Great gobs of glass

The national tartan of Cornwall

Glass cabinet and door knobs are some of my perennial favorites. There's an art to them of course and a well made glass knob is a piece of art so far as I'm concerned.

It's no big secret that I love Twitter and one of last weekends great finds was Merlin Glass. Merlin Glass is the project of Liam Carey. Liam's been working with glass in Cornwall, UK for the last 30 years and he's specialized in knobs and handles for the last 15.

Liam's work is done by hand entirely and everything is made to order. This is a Cornish craftsman who brings art to every day and for that he deserves a round of applause.

Here are some of his cabinet knobs.

And here are some of his door knobs.

Liam calls these his Love Handles.

Amazing stuff and he works with people all over the world. You can see the rest of his wares and contact him via his website.

Let me off in the Bronze Age

Six thousand years ago, an unknown and enterprising tradesman of the Elamite city of Susa combined copper and tin in a crucible and ushered in a new age of human development. It was the dawn of the bronze age and the Elamites were the first people to leave the stone age behind. Bronze was the first metal alloy devised by anyone, in Elam or anywhere else, and the technology to make and use it spread outward from what's now Iran and it eventually circled the globe. Its two component metals, copper and tin, almost never occur near one another and making bronze required trade with other civilizations. So ancient people found it to be not only useful, it also made them talk to their neighbors.

Bronze had a relatively low melting point, it resisted corrosion, it could be made into as many shapes as could be imagined and it was made from materials that were in ready supply in the Middle East. Bronze remained the go-to material until the beginning of the iron age, some three thousand years later. Bronze never lost its usefulness and human beings have been making and appreciating bronze for six thousand years and counting.

I can't think of a metal that feels as good as bronze does. It has a nearly velvety feel to it and that comes from the surface corrosion that results from the copper in bronze reacting to oxygen in the air. Bronze has the unique ability to stop corroding as soon as its surface has a layer of copper oxide coating it. It lasts forever and actually looks better over time.

I'm fortunate to sell a line of cabinetry hardware from Schaub and Company in Grand Rapids, MI. Schaub sells some of the finest hardware I can think of and when Tom the Schaub rep comes calling it's like Christmas. Schaub and Company approaches what they do with the care and precision of jewelers and they do a lot with bronze. Tom's visit yesterday afternoon didn't disappoint.

This is a collection called Vinci, and it features some pretty modern shapes in an ancient metal. Well sign me up. I knew I was going to love it before he even unwrapped his sample kit.

These handles and knobs come in two finishes and the handles come in five sizes. Measured center to center, the handles come in four-inch, six-inch, 12-inch, and 18-inch cabinet handle and then a chunkier 18-inch appliance handle. The knobs come in two square sizes and the entire collection is available in two finishes, antique bronze and polished white bronze.

Polished white bronze is an almost mirror finish on a roughly cast modern shape. It's sensory overload and my new favorite handle.

As if it weren't beautiful enough already, the entire Vinci collection is unlacquered and has what's called a living finish. I wrote a series on living finishes last winter in response to a reader request that I come up with a definitive answer. I came up with three definitive answers and you can read them here, here and here.

A living finish means that the surface will continue to change color with time and exposure to the elements. This takes time and it provides true character to a metal finish. Your life leaves a mark on a living finish and the idea of my leaving a mark on an inanimate, decorative object is something that appeals to me on a really basic level. It's for that same reason that I like marble counters so much. I'll take character over something that looks pristine any day and believe it or not, I kind of like my crow's feet too.

Anyhow, this new Vinci bronze collection from Schaub and Company has given me one more thing to love about their hardware. Poke around on their site, there's enough there to appeal to just about everybody.

Life's too short for cheap hardware

I had a conversation with a client about hardware yesterday. Hardware in the sense of cabinet knobs and pulls, door hardware's another animal all together. Anyhow, I told him that if he doesn't know what constitutes "good" hardware he shouldn't learn or he'll never look at a cabinet knob the same way again. I was joking of course, I think everyone should have an idea of why things cost what they do and what separates the good stuff from the dreck.

There is a world of difference between a dollar knob at Home Depot and $30 knob from me. There's more to it than the fact that I have a dog in this race too.

Good cabinet hardware comes from foundries where solid metals are turned into art. Not good cabinet hardware is cast in a cheap alloy and then plated in whatever the finish du jour is. Trust me, that dollar knob only looks like brass.

I'm fortunate to sell good hardware from Schaub and Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Schaub designs and sells some of what I say is the best hardware in the business. Schaub doesn't shy away from getting creative and they do some really amazing and unexpected things with shell inlays and semi-precious stones.

This Branches series is from their Symphony collection. They are not for everybody, but for the right person, nothing else will do. Schaub uses black pearls and crystals in these handles and knobs and they have to be seen to be believed.

This series, also from the Symphony collection, uses shell inlays in a nouveau Art Nouveau style I like.

Here's a continuation from the same collection.

And a little more shell inlay here. The crab knobs are my favorite. What a great idea to use pen shell inlays to form a crab shell. Those crabs are gorgeous and light-hearted at the same time.

When I'm looking at the offerings of a hardware supplier, the first thing I look for is whether or not they work with bronze. I'm no metallurgist, but as I understand it, bronze is a more difficult metal to work with. Like brass, it's an alloy of copper and zinc, but bronze is a more dense metal. For my money though, nothing looks or feels like it. It's also nearly impossible to produce cheaply. The presence of bronze in a hardware collection is an indicator of quality.

Bronze hardware is usually really rustic-looking but it needn't be. Schaub just rolled out a new collection of modern-ish bronze handles and I think I'm in love. Again.

This is the co-ordinated knob. Ahhhhhh.

Of course, Schaub does a really good job with truly modern and contemporary stuff too.

I searched for years to find a good hardware supplier and I settled on Schaub and Company about two years ago. For my money, nobody else had as well-rounded a range and though no one will ever accuse them of being cheap, their hardware packs a lot of value into their price point. This is hardware for the long haul.

I'm attracted by shiny objects

I've been syncing to a mid-century vibe for the last couple of days and I came across some neat hardware on the site, Satellite.

Satellite is a division of the lighting and hardware purveyor Rejuvenation, and Satellite is where they put their campier offerings that don't quite jibe with the more serious note Rejuvenation's usually aiming to strike.

When you see the whole collection and the layout of the Satellite website, it does strike a more whimsical chord and there are times when that's a welcome thing indeed. Who am I kidding? I love this stuff. I think my favorite thing about doing what I do for a living is that I get to wallow in whatever styles strike me at any given time and I never have to make a decision or live with the results.

I think this is the coolest door knob I've ever seen. 

And if that weren't enough, this door knob coordinates with these Art Deco knobs and pulls.

This cabinet knob reminds me of Sputnik.

And this my friends, is the mailbox I've been waiting for my whole life.

That's just the hardware, get a load of their lighting. Chrome is back kids. Believe it!

More marvelous marble

Here are some detail shots from my current favorite project. I rarely get to design something that I would like for myself, but this kitchen hits so many of my buttons at one time I can't help but to slobber all over it every time I visit this job site. This marble is Italian Carrera and I have never seen slabs of Carrera with this many other colors in it. I can't keep my hands to myself! The cabinetry is Medallion Cabinetry's Platinum inset in a dark-stained cherry. The Carrera counters are from Custom Marble Works in Tampa and the hardware's from Restoration Hardware, believe it or not.

Cheap Fixes: Next up, new hardware

OK, I know I keep promising to write about how to paint cabinetry but I consider that major surgery and before we get to that point, there may be a less invasive option around. In fact I know there is and it's one you can accomplish in time for Christmas.

A lot of times, you can give your existing kitchen a new lease on life (or at least a stay of execution) by following my step one, scrub and purge; and then following it up with my step two, replacing the hardware.

In cabinet land, when we talk about hardware we mean knobs and pulls. I can supplement my income pretty well by selling gorgeous and spendy hardware from a couple of hardware foundries around the US. Good hardware is expensive for a reason. And one of the reasons is that you won't be replacing it any time soon. If you don't know what constitutes good hardware, do yourself a favor and don't learn until you're ready to spring for the good stuff. The thrill of a cheap fix is lost completely when you know you're short-changing yourself.

With that said, I think My favorite source for inexpensive cabinet hardware is an online hardware store called Lee Valley Hardware. Lee Valley has to have the largest selection and the best prices I've ever seen for this stuff. Lee Valley sells knock offs of the good stuff and they price it accordingly. Unlike a couple of home centers I know.

Anyhow, when you're replacing your hardware you have to match exactly the holes that have already been drilled in your cabinet doors and drawer fronts. Knobs are easy; a hole is a hole, right? That's usually true. Most knobs have a standard mounting bolt and you can swap them out without too much trouble.

Handles are a whole other animal though. The spread of a handle is the distance between the center point of the first hole and the center point of the second hole. When you're buying new handles, you must match that dimension exactly. To complicate matters further, most cheap stuff is imported from all over the world and the rest of the world uses the metric system. If you go through Lee Valley's handle selections, you'll see that about half of them are in metric dimensions.

Worldwide Metric has a great metric system calculator on their website. It will come in handy believe me.

Scattered across this page today are some of the selections from Lee Valley. There's a fair amount of dreck on that site, but there are enough gems to make it worthwhile to spend some time with them. Everything I'm showing here today has a retail price range between $3 and $7 apiece. Now that's what I call a cheap fix!

Glass knobs from Restoration Hardware, response to a reader

A reader posted a comment yesterday after my posting about Restoration Hardware's glass knobs. Ming wanted to know what kind of a design would dictate the use of glass knobs. Well, here's a look at a rendering of the project where the glass knobs will go.

This is a butler's pantry located between a formal dining room and a kitchen in an older home. It's a true butlers pantry because it will be used to store dishes, linens, silverware, and serving pieces. Technically, a butler's pantry is a small room used for storing the stuff you'd use to entertain, and they're also used to stage and clean up after dinners.

This one has a dishwasher and an icemaker in it and so that real china can be stored in the wall cabinets, each of the wall cabinets is 16 inches deep. The standard depth of a wall cabinet is 12" deep and that's not enough depth to be able to stack large plates. If you're planning a remodel some time, add some deeper wall cabinets, butler's pantry or no butler's pantry. You'll be glad you did.

Those wall cabinets have a pretty distinctive, Mission-style mullion over clear glass. The cabinetry is an inset style from Medallion Cabinetry called Winslow and they have been painted an off-white color called white chocolate.

When it's up to me, I always put knobs on doors and handles on drawers. If it's a wide drawer, I'll use two handles per drawer. So in this case, here's that knob again:

And wouldn't you know it, those clever kids at Restoration Hardware have a companion handle:

Now because the butler's pantry is in a room separate from the kitchen, it's in a different, though somewhat complimentary style as the kitchen. The kitchen sort of looks like this but not really:

That photo is from Medallion, the kitchen and butler's pantry I'm working on is still in the concept phase though the construction ought to start on it at some point before Thanksgiving.

Oh my Restoration Hardware I am heartily sorry

I am sorry for looking down my nose at you all these years for being a retailer. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

I've been on a quest to find glass knobs for the last couple of weeks and I found this at Restoration Hardware of all places. Check it out.

It's my new favorite glass knob in the world and even more shocking is the fact that it retails for a mere $11. It's perfect and that thing allowed me to save the day and look like a hero. Unbelievable. Who's going to save me next? Pottery Barn? Geez I hope not.

Part two of my hardware quest of the last few weeks has been finding an affordable cabinet door latch. I know where to go find them  for about a hundred bucks a pop but for $14? Forget about it. Until now that is. Check this out:

That's also from Restoration Hardware. I hate being wrong, but I can be a man about it and admit it when I'm confronted with overwhelming evidence. My trip to Restoration Hardware provided me with a hint that I may not know everything after all.

Can I order my crow any way I want it or or is it a case where I'll have to eat whatever's placed in front of me?