Will Sampson talks about the role of decorative hardware in modern cabinetry and the challenge it presents for designers and custom cabinet shops. His guest is Knikki Grantham, creative director for the prestige hardware brand Belwith Keeler.
This episode of the Woodworking Network podcast was sponsored by the Executive Briefing Conference. It’s really easy for woodworkers to stay stuck inside, focused on their shops and production. But over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced them be even more isolated than usual. And it’s even harder if what you want is to network with the top-level executives in the industry. Where and how can you do that? The answer is the Executive Briefing Conference coming this September at the spectacular Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. This is an unparalleled opportunity to boost your business with intelligence on techniques, tools, and technology and to feed on inspiration from real leaders in the industry. Not to mention take in all the high-altitude hospitality, beauty and recreation offered by the Broadmoor. Learn more at ExecutiveBriefingConference.com. See you there.
Woodworking Network is a home for professional woodworkers, presenting technology, supplies, education, inspiration, and community, from small business entrepreneurs to corporate managers at large automated plants.
You can find all of our podcasts at WoodworkingNetwork.com/podcasts and in popular podcast channels. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. Thanks again to today’s sponsor, Wood Pro Expo. If you have a comment or topic you’d like us to explore, contact me at will.sampson@woodworkingnetwork.com. And we would really appreciate it if you fill out the survey at woodworking network.com/podcast-survey. Thanks for listening.
Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.
Welcome to the fourth season of the Woodworking Network Podcast and a new episode. Join us as we explore the business of woodworking big and small and what it takes to succeed. I’m Will Sampson.
Today’s episode is sponsored by the Executive Briefing Conference. Today our guest is Knikki Grantham, creative director for the prestige hardware brand Belwith Keeler. She has some interesting things to say about trends in decorative hardware. But before I get to that, I want to talk about:
Is it hardware or bling?
Decorative cabinet hardware is an interesting product. It’s called “decorative” because it adds an embellishing aspect to the cabinets, but at the same time it must actually be functional. Knobs and pulls need to work as well as be beautiful.
But that functionality is relatively easy to accomplish, so that offers a big sandbox for designers to play in. They can experiment with materials, colors, looks, and finishes in so many ways it’s probably impossible to run out of ideas. There are the basics, of course, like metal finishes in silver, gold, black, and bronze. But that’s just the beginning.
Shapes can be out of this world, from traditional or reproduction pulls to modern and contemporary styles. Everything from angular to swoopy and textures from rough to polished. I’ve even seen plastic pulls shaped like dinosaurs intended for a child’s room.
We still haven’t decided on the knobs and pulls for the kitchen in my house in the middle of the Maine woods, but we’ve been toying with pulls that look like twigs, acorns, leaves, river stones, and other nature inspired themes. They look great by themselves, but will those be too much on every door and drawer in the kitchen?
Going in the opposite direction, the hot trend in Euro kitchens is eliminating all the visible hardware for a smooth and seamless look across the front of the cabinets.
I’m thinking of all these choices while recognizing that many custom cabinet shops don’t want to have anything to do with this. They let the homeowners pick the pulls and just charge to install them. Are they missing out on profits or avoiding a huge hassle dealing with the homeowners’ decision-making process?
I’m not a designer or an architect, so I don’t have any formal design training to tell me how important decorative hardware is to the look of a completed cabinet project. Of course, I do have a visceral reaction when I see hardware on cabinets that I think is really ugly, uncomfortable to use, or too over the top for my tastes. Everybody can be a critic.
And no one can discount the power of trends to shape these decisions. If tomorrow some Internet influencer starts a fad for purple metallic hardware, every shop will start getting calls. After a while when that look gets old, the homeowners will be looking to replace them all with a new flavor of the day.
Maybe part of the reason so many custom shops don’t try to make money on decorative hardware and leave these decisions to the customers is because it’s just so tedious to try to keep up with the trends. Let the designers who love the excitement of trendsetting try to surf that wave. Meanwhile, I still don’t know what to put on my kitchen doors and drawers.
I want to get to our interview with Knikki Grantham, but first, let’s pause for a word from our sponsor:
It’s really easy for woodworkers to stay stuck inside, focused on their shops and production. But over the last couple of years, the pandemic has forced them be even more isolated than usual. And it’s even harder if what you want is to network with the top-level executives in the industry. Where and how can you do that? The answer is the Executive Briefing Conference coming this September at the spectacular Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. This is an unparalleled opportunity to boost your business with intelligence on techniques, tools, and technology and to feed on inspiration from real leaders in the industry. Not to mention take in all the high-altitude hospitality, beauty and recreation offered by the Broadmoor. Learn more at ExecutiveBriefingConference.com. See you there.
Now let’s get to our interview with Knikki Grantham.