3 1/2'' (88.9 mm)

3 1/2 inch (88.9 mm) drill-center pulls: the old American replacement standard

3 1/2 inch (88.9 mm) drill-center pulls are the spacing most home shoppers find when they pull off existing hardware from a kitchen built between the 1980s and early 2000s. The 88.9 mm spec was a North American default for production cabinets through that era. That's why this page sees heavy replacement traffic. The size sits between the small-drawer 3 inch and the modern-medium 4 inch. It's also the size most often searched alongside the phrase "replacing 3.5 inch pulls."

Why this size shows up so often in renovations

Builders and stock-cabinet brands used 3 1/2 inch centers across upper and lower drawers without much variation, so a whole kitchen often shares the same spacing. That makes one-for-one swaps the simplest hardware update a remodel can do: same screws, same holes, fresh look. Bar pulls, cup pulls, and bin pulls are all easy to find at this center, and the catalog stays broad enough that buyers can change style entirely while keeping the existing drill pattern intact.

What works at 3 1/2 inch

The size is balanced enough to handle a wide range of styles. Traditional cup pulls and bin pulls look right on shaker cabinetry at this spacing, and modern bar pulls scale cleanly to fit. Decorative pulls with backplates are common here too, since a backplate hides any minor wear around the original holes. Drawer fronts in the 12 to 20 inch range are the typical home. The catalog includes everything from polished nickel and chrome through aged bronze and matte black, so a finish change can pair with the hardware change without re-drilling.

Adjacent sizes to consider

If your existing hardware turns out to be slightly smaller, see 3 inch (76.2 mm). If your kitchen is European or newer-build, the next step up is often 3 3/4 inch (95.2 mm). For matching across an island or a wall run, the same 3 1/2 inch spacing is widely available in aged bronze.