January 2011


Cabinet Knobs – Flower Themes For Spring

By Jennifer Akre

 

  If you are looking for a quick way to add color and freshen up your home when spring approaches consider making small changes that can have a big impact on the room. Changing out the knobs on your cabinets is an easy but very effective way to bring color and a fresh look into the room.

You can also change them out on your kitchen, bathroom, and any other cabinets in the house as well. It’s a quick and relatively inexpensive way to make a big visual change to a room.

There are a wide variety of cabinet knobs available at your local hardware stores and also available online; but there are a few things you might want to consider before making your final purchase.

Size of Knob

When shopping for new cabinet knobs don’t necessarily look for ones that match the size of your existing ones. Think about selecting new versions that are slightly larger than the ones you have; a larger cabinet knob will make more of a visual impact.

Type of Knob

With the wide variety of available cabinet knobs, you will have a great many to choose from. There are ceramic, wooden, metal, and even plastic options available. Be sure that what you select are a good quality.

Size of Screw

If possible, take one of your existing cabinet knobs and its screw with you to the hardware store; this will allow you to measure the existing screw with those of the new ones. Matching the screw size will ensure that your new knobs will be an easy install. If at all possible, try to avoid the need to expand the existing holes for them on the cabinet doors.

Colors

The whole concept of changing the knobs on your cabinets is to bring seasonal color into the room, so don’t be afraid to pick colors that stand out and bring attention to themselves.

If you have white cabinet doors think about vivid red porcelain cabinet knobs, or bright white ceramic options with bright red flowers painted on them. Don’t be afraid to be bold with your choices. The spring season is all about bright colors and making a large impact with seasonal floral colors.

Note: If your cabinets are a dark cherry color you might struggle with selecting an appropriate color of cabinet knob. Consider, instead, selecting a black metal cabinet knob with an intricate floral pattern.

Shopping

Your local Decorative Hardware store will have a wide variety of cabinet knobs for you to choose from.  Alternatively, you can shop online; there are several websites devoted simply to cabinets and cabinet hardware. Just remember to be specific about the size of the screw.

This is a great project for someone with little to no DIY knowledge; additionally, changing your cabinet knobs is a fast and easy way to make a great seasonal change to the various cabinets in your home. With a few minutes of effort you can make-over your kitchen, or bathroom cabinets with them.

 

Visit us at: www.KnobsHingesandMore.com

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Helpful Tips When Buying Door Levers

By James A Jackson

 

An excellent means of updating the look of your home is by choose new door levers. Interestingly, little thought is given to this particular door hardware yet when a more modern, exotic, or interesting lever is installed, it quickly becomes the first thing people see. Today, the vast selection of door handles is not designed simply for functionality but also aesthetics. Manufacturers of door hardware have taken the demand of consumers seriously and in return, created some of the most stunning designs imaginable. Literally any style home, room decorum, or personal preference could be complemented with door levers now being offered on the market.

Before going out to buy just any door lever, it would be important to consider any unique architectural features of the home. Additionally, while the decor of the room would be an important consideration, you also want to focus on choices that would enhance any new decor you might choose in the future, as well as what potential homeowners would be most attracted to if you plan to sell the home within the next few years. Even the door itself would be a factor in the decision-making process in that you want the door lever to blend in with the style.

Typically as you look around, you will discover that door levers, as well as other types of door hardware are broken down by category to include antique, vintage, country, contemporary, classic, European, etc. However, one category that offers a multitude of possibilities regardless of the architectural features of the home or room decor is transitional. This style incorporates elements of both old and new so the lever designs would blend in beautifully with a period home or an ultra modern home recently built.

Although the aesthetics of door handles and levers are a major part of choosing, be sure the lever provides the needed functionality. For instance, door levers come in both right and left-handed designs, some feature a locking mechanism and some are simply stationary levers used more for appearance. It would also be beneficial to purchase door levers of the same style, material, and finish throughout the home. With this, the lever would complement each room but also provide a cohesive look, which is cleaner.

The material and finish of the door lever will also make a bold statement or provide a more subtle look. Remember, some of the door hardware now being designed and sold is truly a masterpiece. Therefore, if you want a particular room or door to stand out where the door lever actually becomes a focal point, then you would go with something more dramatic. The list of materials and finishes used for door hardware is long but the most popular choices include brushed nickel, antique brass, pewter, and satin stainless steel.

Finally, you want to know your budget prior to starting the shopping journey. After all, knowing the cap of what you can spend would steer you away from more expensive door levers. Just because you may be somewhat limited financially does not mean the level of options would decrease. Manufacturers of door hardware have hundreds and hundreds of different options to fit within any budget while creating a gorgeous door and home without spending a fortune.

 

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How to Purchase a Correctly Sized Floor Register

By Samuel Crasnick

 

What is a Floor Register?

There is often some great confusion when it comes to floor registers. There happen to be plenty of synonyms for them. Here’s a list of some other common terms you may have heard floor registers referred to as:

Floor Registers are the grates you often see that are attached to the end of an air duct. Their purpose is to control the amount of air flow into a room. Most commonly, floor registers are found on the floor, toward the wall. However, there are variations that can be installed on the wall or ceiling. These are known as wall registers and ceiling registers respectively.

How a Floor Register Works

There are two main components to a floor register. The grate is the first part, which serves mostly as decoration. It also keeps things from falling into an air duct. The damper box is the second part of a floor register. The function of the damper box is to control the air flow. This is done using a lever that connects to the damper box and extends out to the grate. For wall or ceiling registers, there will be small holes on the grate to keep it secure.

Floor Register Measurement

Measuring your opening size is your first step. The opening size is the hole in the floor (or wall/ceiling, etc.) in which you will fit the floor register. You will use this measurement for the size of the damper box. The grate itself overlaps with the damper box slightly, so it becomes flush with the floor. Usually, the grate will extend about 1.25 ” past the opening. The grate size varies, but the opening size is the more crucial measurement. So, for instance, if your opening size is 6″ x 10″, you’re grille size will be around 7.25″ x 11.25″.

Where to Get Floor Registers

There are plenty of online sources to pick up a few floor registers for your home decoration project. Hopefully, after reading this guide you’ll be able to confidently order the correct size. Sometimes you’ll find that you can not find your particular size floor register. Luckily, many manufacturers offer custom floor registers to match your size.

 

Visit us at: www.KnobsHingesandMore.com

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Beyond Functional – Kitchen Cabinet Pulls As Art

By Jennifer Akre

All you need to do to outfit your cabinets with a set of kitchen cabinet pulls is to wander into your local home improvement store. The aisle containing in-stock kitchen cabinet pulls gives you plenty of options, in many styles and materials. Chances are, you can stop in at the store once and buy the couple dozen or so pieces of hardware you need in a style you like. If you want, it’s possible to decide to do this project in the morning, and have it finished after lunch.

If, however, you want to take on this project and turn it into something artistic, creative, or exotic, you have a wealth of sources to tap into. There’s a wide selection of kitchen cabinet pulls on the Internet that you won’t likely see anywhere in your neighborhood.

If you want to stay on the traditional side of artistic kitchen hardware, you might want to check out the kitchen cabinet pulls in cast metal. Yes, metal pulls are available in abundant choices from the most popular manufacturers, but when you dig deeper, you can find gorgeous, unique tiny sculptures for kitchen cabinet pulls. For example, if you have a tropical décor that you would like to carry into your kitchen, you can purchase a set of bronze Macaws, tinted in realistic colors, to perch on the front of your cabinet doors. If you have a favorite flower, you can select Art Nouveau-inspired, cast metal kitchen cabinet pulls displaying roses, poppies, or my personal favorite, irises. Or if you love the balanced geometry of Craftsman design, you can find brass and enamel (either in black, or in a palate of coordinated colors) kitchen cabinet pulls that draw from these classic designs.

Many craft artists are drawn to glass as their media. Glass can be molded and coaxed into graceful shapes – and, the colors! If celebrating color and displaying color moves you, glass gives you as many options as you can imagine. No wonder there are so many glass kitchen cabinet pulls available from crafts artists.

One line of glass kitchen cabinet pulls mirror the sheets of swirled, colored glass used by stained glass artists. A single bar-shaped pull shows streaks of brilliant blue, neon yellow, or glowing green. Similar kitchen cabinet pulls have simple white and black glass backgrounds, but are sprinkled with glass “confetti” in contrasting colors.

If you’re a fan of Venetian glass, you’ll recognize the joyful designs in a set of millefiori kitchen cabinet pulls. Millefiori, meaning “a thousand flowers” in Italian, is a glass design created by fusing wire-thin rods of glass into clusters, then collecting these clusters and fusing them into larger blocks of glass. When the glass is sliced, the clusters of tiny glass rods resemble flowers. Simple metal pulls embedded with millefiori beads and other blown-glass beads turn the functional into a work of art.

Some craft artists find inspiration from exotic fabrics, rich jewels, and combinations of shapes. One beautiful collection of kitchen cabinet pulls makes use of satiny paint finishes, Swarovski crystals, and stacked cubes, discs, and cones. Are they bonbons? Are they flowers from another planet? Are they treasures stolen from a sheik’s private treasure trove?

Do you admire stained glass windows? You don’t need to add one to your house to enjoy them in your home. You can buy tiny kitchen cabinet knobs that resemble tiny church windows, pieced together like a miniature glass puzzle. Bright colors, subtle metallics, and dichriotic and fused glass treatments make bold artistic statements in a mere 1 ½ inches.

Avoid the mundane. Consider the exotic.

 

Look for Adagio Glass Art,Sietto,Windborne Studios,Te-Ma

 

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Atlas Homewares Old World Collection Cabinet Bin / Cup Pull 3""cc

Atlas Homewares Old World Collection Cabinet Bin / Cup Pull 3""cc

Cabinet Hardware – Just the Thing to Refresh the Look of Those Dreary Cabinets of Yours

        By Jennifer Akre

      When it comes to the cabinets in your kitchen, are you happy with what you see? If the answer to that was no, then it might be time to refresh their look a bit and cabinet hardware is the perfect way for you to do just that.

Cabinet hardware allows you to change up the look of your cabinetry without having to spend a lot of time, money, or effort doing it. Unlike big refurbishing projects that could take weeks or months since you have to sand and repaint or restain things, all you have to do is remove the old fixtures on your cabinets and then replace it with new ones.

The reason cabinet hardware can refresh the appearance of your cabinets is because it actually is extremely appealing to the eye. What makes it appealing to the eye is the multiple ways in which it can be styled. For example, you can purchase something that has a very antique appearance filled with stunning ornamentation. Or, you can something that has more of a traditional style to it that is more on the simpler side of things. Along with those, there are a slew of other stylish choices as well including modern, contemporary, art deco, colonial, and transitional style choices.

How can there be so many style options? Well, it is because cabinet hardware can be built from all sorts of materials while sporting a number of magnificent finishes. For instance, the one that has an antique appearance might be made of bronze featuring an oil rubbed finish and elegant pointing ends. Or, the one that has more of a traditional look could be crafted from brass with a straight design and a polished finish. Some of the other materials they can also be made from include porcelain, plastic, and ceramic while some of the other finishes include hand painted designs and other metal coatings.

When buying new cabinet hardware to replace the old on your cabinets, remember to get everything that you need. That will include not only purchasing new knobs and pulls, but you will also need to buy hinges and any other fixtures that might be visible with one of those being drawer slides. Sure, for most of the time these things are covered up when the drawer is closed, however, when the drawer is open, people will have a chance to see them and if they do not match, then things will look a bit on the awkward side.

To easily look into all the cabinet hardware options that are available, the thing to do is to go online for some comparison shopping. You can look at what all the online stores have to offer without having to leave the comfort of your home. Plus, what you do purchase will be sent right to you.

So, if you want to change up the look of your cabinets a bit in your kitchen, even bathroom, turn to cabinet hardware to do it. There are many fine options that will be sure to please

Visit us at : www.KnobsHingesandMore.com

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Gayle Bright Decorative Cabinet Knob Hummingbird Knob Right

Unique Decorative Hardware For the Kitchen

By Ryan Frank

 

The kitchen is probably one of the places where hardware pieces really get to stand out. There are so many cabinet doors and drawers that the knobs, pull handles and kitchens are constantly being used, markedly visible and often in motion. Decorative hardware has often been referred to as the “work horse” of interior design, as it is one of the most crucial elements of a functioning home, and yet its predominance is what makes decorative hardware easy to overlook as just a functional aspect of the home. But hardware has a huge effect on the style of any room, and in the kitchen especially so. If you want your decorative kitchen hardware to truly stand out in a unique way, check out some of these inspired pieces of decorative kitchen hardware.

Wooden Hardware

Wooden decorative hardware is not one of the most popular options for hardware today, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t be striking. In fact, wooden pulls and handles can add a great, rustic flavor to your kitchen, making it feel warm and welcoming; plus, wooden hardware can provide heat insulation for increased safety.

Victorian and Antique Styles

Antique hardware styles can add a great, old-world flavor to your kitchen. Victorian decorative hardware is especially eye-catching and perfect if your overall kitchen decor includes an antique or flowery motif.

Unique Metal Hardware

If you have a sleek, modern kitchen, there are a ton of unique metal, and especially brass, hardware options you can pick from to add flavor to your kitchen design. From minimalist but colorful Art Deco styles to modernist and post-modernist pulls and doorknobs, metal hardware can make a kitchen look smooth, elegant and hip. There are also many customized metal hardware designs that can go with a specific design theme.

Inlaid Stones

Decorative hardware with inlaid stones can be the ideal accent for your kitchen drawers and cabinet doors. There is a wide variety of styles and colors to pick from. Inlaid stone hardware, if used tastefully (meaning not overbearingly) can add a touch of old world elegance to your kitchen’s decorative hardware styles.

Visit us at: www.KnobsHingesandMore.com

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