 |
||||
Pull Your Home Together Back in the day, it was a simple task to select a finish for door pulls, handles, hardware and fixtures. No more. Now, start early – and bring a color wheel.  Colors and curves: Vintage earth tones and a variety of bronzes are some of the popular colors making their way into kitchens on the sleek designs of cabinetry hardware. Image courtesy Baldwin Somehow it was all so much easier in the old days: television was black and white, walls were painted white or beige and, if you were looking for doorknobs or bathroom faucets, well, you could have any finish you wanted, so long as it was either brass or chrome. Today, you need an engineering degree to find the right television and a color expert to help you navigate ever-larger paint-chip displays. And, in just the last few years, the doorknobs and drawer pulls we used to take for granted have become design elements in their own right. With metal-finish options like “Tuscan Bronze” and “Rustic Pewter” becoming commonplace, consumers now have a whole new set of design decisions to negotiate. Color your world You can blame our newfound interest in color for the burgeoning range of hardware finishes now appearing on the market, says one color expert. In the past, U.S. homeowners tended to go through cyclical color phases, says James Martin, owner of the Denver-based color-consulting firm called The Color People. Now, everything is up for grabs, with some choosing warm, 1970s-style earth tones, while others opt for cooler, more contemporary hues. As a result, Martin says, hardware makers are offering finishes – including a range of oiled and rusticated bronzes – that mix and match with many styles. “We’ve gone through all these color phases, and I think what’s happening right now is color, itself, is a trend,” he says. “The nice thing about these new bronze-y tones is they go with everything. I think they have a way of blending with what they’re on – they don’t stand out.” Additionally, say others who track consumer preferences, homeowners are becoming more sophisticated about design details, in general. As television shows and magazines have turned home improvement into a spectator sport, even middle-income consumers are looking to add custom touches to their houses and condos. Manufacturers are responding with new hardware styles and finishes that can add a high-design emphasis to even suburban tract homes. “Most people don’t live in million-dollar custom villas,” says Erin Beazley, marketing communications manager for plumbing manufacturer Price Pfister, which, with sister door-hardware company Kwikset, has developed several new lines under the umbrella Architecturally Inspired Collections label. “But you can recreate that look with a faucet and finish that embraces that look.” Bringing it all together The kind of coordination Price Pfister and Kwikset are championing, between such elements as faucets and door handles, is aiding homeowners’ efforts to add fashion-forward style. Marketers now are looking outside their own product niches, making it easier for consumers to create more consistent designs. “The different hardware categories are all keeping pace with one another,” Beazley says. “In the past, you might have had disconnects in hardware solutions. As manufacturers, we are becoming more accommodating in trying to match product finishes.” In fact, say other makers, some of the products now gaining popularity have been in existing product lines for years, and are now coming to the fore as complementary pieces in other categories are coming available. “It really boils down to the customer being able to get that finish in other products, and to carry that look throughout the house,” says Mike Slack, director of product marketing at Baldwin Hardware Corp. “We’ve had a lot of these finishes in our catalog for a long time, and they are just now hitting their stride.”  Choose complementary finishes to keep appliances, cabinets in harmony. Image courtesy Jenn-Air Stainless reputation Many consumers were first made aware of the impact metallic finishes can have on their home’s appearance in the kitchen, as the growing popularity of commercial-looking appliances made stainless steel an increasingly common design element. In its early days, stainless steel signified status, because only the wealthy could afford the products clad in the material. But as this finish has moved into more moderately priced appliances, high-end consumers are seeking new options, experts say. “Now everything’s got stainless steel,” says The Color People’s Martin. “It doesn’t define that place in the market anymore.” So even appliance makers now are looking to expand their stable of metal-looking finishes. This fall, Jenn-Air will be introducing a new line featuring an oiled-bronze finish. It’s not a real metal, like stainless steel. Instead, a patented process that develops an old-world look by applying layers of color over a metal substrate creates the finish’s patina-like appearance. Bronze and copper tones appear in highlights that can vary, depending on the kitchen’s lighting. Appliances in this new product line will retain stainless steel accents, however, according to Jenn-Air spokesperson Jill Spiekerman. This means you can add one of these bronze-finish products and still hold onto your stainless-steel sink and cookware without fear of clashing tones.  Aqua drama: Elegant hardware adds sophistication and architectural integrity to cookie-cutter bathrooms. Image courtesy Price Pfister Mixing and matching? In other areas of the house, however, experts say most consumers are opting for consistent hardware styles and finishes throughout their homes. Though these do-it-yourselfers are choosing color palettes that can vary widely from room to room, they’re using unified hardware styles to help tie things together. “People definitely mix it up a lot more than ever before,” says Baldwin’s Slack. “But when it comes to hardware, they usually take the same piece of hardware throughout the home.” However, he adds, if versatility is important in your plans, it is possible to find hardware products that incorporate contrasting finishes – perhaps a chrome highlight in a polished-brass handle, or a faucet that includes both brushed and polished nickel. The flexibility offered by such combinations can broaden your options for bringing in other styles or finishes. Of course, more options can mean more decisions. But, unless we want to go back to the days of beige walls and black-and-white TVs, home-hardware decision-making is a process we’re all going to have to get a better, well, handle, on. |
||||
|
||||
