I dream of unadorned kitchen cabinets that are inexpensive to fabricate and easy to use. This is how I discovered the cutout drawer and cabinet pull.
As much as the next person, I do a lot of swooning over open shelving. The reality of my small kitchen and obsessively ordered personality, however, is that I need every available inch for closed storage. But then the visual clutter, exacerbated in a small kitchen, of all those protruding handles becomes another problem altogether. Enter the cutout handle—a simple hole or notch in the cabinet face that functions as a cabinet pull.
Above: In a vacation cabin in Norway, Aas Thalow Architects use circular cutouts in the plywood kitchen cabinets. Photo via Scandinavian Retreat.
Above: A dark fumed oak kitchen by Kobenhavns Mobelsnedkerl featuring notched cabinet and drawer pulls.
Above: Architect Peter Legge uses rectangular cutouts in a kitchen in Dublin. See the rest of the project in A Victorian Transformation, Dublin Style.
Above: Jay Atherton and Cy Keener of Atherton Keener made all the cabinets (bathroom, kitchen, hallway storage) out of plywood which they dyed black. Instead of handles, they cut out narrow slots in the cabinets to serve as hand pulls (see more of the kitchen An Edgy Kitchen with Custom Detailing). Photo by Ye Rin Mok via Dwell.
Above: In Praise of Shadows in Sweden; see the project at In Praise of Shadows.
Above: Hansen Kitchen cabinets from Denmark feature functional notches rather than drawer pulls.
Above: Workstead's Sliding Kitchen features circular cutouts in the cabinetry.
Above: A fumed oak kitchen by Kobenhavns Mobelsnedkerl featuring circular cabinet and drawer pulls.
Above: Another Workstead project with cutout cabinet pulls.
Above: In her plywood kitchen, green blogger Mika from The Little Forest House used cutouts instead of hardware because having the handles integrated instead of applied felt very organic to her. See the rest of her kitchen at The Little Forest House.
See 10 Favorites: The Unexpected Appeal of Plywood to explore the versatility of this material and even as flooring as seen in Remodeling 101: Painted Plywood - the Best Budget Wood Floor.