Take one handle off a kitchen drawer and turn it over. The two screws that come out with it hold the only specification that matters, because the distance between those two holes decides how much of any catalog you are allowed to shop from. Shopping for cabinet hardware for kitchen updates is far less about finish and shape than it looks, and Ferguson’s own filters show why.
This is an independent editorial review. Ferguson did not review or approve this article.
Ferguson Enterprises, LLC is a United States company headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, and the listing counts and product details quoted here were read on its own site. The measurement that governs this purchase is the one already drilled into your own doors, and nothing here is installation advice.
You can check current options here:
Use case 1: replacing cabinet hardware for kitchen updates without drilling a single new hole
Ferguson’s cabinet hardware category listed 1,467 products when this article was written, and the filter that thins it fastest is Center to Center, the distance from the middle of one screw hole to the middle of the other. The counts behind that filter are wildly uneven. Four spacings carry most of the catalog: 5-1/16 in with 129 products, 3-3/4 in with 122, 6-5/16 in with 113 and 3 in with 92. Several perfectly ordinary looking sizes carry almost nothing, including 4 in with 17, 8 in with 14, 7 in with 6 and 3-1/2 in with 2.
That is the whole reason to measure before browsing rather than after. Here is the order that saves a second trip:
- Remove one pull and measure between the centers of the two holes, not between the ends of the handle.
- Write that number down in inches and fractions, the way the filter is labeled.
- Count how many doors and how many drawers are on that spacing, since older kitchens often mix two.
- Filter the catalog to your number first, then start caring about finish and shape.
One trap is worth naming because it is in the listings themselves. On one pull, the specification table publishes a Center to Center row of 4 in alongside a separate Length of 4-5/8 in. On another, the table publishes only Length, Width, Depth and Diameter, and the center-to-center figure appears nowhere except in the product title. Both are honest listings; they simply label the critical number differently, so read the table against the title before you buy sixteen of anything.
Use case 2: cabinet hardware for modern kitchens, where the doors are flat and the pulls are long
Flat slab doors are the style that pushes buyers toward long bar pulls, and the catalog reflects it: Cabinet Pull is the largest type at 486 products, with Bar Pull at 113 and Appliance Pull at 86 behind it. Choosing cabinet hardware for modern kitchens usually means choosing a longer spacing than the kitchen currently has, which is the one scenario in this article where new holes are unavoidable.
If you are going to drill anyway, it is worth knowing what the industry standard asks of the part you are about to fix to the door. ANSI/BHMA A156.9 covers “nearly one hundred types of cabinet hardware, including: hinges, knobs, pulls, catches, shelf rests, standards and brackets, rotating shelves, and track with guides for sliding panels.” Its load requirement is stated plainly: pulls “shall support a 75 lbf test load without chipping, or disassembly, or breakage of the part or screws.” The same standard sets cycle counts for the moving parts around them, with 100,000 cycles required for a Grade 1 hinge.
None of that tells you which finish to pick. It does tell you that a pull is a structural part with a published floor under it, which is a better reason to avoid the flimsiest option than any adjective on a product page.
Use case 3: cabinet hardware for rental kitchens, where everything has to go back
A rented kitchen turns this into a storage problem as much as a shopping one. The cheapest version of cabinet hardware for rental kitchens is the one that reuses the existing holes exactly, because the original hardware then goes back on at the end of the lease and the doors are unmarked. Keep the old pulls and their screws in a labeled bag from the first afternoon, before anything gets swept into a drawer. A renter’s checklist is short:
- Match the existing center-to-center number exactly, so no new hole is ever made.
- Bag and label the original hardware, screws included, the day it comes off.
- Prefer knobs where a spacing is awkward, since one screw replaces one screw.
- Check the lease before changing anything fixed, because some agreements treat hardware as a fixture.
- Keep the receipt, since what comes off at the end of the lease usually goes back on.
That bag is the part people skip and regret.
Two further points apply to renters more than to owners. Knobs take a single screw, so a knob can replace a knob anywhere without a second hole lining up, which makes the 327 cabinet knobs in the catalog the safest category in a kitchen you do not own. And a backplate, of which the catalog lists 39, is the usual way to cover an old hole when a new pull lands slightly off, though it changes the look of the door enough that it is a decision rather than a repair.
Use case 4: cabinet hardware for budget remodels, counted by the piece before anything else
The arithmetic that catches people out is not the price of one handle, it is the count. A modest kitchen can carry thirty or forty openings once wall cabinets, base cabinets and drawer banks are added up, so cabinet hardware for budget remodels is a multiplication problem first and a taste problem second. Counting the openings before browsing is the single step that keeps the total from arriving as a surprise at the cart.
Two things on Ferguson’s listings are worth knowing before you plan around them. Some individual products carry the line “This product requires certification to purchase,” which means the item is not available to every buyer on the site, so check that a product is actually purchasable by you before you build a kitchen around it. And some listings carry a California Proposition 65 warning, which is a disclosure requirement rather than a quality signal, and is worth reading rather than skipping.
Side-by-side by situation
| Your situation | What that situation needs |
|---|---|
| Doors and drawers already drilled, landlord or not | Your exact center-to-center number, filtered first |
| A spacing the catalog barely stocks | Knobs, which need one hole, or accept new drilling |
| Flat slab doors and a modern look | Longer bar pulls, with fresh holes planned deliberately |
| A rented kitchen you have to hand back | Same-spacing replacements and a labeled bag of originals |
| Thirty or more openings on a fixed budget | The piece count before the price, then one finish across all of it |
| Heavy drawers that get pulled hard every day | A pull built to the published 75 lbf load, fixed through both holes |
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Frequently Asked Questions
These four come up in every kitchen hardware swap, and each one has an answer that comes from a published filter, a published standard or a published listing rather than from taste.
What does center to center actually measure?
The distance from the middle of one screw hole to the middle of the other, which is not the overall length of the handle. On Ferguson’s listings the two numbers are published separately where both appear, and a 4 in spacing sat beside a 4-5/8 in length on the pull quoted above.
Can I put a pull where a knob used to be?
Only by drilling a second hole, because a knob is fixed with one screw and a pull needs two. The reverse swap is easier, since a knob can sit on one of the two existing holes while the second one is filled or hidden behind a backplate.
Do I have to buy everything in one finish?
No, and mixing is a common choice, with knobs on wall cabinets and pulls on drawers. The catalog groups finishes into families such as Bronze Tones, Nickel Tones, Blacks and Gold Tones, which is a practical way to keep two shapes looking deliberate rather than accidental.
Why can I not add some products to a cart?
Ferguson marks certain items with the line that the product requires certification to purchase. Those listings are visible to everyone and buyable by a narrower group, so confirm availability before a product becomes the plan.
You can check current options here:
Conclusion
Hardware is sold on how it looks and bought on how it fits. Four spacings carry most of the catalog and a great many ordinary sizes carry almost none of it, so the fifteen seconds it takes to unscrew one handle and measure between the holes is what decides if you are choosing from 122 products or from two. Measure first, count the openings second, and let finish be the last decision rather than the first.
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