Square, available from XS to L as a knob, covers this range without ever overstating itself.

Which finish for which version of Besta

Besta comes in several front registers, from lacquered white to blackish brown by way of wood veneers, and each calls for a different material. On a dark or black front, a light metal cuts a clean line: Satin Aluminum diffuses a soft light, with no harsh glare, and pairs just as well with matte black as with gray. On a wood veneer, smoked oak or walnut, bronze finds its natural place again: our Antique Bronze, hand-patinated, or the Matte Bronze, more contemporary and without shine, extend the warmth of the wood rather than contradicting it.

On a white or light front, the field opens up: metal remains a safe choice, but a bold shade like Electric Blue also works, as a single accent rather than repeated across the whole piece. This family of colors lives in bioresin, a light, pearly material designed for living spaces and dry furniture: a living room or bedroom suits it, a kitchen or bathroom does not. For the same colored intent but heavier use, patinated metal remains the more durable option.

Three silhouettes to help you find your way, all in Essential:

The key points to keep in mind before ordering

• Measure the center-to-center distance on your existing drill holes, or choose freely on a blank front.
• The most common IKEA spacings run around 96 and 128 mm, up to 160 mm on larger cabinets; our bars and columns cover S (96 mm) through XL (192 mm).
• A knob (one attachment point) for tall doors and small drawers, a bar (two points) for deep drawers.
• Metal, aluminum, bronze, or copper, on all fronts; bioresin reserved for dry rooms only.
• Made to order, allow 5 to 10 business days to receive your order.

Frequently asked questions

What center-to-center should you choose for a Bestå?

If a handle is already in place, measure the gap between the two screws, from axis to axis. On a new front, you’re free to choose: the most common spacings on IKEA drawers and standard doors sit around 96 and 128 mm, and close to 160 mm on larger cabinets. Our two-point silhouettes cover these sizes from S to XL.

Can a metal handle be mounted directly on a Bestå?

Yes. Our handles attach with through screws, on a front pre-drilled at the factory or a blank one, whatever the veneer. No special tools are needed beyond a drill if you’re starting from a new front.

Knob or pull for a Bestå drawer?

Both live side by side in the Essential collection: the knob for doors and small drawers, the pull as soon as a deep drawer or a large front calls for a two-handed grip.

Is bioresin suitable for a living room Bestå?

Yes, for a Bestå in a living room, bedroom, or closet. This light, pearlescent material is not recommended, however, in a kitchen, bathroom, or on heavily used furniture: metal (aluminum, bronze, copper) suits those better.

How long does it take to receive handles for a Bestå?

Allow 5 to 10 business days for orders from our standard catalog, made to order in our Paris atelier.

At Holdon Paris, this logic of a precise, standalone part, designed to adapt to a piece of furniture you didn’t design yourself, sits at the heart of the Essentiel collection: silhouettes that hold their own through material and proportion, ready to install on a Bestå just as on any standard front.

To go further on IKEA-compatible handles, or to read our guides on other furniture in the system, a Pax wardrobe and an IKEA kitchen follow the same logic of measuring and choosing.