The devil is truly in the details and this kitchen renovation has been no different. I live for the details though…so game on! It’s easy to do a basic gray and white kitchen, but the details are what will make it unique. Up next? Cabinet Hardware…
Cabinet hardware comes in many shapes, forms, finishes, and price ranges. So many options… It’s also the “jewelry” of the kitchen so to speak, so I knew that while I wanted it to be simple, it needed to be substantial (in weight, feel, and look) and unique. Did I mention there are SO MANY OPTIONS? This little quest (that took WAY longer than I care to admit) quickly turned into something my husband lovingly called “The War of the Knobs”. Here’s how it began…
The original cabinets had knobs on the cabinet doors and pulls on the drawers. While they were nice, they didn’t speak to me on any level and had an orange/copper undertone to them that just didn’t work with the new kitchen design. I knew that I wanted something that had some level of detail and that it couldn’t be too modern (so no simple straight bar pulls, etc). Based on the overall feel and design of the rest of the house, I also knew that it needed to be a dark finish (iron, black, very dark oil rubbed bronze, etc). I hit the web first to see what I could find, and (after an exhaustive search..) I narrowed my focus to simple knobs for the cabinets and pulls for the drawers. I came across designer Ashley Norton and fell in love with the unique designs and quality of the hardware. I chose solid bronze twisted pulls (in varying lengths based on drawer width) for the drawers and simple knobs for the cabinets. I chose the “dark bronze” finish which looks like a charcoal gray in person. The finishes on this hardware will patina with use and show some of the underlying bronze over time. Here’s a peek at a few of the options..
And just to give a glimpse of how I determined what length pulls to do on the different size drawers (and maybe give you a little glimpse of my brand of crazy…haha), I used tape. Yes, tape. Blue painters tape to be exact.. I measured out the varying lengths and placed the tape on the drawers to see how it would look. “Taping” it out is an easy way to get a visual and it can be used for this purpose, to get a visual on size of a new piece of furniture, etc. Blue painter’s tape is not just for painting those edges….
Another detail for the cabinets was what to do with the glass panels that were in four of the doors (Keep? Do something more interesting? Ditch entirely and do solid doors?? OPTIONS…still…). I was shown a picture by a custom furniture builder here in Greensboro of a job he had done previously. He had used wire mesh panels in the doors in the place of glass. YES! I hit my computer and found numerous options (surprise surprise…) in varying finishes, sizes, styles, and prices on one of my favorite hardware sites (Van Dykes Restorers). I went with a 1″ double round crimped version in an antiqued copper finish (given the fact that I had just selected solid bronze hardware that would eventually patina to show some of the bronze, and because my cabinet finish itself would have some distressing that would show some of the old cherry finish…). My initial thought was if the finish on the mesh was too bronze/copper I could put a little paint on it to make it work (it’s amazing what you can “adjust” with a little paint…). When it arrived and I put it with the cabinet finish however, the color was spot on. This is the mesh and the finished cabinet once installed…
We could talk details all day when it comes to renovations… but enough for now. As I mentioned earlier, it’s far easier to do a simple gray and white kitchen (as is all the rage right now), but by minding a few details you can find unique options to make your home your own. It’s worth the effort. Stay tuned ‘til next time to see the big reveal and for tips and ideas to stay on budget!
Hazel by design 
Beautiful girl!!! 😊
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