Give Your Kitchen A Historical Touch With 5 Vintage Hardware Styles

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Vintage and retro touches in your home can be one of the best ways to bring character, charm, and a sense of history to your home, even if it is freshly constructed. One of the best ways to introduce these touches is in the smaller details, which can give you the desired effects, but prevent your home from feeling too much like a museum dedicated to any given era or design period. Hardware for cabinets and drawers is a great place to start, where the last couple centuries of design offer many beautiful options for bringing an antique or retro feel to cabinetry, including everything from sparkling cut glass knobs to brass handles with gorgeous floral detailing. 

These styles of hardware can be installed in your kitchen to add a detailed touch that is far richer and elevated than ordinary builder-grade hardware you might find in newer homes. They can be used to create an all-over retro feel, or can be stylishly blended with fixtures and décor both old and new for stunning juxtapositions. While you can sometimes find these enduring pieces, or those that are making a comeback, in second hand markets like thrift stores, antique vendors, flea markets, and architectural salvage shops, there are also many newer hardware selections available from retailers with a similar look that give your kitchen an upgrade on a budget. 

In the 18th and 19th centuries, furniture and cabinetry often looked to the natural world for many of its accents and inspiration, including beautiful metal hardware with lots of ornate designs like botanical details. Florals, branches, and leaves were popular options. This included larger knobs and handles as well as small drawer pulls with botanical accents on the end. These hardware pieces would tarnish over time, developing a rich patina that is beautiful to behold.

For pretty floral details that add vintage charm to cabinetry, great options include these JUXYES Euro Rose Decorative Cabinet Knobs from Amazon or these MFYS Solid Brass Gold Leaf Handles that bestow a romantic Victorian era vibe on wood cabinets. For a simpler, yet classic, version, try these Geenite Golden Drop Pendant Pull Handles. For more modern kitchen aesthetics, try these CHICTIE Vintage Kitchen Cabinet Knobs Pull or Jinyuanchao Black Branch Handles.

Glass knobs were popular on the doors and cabinetry and pieces of furniture in the early 20th century, particularly during the Art Deco and Art Nouveau eras, and came in all colors and opacities of glass in addition to classic clear ones. Designs varied from jewel-like faceted knobs to sleek geometric ones that instantly conferred glamor to 1920s and 1930s drawers and cabinets. Other popular materials with a similar look included bakelite and other varieties of molded plastic.

For a classic clear-glass design, look to these CEYMIO Brushed Gold Crystal Cabinet Knobs with a simple and elegant floral motif. For a stylish 1930s vibe, these Cosmas Bronze with Amber Glass Cabinet Cups would look amazing combined with richer, darker woods. Pair these Dairazan Champagne-Bronze Crystal-Brass Drawer Cabinet Knobs with warm wood or white cabinets. Or opt for the clean and modern geometric style of these Franklin Brass Francisco Acrylic Bar Gold Cabinet Knobs.

Adding porcelain details in your home can give your space a distinctly charming cottage-style aesthetic. With their rise in popularity during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, many porcelain knobs and pulls were painted with other details like scrollwork and flower or greenery for decoration. Longer handles usually had a porcelain segment wrapped around a metal base, while small circular pulls were often shaped with a fluted or floral design.

Great modern options for a similar look include these classic brass and ivory FarBoat Cabinet Handles Ceramic Pulls, or these subtly botanical Generic Hand Painted Green Leaf Ceramic Handles. These LKMUPNR Ceramic Cabinet Knobs with a tiny floral pattern would be a beautiful way to introduce pattern into a more minimal or all-neutral kitchen. Or, choose these ornately carved Biaungdo White Ceramic Kitchen Cabinet Knobs and Pulls for an antique wood pantry with a dark stain for an elevated 19th century look.

This easily recognizable style of drawer pulls has been popular for more than a century and appears frequently today in more rustic farmhouse style kitchens in finishes like stainless steel, brass, and matte black. They look especially stunning when paired with simple Shaker-style cabinets in white, cream, or natural wood, where they can fit a variety of more rustic and industrial aesthetics. They are also favored for their functionality, with the smooth and rounded pulls often preferred in homes where more protruding kitchen hardware might bump little heads and catch on clothes.

For a modern farmhouse feel, look to these antiqued brass LXZ Vintage Style Seashell Shaped Pulls, which would work stylishly in kitchens and pair with any color scheme. For a more ornate version dripping with Victorian style, try these engraved Uniqantiq Bronze Baroque Scroll Work Cup Pulls or these fluted JIASENBAO Antique Brass Cabinet Cup Pulls.

Drop pulls, in which the lower portion of the hardware allows you to pull it out and away from the drawer to open, have been prevalent since the 17th century on cabinets and furniture pieces. They often featured ornate backplates where the handle was attached, some with carved lions or miniature engraved landscapes. Other versions were simpler, with two small plates and a sculptural horizontal metal drop handle. Drop pulls work beautifully to add sculptural interest to even the plainest cabinets. They are also easy to grab and pull with wet or slippery hands.

Pretty classic options include these simple Faotup Bronze Antique Bail Drop Drawer Pulls or the more ornate TAYCZGQL 6 Inch Drawer Pulls. For smaller drawers, round drawer pulls give the perfect old European vibe, like these floral Jinyuanchao Drop Ring Handles. There are also more vertical options that work on cabinet doors, like these MOOTVGOO Vintage Cabinet Pulls.