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HARDWARE – THE ESSENTIAL ACCESSORY
Those who won in Rio can be found post-games posing with their hard-earned medals (gold, silver and/or bronze) at news conferences, talk shows and celebrity events. Olympic hardware is pretty delicious — and not just because the athletes like to take a playful chomp during photo-ops — the heft and quality of the medals is obvious. That’s why hardware is one of my favorite elements in design. Well-crafted hardware not only looks good, if feels good. Handling a door knob or drawer pull that’s cast and detailed to perfection is like nothing else. Install beautiful, substantial hardware throughout a residence and the home will have guaranteed gravitas and soul.
Make an Entrance
Door hardware is often one of the first impressions a home can make; it’s an introduction to the story inside … and an opportunity to have a little fun!
(left) antique fish knocker from Comer & Co. (center) beautifully handcrafted and complex set via Tumblr and (right) vintage brass door hardware with starburst escutcheons via Pinterest
The Finishing Touch to Cabinetry
A lot of care goes into the design of millwork, so we want to honor the craftsmanship with the right choice of hardware. Whether it’s nickel or bronze, knob or pull, ornate or simple — all depends on the vernacular of the residence.
(above) We settled on this hardware collection for a Florida master suite because it has a rustic and organic elegance, a perfect fit for the casual but sophisticated beach-side residence.
(clockwise from top left) The following hardware styles – traditional in Darnestown, contemporary in Delray Beach, transitional in Bethesda, and Colonial in Arlington – installed in Huntley & Co. projects.
Jewelry for Furniture
Sometimes the success of a furniture piece depends on the hardware. This handcrafted gold pull wholly represents our credo of modern glamour and was just the magic this custom H&Co. console required.
Gold ‘Branche’ pull by Objet Insolite glows against the grey shagreen finish of the console.
Designing from Scratch
Hardware is always essential, but in some cases, it is actually at the heart of the design – as it was in the case of this custom H&Co. trunk. The antique brass English plate handle was integral to the design process and chosen specifically for our Irish client. From inspiration, to drawings, to fabrication — no detail was left behind!
(above) The selection process.
(below) Detailed drawings for our fabricator; (bottom right) the finished upholstered trunk with plate handles, nailheads, pop-up lid and concealed drop-down door.
On the Road Discoveries
These are the kind of photos I download from my trips. Forget tourist traps and lounging on the beach. No, my idea of heaven is snapping shots of door hardware and cabinet knobs. Can you say #designaddict?
(left) egg knobs and chicken wire at the Marlton Hotel; (center) Incredible Van Cronenburg at the AD Design Show; (center) selecting horn pulls at Ochre
I could easily post a hundred more photos of hardware. Instead, go to Luxe & Lucid’s “interior architecture+details” page on Pinterest. This much great hardware will make you a #designaddict too!
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The Floors Beneath our Feet
Like a painter preps his canvas, a good designer attends to the bones of a room before honing in on its decorative elements. We make strategic shifts in proportion, tone, and detail, both subtle and grandiose, when thoughtfully designing a space. A beautiful wood floor is one such essential element that has the power to really make our rooms sing. We’re always told to “look up” or “look forward”, as a kind of mantra to mindfulness, happiness and all things good. Well, I say “look down” because there’s beauty and inspiration to be had at your feet!
Our design studio becomes a laboratory for deep diving, where we work elbows deep in samples to determine the best tone for the wood floors. We consider location, use, and material adjacencies when making our recommendations. Ultimately, we outfitted a Georgetown residence with rich, classic patterned parquet in a deep and luxurious tone.
Material and tone are carefully considered for each client.
(left): We installed subtly hand hewn floor boards in soft, neutral tones to be bright but forgiving for a young family. (center): This grand PA home called for rich tones that complimented adjacent materials and the scale of the space. (right): We were inspired by sandy textures in this beachside retreat when we chose these soft, washed, waxy tones of warm brown.
(left): We gave the existing parquet flooring of a pre-war Manhattan apartment new life with a lighter stain – showing off the beautiful pattern and brightening the small space. (right): New french oak flooring in an Alexandria townhouse has been pickled, adding much needed warmth and texture to a once incohesive collection of different vinyl flooring.
Inspiration at its finest. (left): Jeffrey Bilhuber (right): Hillwood Estate (bottom): Archetypal Floors
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H&C a la Montreux
As mentioned in last week’s post, I have been in Switzerland installing a project.
And as many of you know, I’ve been working a lot lately. So even though no one
likes to spend their weekends at the office or pulling all-nighters, the magic of being an
interior designer is that you get to enjoy the tangible results of all your hardship …
THE APARTMENT IN MONTREUX IS STUNNING!
Beyond the fact that I love every single thing we installed – the wallcoverings,
the furniture, the lighting, the textiles, the accessories – the views and the town
of Montreux itself are extraordinary. The work was dirty and exhausting, but with
distractions like Lake Geneva out your window, who cares!
The apartment – day one. Umm, excuse me???
Yikes! Needless to say, this is not what we were expecting. So much for a move-in
ready apartment. This not-so-insignificant mess is a big detail for management to omit
from our conversations pre-departure. OK … take a deep breath and work the problem.
Because there is a truck full of furniture outside and it needs to be installed – somehow.
The silver lining? The view!!!
So instead of installing right away … We run errands, meet with management and vendors, clean and walk the property.
A trying and exhausting day, but it’s hard to complain in an environment like this.
At day’s end, we all need a nice dinner and a good night’s sleep.
Huntley & Co. stayed at the Suisse Majestic, so four of us had dinner in the hotel’s
restaurant – Restaurant 45 – and had a lovely time before crashing for the night.
Moving onwards and upwards on day two with deliveries.
Furnishings are in and floors are clean (for now).
Is there anything more satisfying than progress?!
In days three and four, wallpaper goes up and we unpack all the accessories.
It may be a mess, but it’s my favorite kind of mess … Christmas in September!
We often ran errands during the day because there was always something else we
or our installers needed. This day we stopped for lunch at the Hotel Eden du Lac.
Yep, just another day in Montreux.
After another couple of days of cleaning and styling, we have a finished apartment. Almost.
There were a few things (besides the original mess) that didn’t go as planned. The artwork
for the foyer was damaged in transit, one of the beds was missing from the delivery and the
Swiss team hired by the property didn’t finish all of their work. One of the workers literally
laughed in our faces when we told him to go buy the part he needed and to come back. So it
looks like I’ll have to go back to Switzerland in October to wrap up the final details.
Bummer ; )
Tricia
P.S. A huge thank you to our Swiss logistical team Kuehne + Nagel!
THE MUSINGS OF DESIGNER TRICIA HUNTLEY
