More often than not, drawer handles are located in the middle of the drawer front, both vertically and horizontally. The intuitive method most of us use to locate the holes for the handle takes about five steps and requires measuring the dimensions of the drawer front and the handle. But I have a method that requires no math.

I simply transfer the width of the handle (between hole centers) onto each end of the drawer front and draw diagonals as shown.

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The points where the diagonals intersect are the locations for the holes.

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There’s much less chance for a mistake with this method, but it’s critical that the drawer front be square on the ends. Also, if the height is small compared to the width, it is easy to introduce a small error in the hole location. In that case, checking the hole spacing before drilling is a good idea.

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Drawings by Jim Richey

Drawings by Jim Richey

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