Cabinet hardware is often referred to as “jewelry” for a room. The knobs and pulls add an artistic, finishing touch to cabinets. They also serve a practical purpose, protecting doors and drawers from the dirt, grease and grime of fingerprints.

Many new kitchen cabinets are plain, designed to work with or without knobs and pulls. But if you have those “naked” cabinets and drawers and have always wanted to add hardware, it’s a good project to take on yourself.

Or maybe you have outdated cabinet hardware that makes a room look old fogeyish. Installing or replacing cabinet hardware is a satisfying do-it-yourself transformation for people who are sticklers for detail. Warning: If you take on this DIY project, get ready for a lot of precise measuring and careful drilling. An error in computation, or a slip of the hand, can cause a problem that’s hard to fix.

Time: A half or full day to complete a kitchen; about two to three hours for a bathroom.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Cost: $50-$500, depending on the number and price of hardware selected, and assuming you already own a drill and screwdriver.

Supplies:

• Cabinet hardware: knobs for cabinet doors and pulls for drawers, with screws to match

•Cordless drill and drill bits

•Screwdriver

•Blue painter’s tape

•Pencil

•Measuring tape or ruler

•Alignment guide or template, optional (about $7)

Step 1: Count and Select.

Figure out how many knobs and pulls are needed, and then do a recount to make sure you haven’t missed any cabinets or drawers. Select new hardware. Shop in big box home improvement stores or online (e.g., www.coolknobsandpulls.com, www.restorationhardware.com, www.overstock.com, www.amazon.com, www.knobsandhardware.com) Look for “value packs” at bargain prices. You may get more knobs in a value pack than you need, but they’ll be much cheaper and you can use the extras in another room. If you’re replacing old knobs, take one with you to the store to make sure the size of the new hardware matches.

Some interior designers recommend choosing hardware to match plumbing fixture finishes or picking knobs and pulls that not only look good on the cabinets and drawers, but also complement the countertop, floor color or appliances. If you’ve got stainless steel appliances, for example, you can’t go wrong with stainless steel or nickel hardware.

Step 2: Determine Placement.

This is the tricky part. There’s no hard and fast rule about where to place the hardware, although there are some general guidelines. “On top cabinet doors, they go in the lower inside corners, and on bottom doors, they’re on the upper inside corners. On drawers, the knobs or pulls are centered,” said Jim Hess, a licensed general contractor in Bend with more than 30 years of homebuilding and handyman experience.

You can buy a template or alignment guide at a hardware or home improvement store that will help you mark where to mount the knobs and pulls, but Hess told us these guides will not guarantee a perfect installation. “In a perfect world, everything is plumb and level and the same dimension, but it’s not a perfect world, and if you use a template to put all the knobs in the same place, and the cabinet doors are off a bit, one knob might be a little bit higher,” Hess said.

So look at your cabinets carefully and get someone to position knobs at various spots while you scrutinize and test out the placement. You could make paper cut-outs of your knobs and pulls and tape them on the cabinets to see how they’ll look. “Remember, in most cases you’re not installing just one cabinet pull, you’re installing a line of them: either a horizontal row or a vertical column. Slavishly following measurements on a drawer-by-drawer or door-by-door basis, without an eye toward the entire stretch of drawers or doors, is a recipe for bad visual design,” writes Lee Wallender on www.about.com.

Step 3: Drill and secure.

Before marking a drilling hole on the wood, put a small piece of blue painter’s tape on the spot, and then measure and mark your drill location on the tape. The tape helps to protect the finish. “Most cabinet doors have a lacquer finish. Use a smaller drill bit to start the hole, and the tape will help prevent the drill bit from slipping,” Hess said. A 3/16-inch drill bit is the standard size for this kind of job, Hess said.

The screws that came with your hardware are probably the correct length to pass through the hole you drilled, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure by measuring the width of the cabinet wood.

Empty drawers and cabinets before you drill, to avoid a shower of sawdust on everything and the possibility of collectibles, glassware or valuable items being damaged by the drilling vibrations.

Drill the holes for the screws slowly, precisely and perpendicular. “Let the drill do its work. Never push the drill through the hole. Sometimes, with hard wood, like oak, you’ll have to pull the drill out halfway through to remove the wood bits from the bit. You don’t want to blow the drill out the back of the drawer and have a big chip or splinter, making a hole you don’t want to look at, or that won’t accept the head of the screw,” Hess said.

After you drill the hole, insert the screw. Follow the instructions that came with your hardware and attach the knob or pull. Tighten it with a screwdriver until it’s firmly in place. Try out your handiwork by opening and closing the cabinet with your wonderful new knob or pull. Now, do it again. Maybe you should turn on some music, or the radio — you’re going to repeat this process many more times until you’re done.

Note: Licensed general contractor Jim Hess (541-480-0845) said he’d charge about $350 to replace or install knobs and pulls in a standard-size kitchen.

— Reporter: ahighberger@mac.com