Handleless kitchen design ideas - Grand Designs magazine
Kitchen with handleless mid-grey coloured units

Design trick to make your kitchen look bigger

Open the door to the benefits of designing a scheme with handleless cabinets

By Hugh Metcalf |

Handleless kitchen cabinets and drawers look sleek and contemporary, creating a uncluttered scheme that can be more or less minimalistic, as you wish.
There are different handleless cabinet options to choose from. A J-pull design has a door or drawer with an integral handle that is shaped like the letter J. You simply pop your fingers into the recess and pull to open. Another option is where there is a rail behind the door or drawer that creates space for your fingers to grip and pull. Lastly, there is the push-to-open type where pressing will prompt the door or drawer to spring gently ajar.

Choose flush fronts

Go for plain, slab door and drawer fronts in a pale colour to maximise the impression of space and light. Ideal for small kitchens, this is also a useful ploy in a multipurpose open-plan room. Why? Minimalistic cabinets make it easier to blend the kitchen area into the overall scheme.

A compact kitchen with handless doors in a pale cream colour

Push-to-open slab fronts. Photo: Fiona Walker-Arnott 

Create an illusion

J-shaped handleless kitchen doors and drawers enhance the design of cabinets that have a textured surface or patterned finish. For instance, timber boards allow the J shape to be an integral element of the overall design. The technique is perfect for a wall of cabinets with pocket doors, which creates space-efficient storage in any kitchen.

Open-plan kitchen, dining and living room with a wall of handleless kitchen cabinets

Bespoke units, Blakes London. Photo: @82mmphotography

Read more: How to design an invisible kitchen

Handleless kitchen cabinets and drawers look sleek and contemporary, creating a uncluttered scheme that can be more or less minimalistic, as you wish.
There are different handleless cabinet options to choose from. A J-pull design has a door or drawer with an integral handle that is shaped like the letter J. You simply pop your fingers into the recess and pull to open. Another option is where there is a rail behind the door or drawer that creates space for your fingers to grip and pull. Lastly, there is the push-to-open type where pressing will prompt the door or drawer to spring gently ajar.

Choose flush fronts

Go for plain, slab door and drawer fronts in a pale colour to maximise the impression of space and light. Ideal for small kitchens, this is also a useful ploy in a multipurpose open-plan room. Why? Minimalistic cabinets make it easier to blend the kitchen area into the overall scheme.

A compact kitchen with handless doors in a pale cream colour

Push-to-open slab fronts. Photo: Fiona Walker-Arnott 

Create an illusion

J-shaped handleless kitchen doors and drawers enhance the design of cabinets that have a textured surface or patterned finish. For instance, timber boards allow the J shape to be an integral element of the overall design. The technique is perfect for a wall of cabinets with pocket doors, which creates space-efficient storage in any kitchen.

Open-plan kitchen, dining and living room with a wall of handleless kitchen cabinets

Bespoke units, Blakes London. Photo: @82mmphotography

Read more: How to design an invisible kitchen

Less is more

Handles get in the way. You can bump into them and they cause mini obstructions in a small space. But they do provide decorative interest. So, to create a design highlight in a streamlined handleless kitchen, without sacrificing any floorspace, incorporate built-in features such as the oak-lined shelf pictured below.

handleless kitchen with floor to ceiling blue doors with cut-out shelf

Bespoke dining area created by Kitchens by Holloways

Modern classic

You don’t have to miss out on a traditional-style kitchen in a handleless design. Shaker and in-frame styles work well in small rooms, without the cabinet hardware that makes a room look cluttered.

handleless shaker kitchen in white - home improvements - grand designs

Shaker-style kitchen by Higham Furniture

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