well, maybe not completely dumb. I am about 2/3 of the way through a kitchen remodel (keeping the cabinet boxes, and replacing all doors, drawer fronts and hardware).

My carpenter asked me where I want to place the latches on the new doors. The base cabinet doors are standard height, so I am thinking about 3 inches from the top. The upper cabinet doors measure 38-1/2 inches high (with the exception of the frig and stove cabinets). How far up the door should we place the latches?

Any and all ideas are welcome!

Thanks,

Ken

Not a dumb question at all! I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out, and referred to many photos of restored and original kitchens.

What I found out was that there was no "one way" to do it. If you have time, I recommend that you cut knob sized pieces of colored paper or something and tape them on the doors.
You'll know right away if you like something or not.

Take a look at my kitchen here. Form followed function, so there are different positions depending on the use and the shape of the doors.

Best wishes.
Carolyn

Here's a picture of our kitchen cabinets shortly after the house was built in 1928:



The knobs are in the middle of each door. What you can't see (I think because Bess, the original owner and photograper was really short) are the cupboard doors ABOVE the upper cabinets. Everyone needs a stepstool to reach those!

I think 3 inches from the top is a good point of reference, but I think every piece is different. I would hold all hardware on the applicable cabinet to get an idea of what it will look like and how you think it will work. I just measured mine and I went with 2 3/4" which worked for my cabinet setup and size.