UPCYCLING - CAN YOU HANDLE IT?

Upcycling...it’s our favourite lockdown activity!

Give an old piece of furniture a new lease of life, spruce up your door furniture or update your kitchen hardware. For relatively little cost you can refresh your look with our range of contemporary handles.

There’s no need to trawl through uninspiring hardware websites when we’ve sourced some of the most stylish options on the market and made it easy for you to shop online.

Here are some tips to consider before making your final choice....

Don’t scrimp on the finer details

You’ve invested a lot of money on your vintage chest of drawers. It’s a beautiful piece of furniture in its own right, but stylish handles will take it to the next level! This obviously applies to bathroom cupboards, bedroom storage, your old office desk and more. Try and buy the best quality finish you can afford and have some fun with the design.

Above is the Edington t-bar and bar handle. Available in two colour finishes - satin black and polished chrome.

Restore and repair

Don’t be tempted to stick with the same old holes in your furniture. It’s easy enough to fill them, sand them off and paint them back in. That will give you the chance to place new hardware exactly where you want it, creating a look that’s unique to you.

Decide on your hardware finish

Depending on the period and style of your upcycling project you’ll instinctively be drawn to a particular finish. Perhaps it matches other hardware you have in your home or it’s just the right combination with the material or paint colour.

Play around with mood boards and images to make sure you’ve considered all the options. Take inspiration from the schemes of the UK’s most famous design houses such as Colefax & Fowler and Soane – they’re masters at mixing old with new and creating a layered look, using antique and vintage furniture.

Above: Highgate Knob with long plate in three finishes.

Mix and match?

You will know whether it feels right for you to stick to handles, knobs and pulls within the same range or whether you’d prefer to mix and match to introduce layering into your scheme. There is no right or wrong, and it can often be very effective to mix metals, finishes and materials. But, when it doubt....keep it simple. Classic style never goes out of fashion.

Our best-selling Henley range incorporates both a knob and bar handle and is available in four colourways; black nickel, chrome, rose gold and brushed satin brass. Its dimpled design effect takes inspiration from the seeds of a sunflower head and is very pleasing to the touch.

Proportion and scale

Be sensitive to the size and scale of the handles you choose and where they’ll sit on your chest of drawers, cupboard, door, panelling or shutters. Fitted too high or too low and they’ll be impractical. The most popular cabinet style is undoubtedly Shaker and with such a classic, traditional style, choosing unfussy hardware will be complementary rather than clashing.

Style

So much about design is instinctive, but it’s always a useful exercise to try and identify your style. Our handles fall into the following categories which is a starting point for any scheme; Subtle, Bold, Classy, Feminine, Trendy or Chic. Sometimes simplicity speaks volumes and we are big advocates of a classic, clean style with a modern edge.

Our Windsor range nods to a more decorative, feminine style and can be used to best effect in both contemporary or more traditional situations – available as a long handle, cup handle and a knob, it covers all bases.

From left: Windsor bar handle in golden champagne and oil rubbed bronze, Cannes textured bar knob in polished nickel.

Above: Windsor cup handle in golden champagne and oil rubbed bronze, and the Windsor knob in oil rubbed bronze.

Paint perfect

Along with handles, painting an old piece of furniture, door, or pair of shutters is a quick and extremely effective way to upcycle. Pull out all the drawers, remove all the old hardware, give it a good sanding down removing any old lacquer or rough old paint and give it a lick of primer. This will give you a great foundation for getting creative with paint colours – picking out beading or panelling, painting bright colours inside drawers or distinguishing between table tops and legs. If you’re feeling really inspired, you could even hand paint motifs on cupboard doors – check out Molly Mahon’s Charleston inspired paint effects.

Pantone Colour of the Year for 2021 has now been revealed....

Ultimate Gray and Illuminating which is a soft buttercup yellow. Pantone describes this colour match as strength combined with hopeful aspiration, “As people look for ways to fortify themselves with energy, clarity and hope to overcome the continuing uncertainty, spirited and emboldening shades satisfy our quest for vitality.”

Ergonomics

Many of our products have a tactile feel and are designed specifically to be both practical and ergonomic. Our best-selling Highgate Knurled range takes inspiration from our industrial past with a mixture of finishes, backplate designs and styles of handle. The extra-long bar handle is unusual and particularly useful for making a single design statement rather than using too many knobs on one drawer or door.

Above: extra long Knurled Bar Handle - available in three finishes, antique bronze, matt black and stainless steel

Our Monmouth cup handle is a modern take on a traditional design classic – it’s a design that just works, so why mess with it? The smooth finish means it looks both modern and old fashioned at the same time. Available in six finishes.