02 August 2010

Life's too short for cheap hardware

Schaub and Company, the Michigan-based purveyor of amazing hardware, just released some new collections and one of them features a new material for them, art glass. The collection is called Ice and here it is.


Its companion collection, Fire, follows here.




I wax rhapsodic about Schaub's offerings from time to time and it's a pleasure to be one of their resellers. Schaub and Company has a long history of producing unusually beautiful hardware. So much so that they are alone at the top of their field when it comes to knobs and handles designed and produced with such care.

What drew me to them originally was this series, Branches, that uses Swarovki crystals and black pearls. Any company who can produce this can produce anything so far as I'm concerned.


From Branches, Schaub and Company have moved on to revive the dying art of semi-precious inlays. Check out the pen shell in these crabs from the Neptune Designs collection.


People refer to decorative hardware as House Jewelry and Schaub's taken that to heart with their Heirloom Treasures collection.


 




They're not kidding.

So when Schaub and Company releases something like this Northport collection, I pay attention.


Good hardware should last a lifetime and its use isn't limited to your kitchen cabinets. I can see those Heirloom Treasures on an armoire or a buffet and my dresser is screaming for that Northport square knob in Polished Nickel.

So remember two things when it's time to think about this stuff. Remember to spend some time with Schaub and Company but above all, remember that life's too short for cheap hardware.

12 comments:

  1. Those are gorgeous, Paul. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. My pleasure Zoe, I love this stuff.

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  3. This sort of thing is, of course, completely subjective, but I think the most of this is too ornate for my tastes. I much prefer a simpler design for hardware on my cabinetry.

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  4. Of course it's subjective. The minimalist here cannot imagine using those Heirloom Treasures in something I designed any time soon. But anybody who can handle something that complicated can handle the simple exceptionally. The Northport collection above is a study in simplicity.

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  5. Christine: I have never seen Branches on anything other than a sample board. One of these days I'll work with somebody who's game.

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  6. No argument from me Paul, these are beautiful!
    Though I am an admirer of pearls, crystal, and mother of pearl my favourite has to be the 'art glass' collection.

    As a Kitchen Designer with respect to gold verses silver hardware, are you seeing any change in demand? -Brenda-

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  7. I keep hearing that brass and gold are coming back but I'm not seeing it in the trenches. Everything's still matte nickel (meh) or chrome (hurray!).

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  8. My pleasure Brenda, any time.

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  9. Those are beautiful pieces! I'm currently in the middle of a remodel and will definitely keep those in mind while working on our kitchen!
    Please check out my blog at http://www.jarretttcamp.com/
    I'd love to hear what you think!

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  10. just realized i posted the wrong URL to my blog!

    it's http://home-remodel.posterous.com/

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  11. Good save! I almost deleted your comment and accused you of being a content farm. Great idea for a blog, I'll spend some time with it later. How do you like Posterous as a platform? Thanks for your comment and I'm intrigued by what you do for a living...

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