Hey July, What's New?

As usual, around here at the Hardware Hut we're busy little bees. So far in the month of July we've added five new Gatco bath hardware collections, two new Schaub and Company cabinet hardware collections, some door locks, some keyboard slides, and some miscellaneous cabinet hardware items. Not only have we added all of that but, we have just started a fairly big project. We will be adding our complete stock catalog to the website. When I say a fairly big project that's actually an understatement. Our stock catalog is roughly 400 pages with five or 6 sku's per page. That's a lot of product! Perhaps, I'll save that for a blog post in itself.

Back to what's new for July...I'll start with the new Gatco bath hardware. We've added the Oldenburg collection which comes in finish choices of burnished bronze, polished chrome, and satin nickel. This style would be suitable in a traditional setting. It looks elegant and rich. We've also added the Jewel collection which is more square in design but it's a soft design. You can get the Jewel collection in satin nickel or polished chrome. Another collection we've added is the Irvine collection, this collection is my personal favorite from the new Gatco items. My own personal tastes are typically more contemporary, but there's something about the shapes on this collection that appeal to me. The Irvine collection comes in burnished bronze, satin nickel, and polished chrome too. We've also added the Philadelphia collection which is another square style but this one has a little more detail to it, and more defined edges. It sort of reminds me of crown molding. The last new collection from Gatco is the Max, the Max collection is the sleek modern look that I like, the robe hook in particular is really cool. This collection reminds me of plumbing parts a little, it's a little bit industrial looking without being "cold."



We've also added a square passage pocket door set by Valli and Valli to match their privacy set. Valli and Valli make some great quality, unique pocket door items and when a privacy set and a passage set are ordered together they can be used on double pocket doors.




We've also added some Schlage commercial locks in oil rubbed bronze. We've carried the Commercial levers in satin chrome and brass for some time, and have finally added the oil rubbed bronze. Schlage's commercial locks come in keyed functions as well as interior functions such as passage and privacy.



And to wrap up this post before it get's too long, is the Schaub and Company Firenza collection. Schaub does a great job of coming up with innovative designs that a lot of other companies try to replicate. They seem to always be ahead of the pack when it comes to styles. The Firenza collection has a hint of old world italian charm. I like the lace-like scroll pattern they've incorporated into the pulls. The Firenza collection comes in three finish choices.



That about sums up the month of July so far. Stay tuned for next months new stuff!

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”

Polished Nickel Is The Bee's Knees!

Polished nickel is quickly becoming the latest craze in the hardware world. Really.....? Why.....? To be honest I don't fully know the answer, but every chance I've gotten I've asked my customers why they've chosen polished nickel over polished chrome and the one answer that's been the same is that it has a much richer warmer tone than chrome does. I've also noticed that polished nickel can go into almost any design setting while polished chrome is almost exclusively in a contemporary setting.

I started doing a bit of research on nickel and from the tiny amount of information I have been able to find, polished nickel was favored early on for a plating choice because it's extremely durable and when plated it finishes very hard. In early automobiles all of the bumpers, fenders, etc. were actually nickel plated as opposed to chrome plated.

Basically the main difference from polished chrome and polished nickel is that the chrome has a bluish white undertone and nickel has a golden amber undertone. I know, it's hard to think of a piece of silver material having any golden tone in it at all, but it does. Even though the undertone is there the material is still overall a silver color. The color difference has to do with the different types of elements and compounds added in the plating process.

There are a number of items available today that come in the polished nickel, but for now I will focus on a few that seem to be reemerging. In the past few months I have had quite a few people ask for "Christopher Peacock" type hardware. After a few people asked, I was on the hunt to find out who this Christopher Peacock was. After some web searching I have found that he is a high end designer. He uses very similar design elements in all of his rooms. He seems to focus on functionality, durability as well as beauty. Almost every room that he's designed has an elegant, rich warmth to it. Christopher Peacock is well known for his Scullery kitchens, which almost always use polished nickel hardware.

Here are some polished nickel items that are similar to items I've seen in Christopher Peacock kitchens.



There are a number of different hardware items available in polished nickel, but in the near future I think we can expect to see quite a few more.

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”

Hey June, What's New?

We've got four very different products that we've added to thehardwarehut.com this month. We are constantly adding new items, collections, and manufacturers to our site. Sometimes, it's even too hard for me too keep up. Since there's new stuff out all the time and it's easy to get swallowed up in all the other items we've got. I'll bring some to the forefront on this blog.

The first product I'd like to mention is a company called Gado Gado, this company works closely with Indonesian artisans to create unique, one of a kind pieces. All of their hardware items are made from hand cast brass and finished by hand in an unlacquered antique brass patina. Because of the handmade aspect, each piece is literally one of a kind and with an open finish each item will age over time. We carry cabinet hardware and a few hooks by Gado Gado and they've got some really neat intricate pieces but my favorites by far are their latches. These could go on trunks, armoires, built in cabinets, you name it. They remind me of hardware that would be found on a pirates treasure chest, or some piece of furniture that escaped an Asian dynasty. Very cool stuff!



First Impressions has been a manufacturer of ours for a while, they specialize in door pulls. They've made some really neat custom items such as dolphin door pulls, pulls shaped like dog bones, and even a guitar door pull. We tend to sell items of a more simple variety by them. They've introduced a line of door pulls specifically made for shower doors. These pulls come in a set of two and are made to be mounted back to back. They come in a variety of sizes and styles.



Berenson is another company that we've been distributing for ages. They seem to come out with new items fairly regularly and typically do a good job of judging what customers want. One of their newest collections is called Art Nouveau. They offer this collection in three different finishes, Vintage Bronze, Venetian Bronze, and Vintage Nickel which conjure nostalgic images of an age gone by. The floral motif is just simple enough that it doesn't come off as frilly or over the top, yet adds a hint of softness to each piece.



Another new collection that we've added this month is the Atlas Homeswares,Sutton Place. This collection is reminiscent of 1930's New York City; sophisticated, elegant, with clean geometric lines. This Sutton Place comes in Venetian Bronze, Brushed Nickel, and the reemerging Polished Nickel. Atlas Homewares also offers cabinet hardware in the Sutton Place collection for a completed look.

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”