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.
![a small space plywood kitchen benefits from unobtrusive cutout cabinet pulls. s 17](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Septembre-Paris-apartment-David-Foessel-photo-Remodelista-1_0-733x1100.jpg)
![in happiness at home with a german design duo: studio oink\2\17;s o 18](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Studio-Oink-Wiesbaden-Apartment-Remodelista-51.jpg)
![architect peter legge uses rectangular cutouts in a kitchen in dublin. see the 19](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Peter-Legge-Ballsbridge-Remodelista-05_0_0.jpg)
![custom fronts with “just a gap to slip your hand in” are add 20](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ilaria-fatone-corian-kitchen-counter-and-sink-733x1100.jpg)
![cabinets with round cutouts and a dose of robin\2\17;s egg blue in 21](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/reform-basis-01-ikea-hack-kitchen-tikkie-elsoe-copenhagen-1-733x1098.jpg)
![the most inventive cutout shape? an organic notch in a light filled chalet 22](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/italian-alps-apartment-windows-on-mountains-white-interior-5-1-733x550.jpg)
![a detail of the cutout, with partially milled plywood that exposes a darke 23](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/italian-alps-apartment-plywood-drawers-handles-733x550.jpg)
![for fewer cutouts, top and bottom drawers share a simple, oval shaped cutout. s 24](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Anna-Jones-Kitchen-London-Jonathan-Gooch-Photos-Remodelista-02-733x1102.jpg)
![bespoke cutouts, bright edition, in kitchen of the week: a boundary breaki 25](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fields/Mackeson-Road-London-kitchen-remodel-MW-Architects-photo-via-Uncommon-Projects-cabinetmakers-Remodelista-5.jpg)
![in kitchen of the week: oakland family kitchen by medium plenty, overhead 26](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Medium-Plenty-Oakland-Kitchen-Remodelista-6_0-733x949.jpg)
![in a victorian girls’ school reborn, a sleek, streamlined kitchen m 27](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/10-Merrydown-Dorset-McLaren.Excell-architects-Remodelista-2-733x619.jpg)
![busy spaces benefit from cutout cabinet pulls, too: in this city apartment 28](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Hero-East-Village-kitchen-remodel-Lauren-Wegel-Remodelista--733x425.jpg)
![\2\20;to me, there’s something nautical about them,” says 29](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Mill-Valley-Kitchen-CKD-8-733x586.jpg)
![the sliding kitchen by workstead, a member of the remodelista architect &a 30](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/700_1small-kitchen-from-worksted-on-dwell-magazine.jpg)
![clean lined cutouts in kitchen of the week: eclectic english kitchen, colo 31](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/hawkhurst-kitchen-remodelista-1-733x489.jpg)
![drawers are given an easy open cutout treatment in the curtained kitchen, 32](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Christen-Starkenburg-Jan-de-Jong-Slow-Wood-kitchen-Netherlands-Anna-de-Leeuw-photo-Remodelista-2-733x1100.jpg)
![a sixties inspired danish ikea hack, now coming to america, includes subt 33](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Reform-Basis-kitchen-Ikea-upgrade-Remodelista-2-683x1024.jpg)
![cabinet noir: another workstead project with cutout cabinet pulls. 34](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/workstead-kitchen-cabinet-cutouts-remodelista.jpg)
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on September 23, 2013.
For much more, see Remodeling 101: Cutout Cabinet Pulls. Want to go with traditional cabinet pulls? Here are a few we like:
- 10 Easy Pieces: Cabinet Pulls
- DIY Video: How to Make a $20 Cabinet Pull for $2
- 10 Easy Pieces: Leather Cabinet Hardware
Finally, get more ideas on how to evaluate and choose kitchen cabinetry and hardware in our Remodeling 101 Guide: Kitchen Cabinets & Hardware.
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