The different types of cupboard hardware include a wide assortment of hinges, catches, handles and pulls. Choosing the hardware for a particular cupboard depends mainly on the kind of door it has — both in how it's meant to open and close as well as its looks. While handles and pulls or knobs are designed to fit in the hand to open and close cupboard doors, both the hinges and catches work in a system to move or hold the doors.
Catches hold cupboard doors closed when a person pushes the handle or knob. There are many different kinds of cupboard hardware catches that builders may use. The ball or Bales cupboard door catch features a spring-loaded, ball-shaped piece housed in a metal cylinder set into the center of a rectangular plate with a drilled hole on either side. The spring-loaded action is designed to direct the cylinder into the door jamb to keep the cupboard closed until the handle or knob is pulled. Roller catches are also cylindrical but they roll rather than spring out to the door jamb.
A double roller system features a metal clip that fits in between the two rollers to hold the door shut. Similar catches were designed to keep mops and brooms in place in a cupboard, garage wall or other area; the handles are pushed in between two rolling mechanisms to hold them firmly. The touch type of cupboard hardware catch is often used on glass doors. When a finger is pressed on the door front, a mechanism installed inside the door holds it shut; when it's pressed again, the mechanism then opens the door.
Hinges connect the cupboard door to the frame. Sometimes, they are quite decorative and are seen on the front of the doors, while other times hinges are hidden in the space where the edge of the door connects to the side of the cupboard. There are also semi-concealed cupboard hardware hinges that only partly show from the space between the door and the frame. Inset or overlay cupboard hinges reach up from the frame front over the edge to be seen on the face of the door.
Handles, pulls or knobs are located on the front of cupboard doors so that they can be grabbed with the hands to open and close each door as needed. Handles allow the hand to fit under a space between the door face and the top of each handle. They may be made of metal, wood or plastic and be thin, thick, straight or curved in their design. Some cupboard door handles are boxy and solid in shape, while others are tapered and elegant.
Pulls and knobs are usually much smaller types of cupboard hardware than handles. They are typically round in shape, but may be made from a wide range of materials such as wood, metal, ceramic, glass or plastic. The colors of handles, knobs or pulls may be solid or multi-colored.