Hold on to Your Money: Cabinet Knobs

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

22 Jan 2009 07:39 AM

Are you just itching to do a renovation in your home but know that it isn't a good idea to spend any money right now? Sometimes just changing a little inexpensive thing can make a big difference. Fresh new knobs can bring new life to your cabinets, drawers or even furniture. You can feel blessed with something modern and new without spending much at all.

This past weekend as I was waiting for our washer to fill, I started to explore a little bit of the basement. There is a shelf that I call the "man" shelf. It is full of little things that the previous owner left behind but my husband didn't want to throw away. Up on the top shelf was a tin marked "draw pulls." I opened it up and found all sorts of different knobs (not really pulls) jumbled up inside. While none of them matched, it inspired me to think about what I can do now to my current kitchen cabinets even though we can't do a full renovation.

The mis-matched knobs might actually be fun in the kitchen, although I doubt I could convince my husband of the look. Still, it may just be the inspiration I need to go searching for some great cabinet knobs. Anthropologie, the store that is generally known for great ethic-American clothing has some great knobs on their website. They are definitely unique, and you will be sure to make a great statement with them and spice things up. I like the cloister one in black and white. If your tastes are more tame, check out your local Home Depot, Lowes or Target stores. They feature bins of different more traditional knobs that will give you a great new look as if you did renovate.

Glass knobs are also becoming quite popular these days. I remember the old glass doorknobs that we had in the apartment growing up. I always imagined them to be priceless diamonds when I was a child.

Happy renovating!

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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Memartha (306) 25 Jan 2009 12:49 PM

My house was built in 1875. It's been through renovations. The previous owners redid the whole kitchen -- and it's lovely. Maple cabinets. For some obscure reason they installed pink formica countertops, which is puzzling. Downright irritating, to tell the truth. I got some green marble vinyl flooring, cut it to size and laid it along the countertops. Much better. But then there was the problem with the cabinet and drawer knobs. They were brassy and shiny and every time I went into the kitchen, I was looking at myself through a fish-eye lens everywhere I turned. I was happy to have this house and happy to have a maple kitchen, but who would go through all the expense of renovating a kitchen only to ruin it with pink formica and bulbous shiny knobs? One trip to Home Depot solved the knob problem. I replaced them with distressed matte faux copper. It's actually nice in there, and the cost was perhaps $20 for scads of knobs.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 28 Jan 2009 11:41 AM

Uh, we have yellow formica, but it is original to the house built in the 60s! I would love maple cabinets.

Memartha (306) 28 Jan 2009 02:33 PM

Yellow formica can be nice. Yellow kitchens are homey. There was so much pink in this house when it was bought, it was like living in Pepto-Bismol. Thank goodness for paint!

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 29 Jan 2009 11:50 AM

:) Our yellow is very dingy, so it isn't warm at all.

thequeenofthecastle (413) 29 Jan 2009 07:32 PM

Have you thought about attaching your knobs to board and hanging it somewhere on a wall to use as a catch all peg rack? They could be especially useful in a place where you don't care so much about the look, like in the garage. You can hang inexpensive canvas bags on them and fill them with toys on a child's wall. You could also put them all together on a board and then spray paint the whole thing, including the knobs, one color. This would make them feel more uniform.

Mary Ann Romans (26886) 30 Jan 2009 01:16 PM

Actually, I was thinking about something like that for the basement, but I can't figure out what to hand on it. The canvas bags are a great idea, because you can put almost anything in them!