Routed handles look nice and sleek but there is something about handles that make me smile. Until I smash my knees on them 1000 times and end up looking like a 4 day old peach at the bottom of a primary school kids bag!

No handles definitely looks better. Agree about trying to keep them clean if you don't have handles though. But I find trying to clean around the handles annoying though!

What about the push to open doors, drawers may need either handles or grooves but clean lines are the modern way.

Personal taste & practicality chooses in the end!

Neither! The 'sharknose' as it's known is not not enough to grip especially when a drawer is fully laden with heavy plates etc. The paint often chips from being hit with wedding rings etc also. I do like handles but I like the option we chose for our new kitchen pictured below much more. There is a full panel width gap behind each drawer front to fit your fingers in to get a good grip on the drawer and the contrast of timber behind each black drawer looks pretty good too!

Just moved into our new build and no handles are simply stunning. I LOVE my new kitchen! Very sleek.

No handles is definitely a design driven home owner, Handles date but is definitely a a more comfortable functional decision. DDB Design would always go with great design elements when creating a kitchen as this room says every thing about the home, definitely no handles !!

I voted no handles based on the only other scenario of getting caught on handles.

No fool is going to choose handle if that was going to happen but I would really prefer handles that were safe and agree with cag63 that handles keep draws cleaner.

Definitely prefer handles. Have had routed handles and often lost finger nails. They also get rather grubby.

@LouieT - I have one push to open cupboard (outside of kitchen bench) and am forever cleaning finger prints off it.

@mwenn,

I sort of do agree with you that hiding everything away till it's needed seems a little fake but when you live in a home as I do at present, with a very tiny kitchen and everything is out because there's nowhere to put it away, consequently, I have a very limited prep area, so in my new kitchen, I can't wait till everything is in a draw or in a cupboard, so that I can enjoy the freedom of having a clear work area.

That doesn't mean I won't enjoy a cooking day where everything is brought out for it but most everyday cooking in my opinion, doesn't require all the big gun machines to be taking up bench space.

I'm afraid you might think my new kitchen will be one of these "fake" kitchens but I can assure you it won't be but remember most of the photo's that get shown on Houzz, have been professionally prepared for the photo, with nothing out of place, "minimalist" with a perfect vase of flowers and so on like the photo above!!

The comment thread is about "Handles or no Handles" for those deciding how to design their kitchen. How one uses the kitchen work space depends on many factors ,lifestyle, stage of life , family , no family, entertaining ,or corporate dinners and of course budget.

Some beautiful kitchens earn money if registered with location agencies and used for advertising , film and magazine shoots. The kitchen is the heart of the home and can be a great bread winner, no kitchen is fake, clutter or no clutter is very personal and as an interior designer it is the most fascinating room in the house.

I would go for handles, but get rounded ones - not the ones with sharp overhangs that clothes get caught on

If the bench top has some overhang, the same distance as the handles project out, it should prevent you catching on them when walking by. But again it is a different (less streamlined) look. Some handless-drawers are easier to open than others. But I prefer handles for practicality.

I also think that cupboards without knobs are not visitor friendly. A person has no idea which side to open a cabinet from, left or right. Also where do you hang your tea towels, when needing to dry your hands from the sink?

@ Catherine Epping,

My tea towel sits anywhere on an flat surface of the kitchen whilst I'm flitting around doing all manner of stuff but in my case, I use it only to wipe my hands, so really it is not a teal towel but a hand towel. I never dry any dishes prefering to run hot water over them and leaving them to dry naturally given I do not have a dish washer although I have finally ordered one which I'll have before Xmas I hope!!

Anyway, if I am expecting guests or just a drop in for a cuppa, I put a new hand towel out and leave it neatly folded or draped over the dish rack.

Routed handles tend to collect food scraps and water, especially around the sink. Just select handles that will not catch you!

I generally use handles for ease of opening drawers etc. It's not hard to change them if they date. It's easy to avoid them catching; the bench top just needs to overhang by the same amount as the handle depth. The routed option is a cost saving that builders use to keep the budget down (they don't have to purchase the hardware). Any surface that has been routed and painted & the laminate removed is a surface that can absorb moisture in a kitchen/bathroom & have long term damage (and the exposed edges of laminate chip more easily).