You've decided that your kitchen or bedroom needs a bit of a face-lift, and you've chosen new doors in a design and colour that truly reflects you and your style. Now it's time for the all-important finishing touches - the drawer and door handles.

Choosing your handle style

The handles you choose for your new doors and drawer-fronts can really make or break the new look, so it's worth putting some time aside to think about what you want. As well as choosing handles that suit the style of doors you've got, you'll want to consider the general look and feel of the whole room - whether you want bar, latch-style or simple round handles, and if you have young children, how easy you want it to be for small fingers to get into your cupboards.

We have a wide range of handles available - we stock every style, from sleek bow handles to antique latches with pewter finishes. Whether your new-look kitchen has a crisp, minimalist look, or you're looking to create a cosy, country cottage-inspired feel, we've got the perfect door accessories for you.

But how to position those handles once you've chosen them?

It sounds like it should be obvious, but a little time and care can go a long way to make your kitchen feel fresh while being functional and family-friendly.

On wall units

Positioning the handle as near to the bottom of the door as you can will make it easy to open and will prevent you having to stretch too far when you need to find your favourite mug or grab that all-important ingredient. Shorter styles of bow, bar and D-handles will look great on the vertical edge of the door, while longer designs of these handles will sit beautifully along the bottom edge. You'll want to place shell or curl-style handles along that bottom edge too, due to their ergonomic shape.

On base units

Place the handle at the top of the door - you won't want to stoop to open the door every time you need something from the cupboard. Depending on the design of the door, the style of handle and your personal preferences, you can place the handle along the top edge of the door or at the top of the vertical edge. Longer styles of bar and bow handles will look best attached to the horizontal edge, while shorter styles of these handles could be fixed to the vertical edge. Shell and curl handles will need to be placed on the horizontal edge due to their shape. Round door handles can sit neatly in one of the top corners of the door.

On drawers

A good rule of thumb is that if the drawer is wider than 600mm, you'll need two handles for it, and if it's under 600mm, you can have just one. However, this can vary, depending on the style of handle you choose. If you've selected round handles, you may need two of them on even a small drawer, and similarly, you may be able to get away with having one handle on a large drawer if the handle style is long and sturdy.

How to fit your new door handles

For an easy, step-by-step guide to fitting your new door handles, watch our video below. And if you need any other DIY help, visit our HelpZone.