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ELSEngineered Living StudioBudget · Design · Source · Build
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Room Decision System — Cabinetry

Handles, hinges & finish

The decisions on the outside of the box — what you touch and what you see.

Each decision below is shown three ways — what it changes in use, which way it moves the cost, and how it looks. Price direction only. The responsible supplier confirms the quotation after measurement and specification.

Room
Design concept showing cabinetry realised in a room
Design concept

Handle approach

Product decisionConfigure & priceALUMAXProducts & Prices
Configurable product · Cabinets · Wardrobes
ELS specifies
  • Handleless / recessed (Gola)Essential
  • Integrated edge pullBespokeLow
  • Integrated J-pullSignatureLow
  • Bar pull (surface-mounted)EssentialLow
Each option
  • Handle approach — bar-pullbar pull
  • Handle approach — edge-pulledge pull
  • Handle approach — golagola
  • Handle approach — integrated-j-pullintegrated j pull
KIT-08
See what each option changes
Handleless / recessed (Gola)
In use
Open with a fingertip along a continuous recessed channel — nothing protrudes to catch clothing or collect grease, and it wipes clean in one pass. Comfortable with full or wet hands.
Cost impact
Whether a package includes it, and the final price, are confirmed in the quotation.
How it looks
Reads as one uninterrupted plane; the door material and finish carry the look. The cleanest, most minimal elevation.
Watch out
The aluminium channel collects dust and grease and must be wiped along its length; a door out of alignment telegraphs down the whole rail.
Integrated edge pull
In use
A slim continuous edge pull gives a more positive grip than a recessed channel — easier on heavy or full-height doors — while still leaving nothing sticking out.
Cost impact
Low
How it looks
Adds one fine horizontal shadow-line to the elevation — a little more definition, still fully handleless.
Watch out
The lip collects grease directly under the hand — the first place a wet kitchen shows wear.
Integrated J-pull
In use
A J-shaped profile routed into the top edge of the door, so fingers hook in from above with nothing protruding. The recess collects a little dust and needs a wipe along its length; heavy full-height doors are easier with the edge pull.
Cost impact
Low
How it looks
A fine shadow along the top of every door — handleless at a glance, with slightly more relief than the recessed channel.
Watch out
The recess collects dust and grease and needs wiping. On base units the grip is at the top edge and on wall units at the bottom, so the two feel different in use.
Bar pull (surface-mounted)
In use
A straight bar handle screwed to the door face — the most positive grip of the four and the easiest to open with an elbow or a full hand. It stands proud of the door, so it catches sleeves in a tight galley and needs the occasional wipe around its feet.
Cost impact
Low
How it looks
Adds a visible horizontal or vertical line to every front — the handles become part of the elevation's rhythm rather than disappearing into it.
Watch out
Protrudes into circulation; in a galley it catches sleeves and pockets. Screw centres are fixed, so a later swap is limited to the same drilling.
Hardware & FinishesBuild & price a kitchenALUMAXProducts & PricesTake this into your room plan

Hinge

Product decisionConfigure & priceALUMAXProducts & Prices
Configurable product · Cabinets · Wardrobes
ELS specifies
  • Soft-close hinge (European)Low
  • Standard hinge
See what each option changes
Soft-close hinge (European)
In use
Doors pull themselves shut over the last inch and never slam — quieter in an open-plan home and far kinder to the cabinet over years of use. Rated 50,000+ cycles and holds up in humidity.
Cost impact
Low
How it looks
No visible change — the benefit is felt and heard, not seen.
Standard hinge
In use
A dependable zinc-plated hinge without the soft-close damper — fine for low-traffic doors in a genuinely dry zone; can sag or squeak over time in humidity.
Cost impact
Whether a package includes it, and the final price, are confirmed in the quotation.
How it looks
No visible change.
Hardware & FinishesBuild & price a kitchenALUMAXProducts & PricesTake this into your room plan

Wall-cabinet opening

Product decisionConfigure & priceALUMAXProducts & Prices
Configurable product · Cabinets
ELS specifies
  • Hinged doors
  • Bi-fold liftSignatureModerate
  • Lift-up (stay-open)BespokeHigher
Each option
  • Wall-cabinet opening — hingedhinged
  • Wall-cabinet opening — lift-uplift up
KIT-12
See what each option changes
Hinged doors
In use
The standard side-hung wall door — opens sideways on concealed hinges, stays open where you leave it, and is the simplest to adjust and replace. An open door sits at head height, so a busy counter can mean a knock.
Cost impact
Whether a package includes it, and the final price, are confirmed in the quotation.
How it looks
Vertical door lines across the wall run, matching the base units below.
Watch out
The open door sits at head height over a work zone.
Bi-fold lift
In use
The door folds in two as it lifts, so the open door needs only half the headroom of a single lift-up — good under a low ceiling or a deep bulkhead. More moving joints than a hinge; the fold line collects a little grease near the hob.
Cost impact
Moderate
How it looks
Reads as a single wide front when closed; a horizontal split line shows only in use.
Watch out
Two leaves and a mechanism — more parts, more to align.
Lift-up (stay-open)
In use
The whole door lifts up and stays overhead, out of head-height; a servo or push-to-open action means there is no handle to reach at all — good where the counter is busy. Needs the most headroom above the cabinet.
Cost impact
Higher
How it looks
Upper doors rise as a single plane with no hardware — the most seamless reading of the wall run.
Watch out
Gas stays are a wear part and a heavy front will drift as they age.
Build & price a kitchenALUMAXProducts & PricesTake this into your room plan

Handle finish

Product decisionConfigure & priceALUMAXProducts & Prices
Configurable product · Cabinets · Wardrobes
ELS specifies
  • Champagne bronze
  • Titanium grey
  • Matte black
See what each option changes
Champagne bronze
In use
A warm metal that hides fingerprints and everyday marks better than bright chrome — forgiving in a working kitchen.
Cost impact
Whether a package includes it, and the final price, are confirmed in the quotation.
How it looks
Pairs with oak or walnut timber, warm beige and cream, travertine or warm quartz, brass accents and warm lighting.
Titanium grey
In use
A cool neutral metal that stays discreet against grey and monochrome schemes; low-maintenance.
Cost impact
Whether a package includes it, and the final price, are confirmed in the quotation.
How it looks
Pairs with grey stone, concrete finishes, cooler whites, charcoal accents and stainless steel.
Matte black
In use
The most graphic, most contemporary tone; shows dust a little more but reads crisp against pale doors.
Cost impact
Whether a package includes it, and the final price, are confirmed in the quotation.
How it looks
Pairs with black aluminium windows, black-framed sliding doors, black appliances or tapware, black lighting and dark stone countertops.
Hardware & FinishesBuild & price a kitchenALUMAXProducts & PricesTake this into your room plan

A real figure belongs only to what ALUMAX supplies; appointed-trade works — electrical, air-conditioning, ceiling, flooring, painting, data and security — are quoted by the trade, and loose items follow the purchasing arrangement in your appointment. ELS specifies and coordinates throughout. Cost is a relative direction only, never a price; maintenance is described in each option's “In use”.

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