Pulled to PERFECTION
They are pushed and pulled all day long, rarely given a second thought by busy homeowners on their way to the coffee mugs in the kitchen or tubes of toothpaste in the bathroom. But cabinet pulls, those knobs and handles on everything from silverware drawers to bedroom bureaus, are no longer the Rodney Dangerfields of home hardware. In fact, many homeowners are giving them plenty of respect, using the functional pieces as decorating elements, in some cases even small works of art, to help set the tone of a room.
It’s no wonder. Walk down the home hardware aisle of any do-it-yourself store and there are dozens of bins filled with everything from streamlined brushed-nickel handles to white porcelain knobs decorated with colorful flowers. Then there are the special-order catalogs and Internet sites with choices so specific an entire kitchen could be decorated with pulls that look like the leaves from an Aspen tree or the silhouette of a tall-masted schooner.
"You can get ceramic pulls, metal, wooden, jeweled, stone. You can really get creative," said Erina Johnson, project manager at The Great Indoors, 700 S. Rampart Blvd. "It’s also an inexpensive way to give a room a little face-lift. We’re seeing people who realize they won’t be selling their home in a year so they’re thinking why don’t I do things now to make it comfortable for me."
Indeed, when purchasing hardware customers need to consider what they have in mind for their home. If they want to decorate it for resale, it’s a good idea to stick with the tried-and-true such as contemporary hardware in neutral finishes like silver or matte black, Johnson said. If, however, someone wants to add that extra decorative element to a room, the sky’s the limit. A touch of whimsy can be created by adding some butterfly-shaped drawer pulls to the guest bathroom, for example, or bright ceramic knobs shaped like tiny T-shirts in the baby’s nursery.
In larger rooms such as kitchens, try not to stray too far, Johnson noted. Look at the flooring, countertops and paint color before selecting the hardware, and consider the overall style of the room.
"Get the feel of the room, what you are drawn to, if you are trying to sell or wanting to make it unique to your flavor," Johnson said. "Is it modern or French country? Are the colors neutral? Are you going for a cottage feel with a rustic style, or something sleek and modern?"
There are also ways to use basic cabinet pulls to add a little drama to a room instead of going for the elaborate designs. One of the current trends is to couple darker pulls with finishes such as oiled bronze on light-wood cabinets of pine or oak, and lighter pulls on dark cabinets like cherry or walnut, said Lowe’s spokesperson Abby Buford. This allows the pulls to stand out or "pop," she said. Consumers also are using modern, streamlined pulls on cabinet doors instead of knobs to create a sleeker, more decorative look, she said.
Whatever the choice, it’s a good idea for consumers to keep receipts so they can exchange the hardware in case it doesn’t suit the room, and count all the drawers and cabinets so they know exactly how many pulls to buy, Buford said.
"One of the most common mistakes is measuring during installation," Buford added. "Make sure you mark where the knobs will be, and make sure the knobs or pulls are parallel with the drawer edges, and that they are the same height all the way around the room."
Beyond the practical considerations, some homeowners are interested in more than just a quick cosmetic makeover. In fact, consumers in the high-end market seem to be demanding cabinet hardware with bolder colors, patterns and shapes, noted Scott Triethart, North American sales manager for THG, an importer of luxury bathroom fixtures. While modern styles are still popular, art deco, Edwardian, French country and Old World influences are making a comeback, as well as polished finishes as opposed to the matte or weathered looks, he said.
"People want to feel comfortable again, and they’re familiar with these designs, and there’s a historical point of reference too," Triethart said.
Triethart calls cabinet hardware the "finishing touch" to a room, much like jewelry is the final complement to an outfit, that needs to accentuate or complement what is already there. One of THG’s newest lines comes from a collaboration with Bernardaud porcelain that is based on classic dinnerware patterns. THG also carries a line of pulls with Lalique crystal insets and designs inspired by actual pieces from the Orient Express.
Beauty also can be found in the artist’s kiln. Furniture-maker Martin Pierce creates door hardware and cabinet pulls from his home in Los Angeles, carving small sculptures out of soft bass wood, taking days to create a final mold, then finally casting the pieces in bronze.
The intricate works are inspired by his own nature photography and include delicately curled sycamore leaves, dragonflies, moths and tree frogs with gangly limbs. Then there is his sleeker Ergo line, which offers knobs that look like pools of water and chunky branchlike handles with the contemporary finish of stainless steel.
"It can take six to eight weeks to make the pieces, so it’s a long process. But it’s the only way to get the detail," Pierce said. "I just admire the beauty of nature so much I want to capture it as accurately as possible."
His cabinet pulls, which can range from about $60 to a few hundred dollars each, are found on his Web site, www.martinpierce.com, and in showrooms across the country. His customers tend to be interested in personalizing their homes, capturing their love of nature and even infusing a sense of whimsy in their decorating, he said. In fact, Pierce said he is seeing more customers who are willing to take chances with their decorating and trusting their own instincts.
"I also think because of the Internet people are becoming more aware of what’s out there," he said. "A lot of people don’t want a designer. They want to do it personally with the Internet, or they want to go into the showrooms and choose for themselves."
