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.

Ann Sacks discovers wood

The great Ann Sacks has been experimenting with some new materials and the result is as stunning as everything else they touch.

The first thing up is a collection of carved teak wall tile that goes by the name Indah. Indah means beautiful in Indonesian. There's a clear Indonesian influence at work here, and it's not just the material that's driving it. This collection is Indonesia through western eyes and the effect is stunning. To these western eyes at any rate.

12" x 12"

circles

12" x 12"

thumbprint

12" x 12"

weave

12" x 12"

acanthus leaf

12" x 12"

banana leaf

12" x 12"

horizontal lines

12" x 12"

horizontal waves

Not to rest on their laurels, Ann Sacks has another, smaller collection in wood too. The second collection is called Bosque. Bosque uses FSC-certified Eastern Walnut, Brazilia Cherry Jatoba or Caribbean Teak Chichipate and everything's finished in low-VOC sealers. Here are some examples from the Bosque collection.

2" x 8" low, medium and high fields in eastern black walnut

4" x 4" low, medium and high fields in caribbean teak chichipate

4" x 4" pillow field in caribbean teak chichipate

Beautiful stuff all of it.

As a side note, Ann Sacks' landing page is featuring their Beau Monde collection right now.

Beau Monde is conceived and manufactured by Sara Baldwin, a great friend of this blog. Brava Sara! So go feast your eyes on some Beau Monde after you're finished checking out Ann Sacks' other great discovery --wood.

I still love you Sherwin-Williams

Despite the mixed reception this latest round of color forecasts received, Sherwin-Williams remains my go-to paint brand when it comes to specifying room colors. Their paints are of exceptional quality and the specifying tools they provide me make finding the colors I need a snap. They have been on a real roll on the advertising front lately too. Check out their new TV spot, Bees.




It's the follow up to this gem, Paint Chips Animated.




And just to get a feel for their roots, here's a great one from 1966.




I like the new spot, Bees, even more than I did the original paint chips spot. I think it's the song that makes this one so enjoyable. Anybody know anything about who wrote it and who's performing it?

If you missed this past week's Sherwin-Williams color forecast roundup, I encourage you to go back and give them a look-see. Feel free to weigh in in the comments that follow. And remember, despite how that went, I still love you Sherwin-Williams.

Sherwin-Williams' 2011 color forecast, part four: the last word

Here's the final palette of the four palettes that made up Sherwin-Williams' 2011 color forecast. I reviewed the previous three on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. To reprise, the palettes are called Bold Invention

Purely Refined,

Gentle Medley

and finally, we come to Restless Nomad. Here's the inspiration image.

Ahhh, finally. Something with some life to it. According to Sherwin-Williams, Restless Nomad can be summed up like this:

Thanks to the Internet, everyone now has a passport to wander the world, soaking up its flavors, images and colors, and stirring them into an eclectic global design stew. Morocco and Turkey are making their presence felt, but there’s no need to stop there. Today’s adventurers feel free to sample from anywhere and everywhere, pairing Persian paisleys with exotic animal skins and Indonesian batiks. Colors, too, wander all over the palette: from dusky darks, to hot vibrant pinks and reds, to earthy food-influenced hues that evoke eggplants and cabbages.

Sherwin-Williams took the following cultural cues to wrap up into this palette. They are:

• Ethnic patterns
• Exotic animal skins
• Aged leather
• Patchwork and tapestries
• Moroccan and Turkish influences

I approve of this palette and the influences behind it. I think it's both lively and original. None of this is new, but it's been reinterpreted with a real edge. As with some of these palettes, this palette is broken into primary colors and support colors. The stars of Restless Nomad are:

SW 7602 Indigo Batik

SW 6551 Purple Passage

SW 6300 Burgundy

SW 6395 Alchemy

SW 6109 Hopsack

SW 6840 Exuberant Pink

SW 6354 Armagnac

SW 6691 Glitzy Gold

SW 7663 Monorail Silver

And in a supporting role, I present to you:

SW 6166 Eclipse

SW 6865 Gypsy Red

I wonder if this is the first step toward the rehabilitation of the color burgundy. Hmmm. With that aside, I think they nailed this one. Feel free to disagree if you're so inclined. I like the color mix here, I like the level of saturation and most of all I like the cultural influences they've identified and distilled into this palette. Kelly James there's purple here and Raina Cox they mentioned Morocco so be nice. What do the rest of you guys think? How well did Sherwin-Williams in part four of 2011 color forecast?

Sherwin-Williams' 2011 color forecast, part three

What follows is the third of four color palettes Sherwin-Williams published recently as a forecast to what they see as emerging trends for next year. I profiled the first one on Tuesday, the second one on Wednesday, feel free to go back and review them.

Sherwin-Williams is calling this third palette Gentle Medley and here's the inspiration image that sums up the palette.

In Sherwin-Williams' own words:

Hard times call for soft colors: the hint of green in a spring leaf bud; the chalky blush of a seashell; the time-etched beauty of a vintage fabric or photograph. Fashion has turned a romantic, nostalgic corner, bringing pastels and parchment-pale neutrals back into the palette. The hues are innocent without being sweet — flirty, yet not feminine. They reflect not just a yearning for youthful innocence and gentler times, but also a refreshing honesty and lack of pretension that are thoroughly modern.

I'm calling this one the Apartment Therapy palette. It's not really a dig so much as it's an observation that this palette's aimed squarely at a youthful demographic that doesn't include me. There's a nostalgia at work here, a nostalgia for a time I remember from having experienced it first hand. As interesting as the 1970s were, they were troubled times and the unfortunate aesthetic sensibilities popular then make me wince when I remember them.

This palette takes the following cues Sherwin-Williams identified as ascendant trends.

• Vintage florals
• Dragonfly, butterfly and leaf motifs
• Mismatched flea-market finds
• Hand-tinted photos
• Maps

I'm not seeing this one at all and it pains me to write that. I have a brand loyalty to Sherwin-Williams that won't quit and though this palette hasn't changed that in any way, I can't shake the sense that this is a palette I can't relate to.

Here are the colors. As with yesterday's palette, today's is split into primary and support colors. I'll start with the primaries.

SW 6121 Whole Wheat

SW 6086 Sand Dune

SW 6463 Breaktime

SW 0073 Chartreuse

SW 6353 Chivalry Copper

SW 6442 Supreme Green

And in a supporting role

SW 7743 Mountain Road

SW 7509 Tiki Hut

So, what do you guys make of this one? I'm trying to generate some enthusiasm but it's just not coming. I could see Tuesday's Bold Invention and yesterday's Purely Refined, even if they didn't resonate with me but this one's escaping me all together. I'm not questioning Sherwin-Williams' research and I don't doubt for a second that these colors are an identifiable trend. It's just that they leave me cold. Copper and minty green are an unsettling color combination regardless of time or trend. So who's with me or am I just out of touch?

Mercifully, tomorrow's palette is one I can get behind but I think this one strikes out. How does Sherwin-Williams' Gentle Medley forecast land with you?