Hey January, What's New?

Here's five brand spanking new items that we've got on The Hut this month! I'm going to feature these five well, because I think they're really neat. We constantly add new items to the site so it's pretty much impossible to keep up, but I do like to flip through the category about once a month to catch up.






First up is the Amerock Abernathy knob I love this knob. It's a smidge modern, and a little traditional, it has good form. All around it's a classic design. Who would have thought that I would ever say, I actually like the look of the Oil Rubbed Bronze best, but it comes in Satin Nickel and Antique Silver as well.







Second, is the Renaissance push plate by Brass Accents. They've introduced a series of these that are all from roughly the same time period. The Gothic happens to be the one that I like best. These come in seven different finishes, and the detail on each one is pretty amazing.








If it didn't sound creepy to say, "I'm in love with this knob!" I'd say, "I'm in love with this knob!" At the moment, this is my favorite knob on our entire site. Granted, that could change in a few days but who's keeping track? This knob screams mid century modern to me, but honestly it could be used in a number of different styles. Straight out of Mad Men, I tell ya.







This isn't nearly as pretty, but cool none the less. It's a cabinet lock that's completely hidden with a keypad to lock and unlock the door. The StealthLock operates by radio frequency. Pretty slick! I think these would be really useful in medical offices, assisted living facilities,  child care centers, gyms, probably a lot more places that I can't think of.





Last, but certainly not least is the Top Knobs Aspen Bronze appliance pull. Cast Bronze isn't usually my thing and when I see it, it's typically rustic styles. This line does offer a more rustic look as well, but this particular pull is sleek. I'm beginning to really like the look of the clean lines and soft patinas mixed with the imperfections of bronze. Bonus, there's not many appliance handles on the market that are offered in Cast Bronze.

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”

Cliffside Is Color Crazy!

Cliffside knows what they're doing! They have always had great quality and lots of options for styles and finishes but this year they've started grouping their cabinet hardware by finish as opposed to by design. If you ask me, this makes picking out your hardware much easier.

The thing is, it's your house....you can mix and match styles or go with all of one design. Regardless, you want the finishes on each piece to match. Cliffside has knobs, pulls, hinges, and latches in pretty much every finish.




Flat Black has become quite popular and to be honest, not a lot of manufacturers have this finish in all of the items needed for cabinets. Cliffside has these super cool icebox latches in flat black. Which by the way, are one of my favorite hardware items ever.

They also have cup pulls, knobs, handles, and appliance pulls in 8" and 12" on center.




Polished Nickel is another finish that has become popular. I could probably write five posts about new polished nickel collections and trending styles that feature polished nickel. The knob below is a neat one that they're offering in the Polished Nickel finish.



Cliffside does have your typical finishes; Polished Brass, Antique Brass, Satin Nickel, Polished Chrome and Oil Rubbed Bronze but they also have a few finishes that aren't typical such as Iron and Antique Copper.

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”

Room With A View

I'm a visual person. I like pictures, I keep a tape measure handy at my desk because, I even though I know what 3" looks like I can't really visualize it. I need the actual tape to give me that visual. I wish more hardware manufacturers would realize that there are people in the world who can't automatically envision something in their head when they're planning their designs.

With this post, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the hardware that we sell in a setting. Feast your eyes on these beauties.

This picture shows the brand Sietto on a cabinet. To be honest, I wouldn't pick out this pull based on the picture of the pull alone but shown in this kitchen it looks fantastic.



This is the Architectural Mailboxes Coronado mailbox, it's shown in the black with copper trim.



Atlas Homewares is one of the few manufacturers that produce some good pictures of their hardware in the appropriate settings. The handles shown are from their Euro Tech line. This handle....


could be this.....



Here's a Schlage push button electronic lock that's installed an a door to a wine cellar.



And, another Atlas Homewares collection. The Zanzibar bath hardware, I think this looks pretty good on the dark cabinets but it would look good on a light wood too.


My last picture is a towel warmer by Amba These styles tend to look modern when not shown in a setting, but this bathroom is kind of retro, and definitely sassy. These towel warmers can really blend into any style.

Can You Handle This?

When it comes to ordering appliance handles it's hard to decide on which size to get. This is another scenario where personal preference is key. I personally contacted four major commercial/professional appliance manufacturers and asked them if they had any recommendations for sizing. I basically got the same answer from all of them, depending on which configuration you have you will want something that is proportionate. So, now that I've gotten all that help, I'm still back to our original consensus of getting what you want.

It seems that the most common sizes for refrigerator doors are anywhere from 12in. to 18in. on center. For the type of refrigerator that has a freezer drawer down below we've seen a fairly good mix of either the same size pull as on the doors or one that's slightly smaller. For ranges and dishwashers the sizing seems to range from 6in. to 12in. on center. Also, when looking for appliance pulls you will want something that has a diameter of about 3/4in to 1in. These are typical dimensions for most appliance handles anyway, but it's something you should be aware of. Due to the force that it takes to pull open a commercial appliance you don't want to use a pull that's much smaller in diameter or one that is made for a regular cabinet because it just won't be strong enough to hold up over time.

Again, these are by no means hard fast rules that you need to live by, the decision should be based on the scale of the rest of the hardware in the room and how much of the appliance you want covered by the hardware.

There are a few manufacturers that have starting coming out with various size appliance handles to match the regular cabinet handles, but there are still quite a few manufacturers who only make one or two sizes in the appliance handles.



Amerock, Berenson, Schaub & Company, and Top Knobs are four brands to look at that have sizes ranging from 3in. to 18in on center so you can order in complete collections.



TIP: To get a visualization of what size would be appropriate you can cut out a piece of cardboard that's the length and width of the pulls you are considering. Tape the cardboard to the appliance and look at it for a few days, if it feels right-you know which size to go with. If not-try a different size.

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”