Mid Century Modern

Mid Century Modern is probably my favorite design. I love the style of houses, furniture, and decor. It's sleek, stylish, functional, and often reflects nature. Mid Century Modern is simple and bold at the same time. I'm sure most people have at least heard of Mid Century Modern, but some may not be familiar with the overall aesthetic. If you've ever seen the Disney/Pixar movie "The Incredibles" you've seen an almost perfect depiction of Mid Century Modern. Have a look at some screen shots from the movie, they've nailed the look. If you haven't seen the movie, I strongly recommend watching it. Not only is a feast for the eyes for Mid Century Modern fans, it's a great story.








Good stuff huh? When I first saw this movie, I decided I wanted a house just like this. For some, you've probably grown up or lived in a house similar to this because that was the current style. So, maybe Mid Century Modern isn't such a big deal to you. I for one, am excited about it's reemergence.

Due to the rise in popularity, a number of our manufacturers have come out with items that reflect this era. Emtek is one brand that has introduced an entire collection called "Mid Century Modern."



They've also got some pretty cool door levers and knobs that fit the Mid Century Modern bill. Below is the Bern knob:

Or how about the Hermes lever:


Really, you should go check out the rest of the Emtek Mid Century Modern cabinet hardware collection. There are some real gems that are not shown in the picture above.

Speaking of gems, look at the design on these house numbers. Both Atlas Homewares and House Art make some incredible house numbers but the design on these two are again, the epitome of Mid Century Modern.







I've shared my favorite design/style. How about you?

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”

Restocking Fees, What?

It's Monday morning and the phones are ringing like crazy, and I'm typing away like a mad woman (I'm pretty sure I can see my fingertips smoking) and then the call comes in. A customer wants to return their order because the finish didn't quite match everything else. I don't mind doing a return on product sometimes it's just not right, but with returns comes restocking fees and that's not always the most pleasant call to take. I'd like to shed some light as to what restocking fees are and why they're charged.

When an order is placed; a person has to manually process the order, the order is sent to the warehouse-someone pulls the order and makes sure it is correct, a different person packs does a double check to make sure it's correct and ships the order to the customer, then the order goes to accounting and gets charged. When an order needs to be returned this process is almost exactly the same just in reverse. Except, someone has to inspect every piece and make sure it's in perfect resalable condition when it comes back. In most cases a return is made to a manufacturer since that it where it is shipped from and they will forward us a copy of the credit memo so that we can issue credit to your card. This process takes a lot of manpower and time to complete.

There are some manufacturers that literally stock hundreds of the same item and the process is fairly simple, but there are a good number of manufacturers that offer one product but with a number of different configurations. When an order is placed with these manufacturers you are essentially getting a custom piece of hardware. These items are assembled to your specifications and if they are returned they need to be disassembled. There are also companies that sell specialized, niche hardware (let's just say a pine cone knob in antique brass) now, this is something that's not going to fit into everyone's home decor like a round satin nickel knob would. Naturally, the stock availability will be much lower on these and when a few sell the manufacturer replenishes their stock. If that item were to come back to them, they would be "overstocked."

I don't like having to enforce these policies, but I can at least understand whey they are charged. There are a few manufacturers that do not charge a restocking fee, but these are a very small number. I do think that restocking fees are a necessary part of doing any kind of business. So, what type of restocking fees am I talking about exactly?

Our policy on The Hardware Hut is that if the item is something that is stocked here in our warehouse and it is perfect when we receive it (original packaging, no scratches, dents, other signs of use) then we will not assess a restocking fee(there are a couple of exceptions). The majority of items on our site are shipped directly from manufacturers and we have to enforce their restocking policy. The polices are displayed via link on every single product on our site. These restocking fee policies vary anywhere from 5% to 35% depending on the manufacturer. Just to give you an idea of where we are on the spectrum of internet hardware retailers, I have scoured all of our major competitors websites and looked at their policies. Here is a sampling of what is out there:

"Samples cannot be returned-25% restocking fee on all items. No returns on special order items."
"Return must be over $60.00"
"Refund of store credit valid for 6 months-25% restocking fee."
"No returns on opened packages-if shipping was free at the time of purchase, credit will be issued after restocking fees and the original shipping expense is assessed."
"Stock items 15%, non stock items 25%-30%"

One site has a 20%-40% and most sites have a flat 25% restocking fee on all items(with a few exceptions). There were also three sites that I could not locate their return policy at all (and I think I'm pretty internet savvy.)

After looking through these other sites, I'd have to say we're right in line with the rest of the industry. As a consumer myself, I'm always comparison shopping on what my best value is and what my repercussions are if it doesn't work out. I think a lot of sites try to conceal what there policies are, but I feel it's so much easier on everyone if it's all out in the open. Not only are our policies displayed on each item, but there is a link in the shopping cart, and there is a ton of helpful information in our FAQ section. With that, I hope you've become better educated consumers. That way there are no surprises, regardless of where you shop online. If you have any questions or need clarification feel free to contact me.

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”

Can I Have A Standard Car Please?

A standard car, what's that? There's no such thing as a standard car, they're all different.
Welcome to hardware 101. The term standard should almost be obsolete in the hardware world because there are very few things that are standard in the industry.

I'm going to discuss door hardware and the options that are available so when you're ready to order you'll be armed with information. On a door there are typically hinges and a lock of some sort. "How many options could there be?" you say, on door hinges for a typical home you have to choose which finish you want, what size you want, and what type of corner you need.

Finishes are pretty easy to figure out, but for the corners you have 3 choices. The self explanatory choice would be square corner, the second choice is a 1/4in. radius, and the last choice is a 5/8in. radius. Here is a drawing that depicts all three options.

Also, a quick easy way to determine your radius is to hold up a dime and a quarter to the corner and see which one fits the best.

On the door locks, it gets a little more complicated. You have to choose which function you need. The different functions for interior doors are Privacy (there is a push button on the inside of the door that allows you to lock it,) Passage (the knob or lever turns but does not lock,) and a Dummy (the knob or lever does not move at all, and it gets screwed onto the face of the door.) Not only do you have to choose the function, but on the locks that move you have to choose the backset. A backset is the measurement of the distance from the edge of your door to the center of the bore hole that your knob or lever goes into. The most common backsets in the US are either 2-3/8in. or 2-3/4in. Here is a diagram to show you where to measure.

For exterior doors the functions are a Keyed knob or lever (there is a key built into the knob or lever and a push/turn button on the inside,) a Single Cylinder Deadbolt (a key on the outside and a turn knob in the inside,) and a Double Cylinder Deadbolt (a key on both the outside and the inside.)

Another option that you will need to know would be the door handing, the easiest way to determine handing is to stand on the outside of the door and look at the hinges. The key is to always be on the outside, if the hinges are on the Right you would order a right hand lock and if the hinges are on the Left you would order a left hand lock. This honestly is the easiest way to figure it out. Many people use different methods, and tell you that the direction the door swings matters but I think it only makes it more complicated.

Last would be door thickness. A "standard" door- scratch that, a "typical" residential door is either 1-3/8in. or 1-3/4in. thick. All residential locks come equipped to fit either of those sizes. Occasionally, you'll have an entry door that will be thicker and some manufacturers make a thick door kit to accommodate those.

Erica
“Leave the Details to Us”