How To: Install Cabinet Hardware

Welcome back! Over the last two weeks, my hubby refinished our master bathroom vanity and I installed new cabinet hardware. There has never been any  hardware on the cabinets so there weren't any pre-drilled holes. When I started, I thought it was going to be easy-peasy, but it didn't quite work out that way! I learned a few things along the way by trial & error, and by talking to my dad (an expert), and some maintenance guys at my work (also probably considered experts). I'm going to write a post on how to refinish the cabinets, but I wanted to go ahead and post a few tips on how to install cabinet hardware. Hopefully they will save you some strife and help you out!

Supplies you will need:

• drill
• drill bit for pilot holes
• screwdrivers - type depends on your hardware
• painters or masking tape
• level
• long, flat ruler

I didn't install any knobs so that made my job a little harder. I used matte chrome pulls on the cabinets and matte chrome cup pulls on the drawers so I needed to drill 2 holes for every piece of hardware (14 total). 

Step 1. Make sure your cabinet doors and drawers are all level and even. In our case, 2 of the drawers were not level and 1 set of doors were not matching up. Thanks, builders! It doesn't matter how perfectly you install your hardware if the other things are crooked!

Step 2. Decide where you want to put the hardware. For our doors, I put them at the top, but if you are doing kitchen cabinets, maybe you need them at the bottom. And we decided to put the drawer pulls in the center of each drawer.

Step 3. Put a piece of painters tape or masking tape in the general area of where you want to drill your holes. You will use this to mark your holes with a pencil and not worry about scratching/marking up your cabinets. 

Step 4. For drawers - find your center. If you have drawers in a row, like 3 in the middle of your bathroom vanity, mark your vertical center on the top or bottom drawer and then use your long, flat ruler to mark the same center on each drawer going up or down. This way, even if the fronts of your drawers are off by a little, your drawer pulls will all be centered and take the focus. Also find the horizontal center of each drawer; unfortunately, there's no shortcut for this one. :)

Step 5. Measure the distance between the holes on your hardware. Mine were 2.5".

Step 6. Measure and mark where the holes should be on your tape. You want to mark the holes on your horizontal center. You will use the vertical center to measure where the holes should be. 2.5" divided by 2 is 1.25" so I measured 1.25" from my vertical center on each side. Measure twice, drill once. Be sure you are measuring correctly! You don't want to drill holes in the wrong spot (I know from experience, womp womp). Plugging holes is not hard, but making it blend in with the rest of your cabinet might be!

Step 7. Use a pilot drill bit for best results. Make sure you use a drill bit that is about the same size as your screw for your hardware. You do not want to make a bigger hole than your screw , and a smaller hole will just be more work for you. Drill, baby, drill.

Step 8. Carefully remove your tape. There is a small chance that you will mess up your finish if you aren't careful here. I did make some small places, but we were able to touch them up with a furniture marker, and the new hardware covered it up.

Step 9. Put your screws through your holes and see if they line up with your hardware! If they do, you are amazing! I rarely got it right the first time. Most of mine were only off by the tiniest bit so all I had to do was use a drill bit to make my hole just the smallest bit bigger.

Step 10. Step back and admire your work. :)

Adding hardware to cabinets does make them look more finished and can totally change up the look. Our vanity definitely looks more dressed up now, but I don't know if that's the new fancy finish or the new fancy hardware.

Come back soon to see my post on how to refinish your cabinets!

~Kasey