Finally Found: Satin Brass Hardware

What's this? I have a design blog? For the past few months I've barely thought about blogging...I've been super distracted by work & this thing called life. You haven't missed anything. There haven't been any updates at the condo, and projects that I started in January (you mall recall this post about the front hall) remain in limbo as we speak.

I did manage to complete one quick project that I've talked about before. A year ago March I expressed my desire to swap the existing satin nickel kitchen cabinet hardware for brass pulls that would help tie the kitchen into the rest of the open concept space. With the gold highlight on the wall trim and multiple brass accents throughout my home, it just made good design sense. The biggest stumbling block was finding stylish satin brass pulls; there just weren't any out there that I liked. Plus with 29 pulls to replace, they needed to be affordable. The good news is that I finally found what I was looking for during a recent excursion to buy reno supplies at Home Depot for work. I picked up one of these Richelieu pulls as a sample and it turned out to be perfect.

I suppose "before" photos would have been a good idea, but I wasn't necessarily planning to blog about this little project at the time. Take my word for it - this is just a small change, but it's soooooo much better! 

Initially I worried that the brass wouldn't blend well with the stainless steel appliances, but to be completely honest, I think it looks just fine. And it really does help to tie the kitchen into the rest of the space. I especially like the way the new hardware looks on the multiple pantry doors:

The new pulls are more classic in design than the previous modern hardware used by the builder (see what I had here), but these definitely are more suitable to my personal design aesthetic and the architectural elements which I've added to the open concept space.

The added bonus of the new hardware is twofold. One: No more drawstrings, belt loops or pockets catching on the ends of the old hardware. That used to happen constantly and drove me bananas! Two: I have an extremely low pain tolerance and I once smacked the back of my hand so hard on the end of one of the old pulls that I had to lie down on the floor and talk myself out of fainting. Thank goodness that won't happen again!

What simple changes have you made in your space that made a big impact? Share your projects in the comments section below!

Tying It All Together

When I added mouldings to the walls in my new condo's dining and living spaces, it added much neeced character to what was previously a blank slate. For my next trick, I'll be attempting to link the two spaces to the open concept kitchen. Because the kitchen, dining and living room are all open to each other, the kitchen now feels more modern than the traditional vibe going on in the adjacent spaces. I think that swapping out the standard satin nickel pulls (used in every condominium kitchen since 2005) for unique hardware in a brass finish will go a long way towards tying the spaces together.

Here's where this trick gets trickier: finding stylish brass pulls that won't rob me of my next vacation. I'm looking for something like these modern pulls in a satin brass from Cheshire Hardware in the UK. Unfortunately these don't come in the size I need, and at about $70 each, they're slightly out of my price range (I need 29 pulls, you do the math). Despite all that, these are just what I'm looking for!!