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How To Pair Kitchen Cabinets and Hardware

Peg Drawer for disheswhite cabinetry gold knobsCabinet hardware can seem like such a small detail, but it can have a surprisingly big impact on the overall look of your kitchen. Kitchen cabinetry hardware allows you to bring your personality to the space even more and can take the style of your kitchen to the next level. “When it comes to cabinet hardware, it can act as jewelry for your cabinetry,” says Normandy Designer Laura Barber, AKBD. “It can really elevate cabinetry with a personal touch in the kitchen, and helps set the overall tone for the space.”

“In order to enhance the style of your kitchen, it is important to know how certain elements can complement, accent, and stylize the space to its full potential,” added Laura. “Because there are such a large variety of options for cabinet hardware, it really comes down to personal preference.”

Here are some of our favorite tips to help you make the right choice for your kitchen:

1.  Style: The overall style of your kitchen can dramatically change when you begin adding the finishing touches. Whether you wish to decorate your kitchen in a more traditional, modern or contemporary style, the hardware can help advance these individual features even further. To accomplish a very modern look, some homeowners choose to have a touch latch system installed, to create a simplistic straightforward look with no visible handles or knobs, instead of adding ornamental hardware.

2.  Orientation: It is common for knobs to be seen on doors and pulls on drawers, but this depends on personal interest and the style you wish to achieve in your kitchen. “For more of a modern look, clean, linear hardware is ideal, but occasionally, pulls can be seen on doors as well,” added Laura. “Another rule I tend to follow is that if a drawer is more than 30 inches, I opt for 2 pulls rather than one, in order to keep balance and proportion.”

Green island in a white kitchen looking into the colorful dining room beyond3. Contrast: Hardware can be used to complement surrounding items, such as appliances or accent pieces. When attempting to accent stainless steel appliances, darker cabinetry highlights the hardware and allows for a contrasting look. These dramatic accent pieces also add visual interest to the kitchen, without overwhelming the space.

 4.  Focal Points: If you have an ornate backsplash or other striking focal points in your kitchen, you may choose to downplay the visual role of the hardware. By selecting knobs or handles that visually blend into the cabinetry, they don’t compete for your attention and can allow those show-stopping focal points in your kitchen truly shine.

Choosing the right knobs and handles for your cabinets is just one of the many ways you can customize your new kitchen to create a knock-your-socks-off look. Set up a time to talk with Laura about your kitchen remodel. If it’s the inspiration you’re after, we encourage you to check out our photo gallery or follow us on Instagram or Facebook to get your daily dose of design.

Crystal look cabinet knobs

White kitchen with gold handles and knobsGray and white cabinets, gold hardwarew, decorative backsplash

Tips For Where To Put Your TV

Mounting tv in nicheA newly remodeled room can seem like the ultimate blank slate when it comes time to decorate.  But considering the room’s intended use and developing a furniture plan early in the design process can be immensely beneficial to how you enjoy this new room addition or renovated space. There are certain elements and focal points that are meant to take the full attention of a space that doesn’t always include the TV, even though at times, all eyes tend to be on it.  “Because of the varying tastes and interests homeowners tend to have, some people choose to make the TV less of a visual statement, but still need to find a way to fit it into the space,” says Normandy Designer Karen Chanan.

Tv above fireplace mantelWhen considering incorporating a TV into the rooms of your home, use these 3 tips:

1.  Placement–  When you know your newly designed space will be home to a TV, consider it from the beginning. This way you can design it into the space, rather than treating it as an after-thought.  “Keeping the TV in mind can help you decide the orientation of the room and make sure each element is thoughtfully placed,” added Karen. “This includes window placement to reduce glare and purchasing or placing furniture accordingly in order to find a comfortable solution that makes sense for the room.”

2.  Focal points- Whether it is art, a TV, or the fireplace, every room needs a focal point, and the living room is no different. Determining the focal point of the room early on will allow you to build added components into the space in order to hide cords, create a seamless niche, or account for larger cabinetry or furniture to place the TV inside, depending on how much attention you wish to call to it.

Tv on swivel baseTv on swivel base3.  Intention-  In living rooms and other areas of the home, the TV is usually exposed, however, there are other alternatives to having a TV in the space, without calling attention to it.  Ways to diminish the presence of the TV in a room are cabinetry, where it can be lowered and raised at the homeowner’s convenience, or swivel arms that allow the TV to be flexible for angles it is watched, or mounted.  “Mounting the TV in the corner decreases the opportunity for the television to dominate the look of the room,  thereby letting the intended focal point remain as a stand-alone feature,” noted Karen. “Having an idea of the layout of the space and accounting for furniture and other elements of the room can help create a space ideal for your personal interest and intended use of the room.”

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