Four Different Ways to Install Leather Handles

Our original and versatile Hawthorne leather handle design can be used in multiple ways for creative customers and designers. In this post, we explore the options, share photos, and explain how to order and install the Hawthorne leather pull "flat" as a handle with two points of contact with the surface.

This customer review photo features the Hawthorne Small installed two different way (without the washers): flat as a handle on the upper drawers, and folded as a loop on the lower cabinet doors.

This customer review photo features the Hawthorne Small installed two different ways: flat as a handle on the upper drawers, and folded as a loop on the lower cabinet doors.

Table of Contents

Four Different Ways to Install the Hawthorne Leather Handle Photo Gallery: The Hawthorne Honey Small Installed 4 Different Ways Center-to-Center (C2C) Spacing for Flat Handles Hawthorne "Flat" vs. Flanders: What's the Difference? How to Order the Hawthorne "Flat" Leather Handle Customer Photo Gallery: Hawthorne "Flat" Leather Handle Custom Sizes: Hawthorne Leather Handles Products Featured In This Blog You Might Also Be Interested In...

Four Different Ways to Install the Hawthorne Leather Handle

As shown in the customer photo gallery below, the Hawthorne Leather Handles come in 3 different sizes, and can be installed 4 different ways for a different look:

In a standard loop with or ...
...without the (optional, included) metal washer, or with leather washers
a backwards (inverted) loop that we've named the Fremont,
"flat" as handle with an extra set of hardware (sold separately) similar to the Flanders

Photo Gallery: The Hawthorne Honey Small Installed 4 Different Ways

A hand reaching for a hawthorne small leather handle on a pine wood dresser drawer, folded in half as a loop

1) The Hawthorne Small folded in half as a loop, as shown on the website -- with washers (nickel)

2) The Hawthorne Small in an inverted fold we call the 'Fremont' style, installed on customer's bedside table.

A close-up photo of a clean white pantry with two doors, each has a Hawthorne Small Honey leather andle with brass hardware but no washers

3) The Hawthorne Small folded in half as a loop -- but without washers (brass)

White kitchen cabinet drawers with honey hawthorne small handles installed flat as a handle with two sets of hardware and leather washers

4) The Honey Hawthorne Small installed "flat" as a handle with two sets of hardware (sold separately) in a customer's white kitchen. The customer also used optional leather washers (sold separately) instead of the included metal washers.

Center-to-Center (C2C) Spacing for Flat Handles

For the Hawthorne handles, we recommend the following C2C spacing when installed "flat." The spacing is somewhat flexible because leather is a flexible material.

These recommendations are also in the printed installation instructions included with all Hawthorne handle purchases:

Handle Size	Recommended C2C Spacing
Hawthorne Small	4.25" (10.8cm) +/- 0.25" (0.6cm)
Hawthorne Large	9" (22.9cm) +/- 0.25" (0.6cm)
Hawthorne Wide	9" (22.9cm) +/- 0.25" (0.6cm)

If installed with a wider C2C, the flatter the handle will lie against the surface of the cabinet, which can restrict the space available for comfortable hand and finger gripping. Of our three handle styles, the Hawthorne Flat can have the lowest profile, which is optimal in tight configurations but is balanced against handle gripping space.

Handdrawn sketch of the 3 handle styles showing how much clearance is off the cabinet surface

Hand-drawn sketch showing the amount of "clearance" or hand space each style has, by Walnut Studiolo. Learn more in our blog post, Our Best Advice for Picking, Installing, and Placing Handles.

If installed with a narrower C2C, then the leather can bulb outward prominently, and can create some slack -- particularly with the Hawthorne Large and Wide. This can be a desirable look in some instances, such as creating an organic shape as shown in the photos below.

In this series of photos from a customer, the C2C was installed a little more narrowly than recommended, which gave the flexibility for the handle to have a "lift up" or "reach down" curved shape.

The Hawthorne Small Honey leather handle installed with a narrow spacing perfectly straight, with the inchworm shape sticking out horizontally at 90 degrees from the drawer front surface

The Hawthorne Small installed flat with a narrow C2C spacing.

The Hawthorne Small Honey leather handle installed with a narrow spacing but lifted upwards, curving like a moustache into an upside-down "U" shape

The Hawthorne Small installed flat with a narrow C2C spacing, when pulled upwards into a moustache shape.

The Hawthorne Small Honey leather handle installed with a narrow spacing curving upwards like a small into a "U" shape

The Hawthorne Small installed flat with a narrow C2C spacing, when pulled downwards into a smile shape.

Hawthorne "Flat" vs. Flanders: What's the Difference?

The Flanders is made from a 3/4" wide leather strap (like the Lovejoy and the St. Johns) and comes in 3 different spacings (3", 3.5" and 4"), all of which are narrower than the Hawthorne Flat recommended spacings (4.25", 9").

The Hawthorne Small and Hawthorne Large are 1" wide (matching the Tilikum and Sellwood)

The Hawthorne Wide / Fremont are 1.25" wide (which is unique to that handle style, although the Oswego Leather Wrap Kit is also 1.25" wide).

A straight-on photo of a Hawthorne Small Honey leather strap installed flat with two points of contact on an oak drawer underneath a gray countertop

The Hawthorne Small / Large are made from a 1" wide strap

Image of a Honey Flanders Handle with Nickel hardware on a white backaground

The Flanders is made from a 3/4" wide strap and comes in three different center-to-center spacings.

How to Order the Hawthorne "Flat" Leather Handle

The Hawthorne installed "flat" is the same handle as our looped pull, but with an extra hardware kit.

Ordering the Hawthorne handles (Small, Large, or Wide) is easy on our website: simply add an extra Drawer Pull Hardware Kit to the shopping cart for every Hawthorne you intend to install "flat".

Installation instructions with our "flat" C2C spacing recommendations are included with every Hawthorne order.

Customer Photo Gallery: Hawthorne "Flat" Leather Handle

This photo gallery of customer installations of the Hawthorne installed "flat" with two points of contact, like a handle instead of a loop.

Hawthorne Large Dark Brown Leather Handle on White Furniture Cabinet

Hawthorne Wide Honey Installed Flat on Mud Room Bench Customer Photo

Hawthorne Natural Small Leather Handle on White Kitchen Cabinets

Custom Sizes: Hawthorne Leather Handles

Yes! We can make custom sizes. There are two dimensions we can easily make for a custom order:

The width of the strap. The Hawthorne Small and Large are 1" (25.4mm) wide, and the Hawthorne Wide is 1.25" (31.75mm) wide. Other customers have asked for the "flat" handle in the same width as the Lovejoy handle (3/4", or 19mm) and the Burnside handle (5/8", or 15.9mm).
The length of the strap to accommodate any desired center-to-center (C2C) hole spacing.