Updated hardware can make an older kitchen look fresh.
Outdated kitchen cabinet hardware can make your kitchen look old and tired. A fast and inexpensive way to update your cabinets is by changing the look of your cabinet hardware. Every few years home trends change, and colors and finishes that were once in are now out. This doesn't mean your cabinets are also outdated. Most traditional-style cabinets have stayed fairly consistent over longer periods of time, and you can often disguise the age of your cabinets with more modern hardware. Does this Spark an idea?
Architectural Style
All cabinet hardware is associated with one or more particular architectural styles. The hardware finish is associated with particular eras of a specific style. This means that traditional hardware is the same basic design as it was a hundred years ago. Some new styles are produced and associated with a particular trend, but most cabinet hardware is consistent to a period and style over time. This means that when you are looking for updated kitchen cabinet hardware, you are often shopping for size and finish rather than shape. If you select hardware that matches your architectural style, in an updated finish and size, your cabinets will look modern and appropriate.
Vintage and Heirloom Styles
Modern reproduction is bringing many antique, vintage and heirloom style hardware pieces back into style. Often these retro pieces are modified in finish in some way to make them both retro and modern. Elaborate details, unusual features and ornate designs are being used in a different way than the originals. The juxtaposing of antique luxury designs in modern sleek homes adds a vitality and sophistication through the tension of the different periods working with each other.
Classic Styles
Classic style cabinet hardware includes styles that have a strong and often simple elegance that keeps the hardware in style. Cup handles, angular handles and round and oval knobs are a few of the classic hardware pieces that can be used to create timeless appeal in almost any age of kitchen. Classic hardware looks particularly good on painted cabinets with some type of paneling or glass doors. If you select this style of hardware, your cabinets and kitchen will tend to age gracefully and you may be able to extend the working life of your kitchen by many years.
Contemporary, Transitional and Modern
Contemporary, transitional and modern kitchens can sometimes feel monotonously similar because people select safe hardware based on styles they commonly see on television or in magazines. These safe hardware choices are elongated bars, featureless knobs and hardware that has no particular design or style. This type of hardware tends to be what you forget when you visit a kitchen decorated to be mainstream or neutral. Take advantage of artists in your area who can bring an inspired viewpoint to your hardware with unique art pieces, splashes of color and interesting designs. It's hardware. The hardware you choose is the jewelry of the kitchen, and it should look sharp, appropriate and like it belongs to the house and the family who own the house.
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