Knob Reveal (Hob Knob Update)

I'm sure you've been on tenterhooks waiting to find out what knobs I chose.  I'm sure.  Anyway, I chose option number 5...

Brainerd 1-inch Bedford Nickel Rectangular Cabinet Knob

My choice was part style, part price, and part laziness.  These (and the matching handles were in stock at Lowes (a mile from my house).

Once home with all my goodies, I set to work installing.  MAJOR ERROR on the first try.  You know how they say, "test in an inconspicuous place" about all sorts of home improvement DIY type things?  Do that.  There's a reason.  I chose to drill my first hole in a very obvious place and my placement didn't work.  Little tidbit - do NOT try to put your hardware on the joint where two pieces of trim come together (red circle) below.

 
I know a little about woodworking and thought there might be a biscuit (a small piece of wood that serves as a sort of puzzle piece to hold the two trim pieces together).  Never did I imagine that the biscuit would be metal and impossible to drill thru.  So nevertheless, I got to do some patching and staining of my hole.  Rarg.

Once I figured out an alternate location, I decided to make an easy to follow template for the single hole knobs.  I'm no genius but it worked just fine.  I took a piece note card, matched it to the two edges of the trim and marked the spot where I wanted the knob.  I then cut it and marked a single dot (with a metallic sharpie) of where to drill.  Voila:

Because my knobs had only one hole, things went along pretty swimmingly.  I got a little flummoxed when it came to starting on the matching handles which required two holes.  I had seen, on Pinterest, the idea of photocopying the item to be hung and using the copy as a template and decided to give it a try.  I practiced on a piece of scrap first, and it seemed to work as long as I was very precise.

Photocopies

I marked the middle of the handle template (the little plus sign below) and marked to the middle of the drawer front.  Then, I used a level to make sure that I was pretty close to perfect and taped the template to the drawer.  I then marked the hole and set about to drilling.

One thing to note: because my drawers were a little wonky (not very high quality - somewhat misaligned), I did the first drawer and realized that I needed to actually NOT use the middle of the drawer but instead needed to just line all the handles with the first one.  I used a big ruler and the level to make sure they were aligned, and it worked.  They're not all 100% centered, but they're in line with one another, and I think that's a better visual. 

We're pretty thrilled now that we have handles and knobs.  I have absolutely no idea why we waited so long.  We got out of this for about $100, and it makes the kitchen more comfortable to use.  Project success!