The Easiest, Least Expensive Way to Make Any Kitchen Look Like a Million Bucks

If you’ve read just one story about cheap and easy ways to update a kitchen, chances are you’ve heard the advice to switch out your cabinet hardware. While such a little thing really can make a big difference, it’s not always that inexpensive. If the knobs you pick are $11 each (and, really, they can be much more expensive), and you have 20 cabinet doors, you’re spending $220.

To help you keep costs down (and still get new hardware that you really love), I’ve rounded up 10 super-stylish knobs and pulls — all of them are $8 or less. You can use the savings on some cute new dish towels to add even more pizzazz to the room.

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• Don’t Make Cabinet Hardware an Afterthought in Your Kitchen

Full confession: I used to have these in brass on my bathroom vanity and the finish eventually started to wear off. But I switched them out for these black ones and have no complaints — they’ve held up much better!

These look like oversized thumbtacks, which I think makes them extra adorable. Choose from four different finishes including brushed silver, blackened iron, brushed brass, and antique copper.

This is probably more along the lines of what you picture when you think about Anthro hardware, right? All of your visitors will be able to guess where these stoneware-and-brass knobs came from, but it’ll be your secret that they cost you less than $10 each.

Concrete hardware (and actually, all sorts of concrete stuff, like bowls, countertops, floors, and more) has been trendy for a while and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. This handmade, one-inch pull has an indentation that’s somehow the perfect size and shape for your thumb.

The thing about leather is that it can get pretty expensive (as anyone who’s ever coveted a J.Crew purse can attest). These handles are decently priced and come in a range of sizes and colors.

Bin pulls have a way of making a kitchen look instantly fancier. Pick from a few different finishes. Then, just make sure you mount them so that the cups face downward. (There’s so much controversy over which way they should be mounted, but trust me, you want them pointed down — so that crumbs don’t accumulate in the cups!)

T-pulls are good options for people who want a bar-handle look but have to work with a single hole that’s left behind from an old knob. These would look good in modern, rustic, or even industrial kitchens.

Not to keep talking about Anthropologie or anything, but these totally look like they would have come from Anthro, don’t they? They’re from Home Depot, which is probably surprising — and also a sign that you really should give their entire hardware section a chance.

That mint and navy hardware toward the beginning of this post? It’s this in disguise! Made of unfinished birch wood, each knob really is a blank canvas. And you don’t even have to be artsy to transform them into something great. I just dipped these in paint (letting them dry before switching colors) until I liked the patterns.

Of course one of Amazon’s private-label brands has its own cabinet hardware — stylish cabinet hardware, that is. This classic bar style comes in various lengths and finishes. This length (5.38-inches) ends up costing just $1.32 per handle when you do the math for the bulk pack.

Which one is your favorite?