Find Your Handles

A knob attaches at a single point: it suits cabinet doors and small drawers, where it stays discreet. A pull attaches at two points, bar style, and offers a better grip on deep drawers and large fronts. There's no need to choose one or the other: many kitchens combine both, knobs on the upper doors and pulls on the lower drawers. Everyday use, more than trends, often settles the question: a heavy drawer pulls more easily with a bar.

Center-to-center is the distance, in millimeters, between the centers of the two mounting holes. To measure it, go from axis to axis between your two existing holes, not edge to edge. The most common center-to-center measurements are 96 and 128 mm for mid-size fronts, 160 and 192 mm for larger ones. If your cabinet is new and undrilled, you're free to choose the placement: you drill to match the center-to-center of the handle you've chosen.

In a humid room or one exposed to splashes, kitchen and bathroom, metals are the safer choice: bronze, copper, brass, and aluminum hold up very well against household moisture. Bioresin, on the other hand, is best kept to dry rooms, bedroom, closet, living room, office, where its bold colors shine. The one contraindication common to all materials is outdoor use exposed to the elements. If you're unsure about a mixed-use room like a laundry room, go with metal: it's more forgiving.

A new metal has a clean look, matte or satin, on the more contemporary side. A patinated metal is hand worked to reveal warmer, older tones, with slight variations that give each piece character. It's mainly a matter of taste: new for a modern, streamlined feel, patina for a more authentic, warm spirit. Both hold up equally well over time, only the look changes.

Size is chosen based on the dimensions of the front and the effect you're after. A small handle stays discreet on doors and small drawers; a large handle owns the space on big fronts and wide drawers. A good rule: the taller or wider the front, the longer the handle can be without looking out of scale. If in doubt, a medium size stays versatile and works with almost anything.

Yes, and it's often what gives a piece of furniture the most life. The approach that works: mostly understated pieces, a few ornamental ones, and one or two strong sculptural pieces as accents. Keep a common thread, the material or the finish for instance, so the whole holds together visually. It all depends on the piece and its layout, a symmetrical sideboard and a kitchen aren't handled the same way.

Round and oval shapes are soft and timeless, at ease anywhere; square and rectangular shapes bring a clean rigor, more contemporary; figurative shapes tell a story and become statement pieces. The best guide is the rest of the room: straight lines call for geometric shapes, a classic interior takes a more worked piece more easily. Nothing rules out contrast, a figurative shape on a very plain front often hits the mark. Our filter only shows you the shapes actually available given your other criteria.

Count one piece per door and per drawer, then add the large fronts like a dishwasher or a built-in fridge, which often take a pull. The safest approach is to walk around your cabinetry and note every opening, including tall units and upper cabinets that are easy to overlook. Plan for one or two extra pieces: it saves a second shipment for a single drawer. If you're mixing knobs and pulls, note which goes where before ordering.

Keep a common thread throughout, the simplest approach being the same material and finish from top to bottom of the kitchen. Then split up shapes by use: knobs on upper doors and small cabinets, pulls on drawers and larger fronts. You can vary handle size to match drawer width without breaking the unity, as long as the finish stays consistent. It's this consistency of material, more than uniformity of shape, that gives the whole its polished look.

Two approaches work: tone on tone, a color close to the furniture for a subtle, blended look, or contrast, a bold color that makes the handle stand out like a piece of jewelry. On light furniture, a dark or gold piece creates a sharp focal point; on dark furniture, a light or metallic shade brightens the front. Also consider the metals already present in the room, faucets, light fixtures, to create an echo rather than a clash. There's no absolute rule, only the effect you're after, blended or bold.

Each handle is made to order in our Paris atelier. Allow an average of 5 to 10 business days for production, plus the carrier's delivery time, which varies by address. You'll receive an email with the tracking number as soon as the shipping label is issued, generally between the 5th and 10th business day after your order.

We accept all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) via Stripe, as well as PayPal. Transactions run through these two international references in online payment: Holdon Paris never sees and never stores your card number, all sensitive data is transmitted encrypted to the platform. The site runs entirely on HTTPS. For large professional orders, bank transfer with a deposit is possible (see architects and professionals).

Yes. French law gives you 14 days from receipt to exercise your right of withdrawal, with no need to justify it. The handles must be returned in their original condition, uninstalled, and return shipping is at your expense unless the error is ours: the refund is issued within 14 days of receipt at our workshop. To start a return, write to us via contact Holdon Paris: we'll send you the address and the process. Custom and personalized pieces are not eligible for the right of withdrawal, since they are made specifically for you.