We're in the home stretch of our kitchen and mudroom renovation! Over the weekend, we finished up the tile backsplash and our DIY floating shelves (more to come on both of those, but we've been sharing sneak peeks on Stories), and the next time we're at Tree House, we'll start filling the drawers with plates, glasses, silverware, and pantry essentials! Again, we say, ! As someone who would rather file paperwork than go to the grocery store, I'm actually really, really looking forward to strolling the aisles for cereal, pasta and spices. In a handful of weeks, we'll have a fully functioning kitchen, and for the first time in 2018(!), we'll be able to rinse our coffee mugs from the kitchen sink – because right now, the only tap water we have comes from the bath. Oof.
Okay, we may be getting ahead of ourselves, because today, we wanted to share a seemingly quick to-do off of the checklist. On paper, 'install hardware' is straightforward enough (then again, so is 'install baseboards,' and y'all know how I feel about that), but there's a lot of thought behind that task, too. From scale to finish to the $9 piece of plastic that makes your life significantly easier, we're breaking it all down!
How do you know when to use a pull or a knob? Typically, doors will have knobs and drawers will have pulls, although that's not always the case! In our Chicago kitchen, we nixed knobs altogether and used these vintage-inspired pulls for everything (and in varying sizes). Tree House feels more traditional, and because there are so few cabinets, we felt good about keeping a mix. And in keeping with the Michigan-dinavian theme (a phrase lovingly coined by Scott), we chose leather pulls for the mudroom. Although we want the kitchen and mudroom to feel connected, we've done that by staying consistent with our cabinet choice and the addition of the maple accent wall. The leather pulls tie back to the sofa in the living room while adding warmth upon entering our Tree House! From left to right: West Slope 6″, West Slope 4″, Beckett 4″ and West Slope knob.
If you're installing hardware on anything more than 2-3 doors and drawers, you need these templates. They're well worth the less-than-$10 investment, and they'll do everything from saving your sanity to your marriage, all while taking the guesswork out of where you should drill your holes – you know, the important stuff! The only catch is that they're only helpful for hardware up to 4″; I know. But! If you've chosen oversized hardware, take 10 minutes to make a repeatable jig that you can use over the course of the install. It's 100% worth it to do so. Here's how!
We've already touched on mixing and matching, but friends, we can't say it enough: We are big fans of the mix + match! As previously mentioned, keeping one unifying factor will keep the design from feeling chaotic, so bear that in mind. We have three finishes between two rooms, but the hardware in the kitchen, despite being brass and oil-rubbed bronze, is in the same style family. The brass detailing on the leather pulls in the mudroom are a nod to the brass in the kitchen, while also tying into the sofa around the corner. The matte black finish of the oil-rubbed bronze plays nicely with the black windows and the black faucet we chose. Having fun with finishes – whether that's with hardware, lighting or accent elements – is an awesome way to add personality and life to the room.
We're working on putting together videos for tile and shelving, and in the meantime, we're crossing every 't' and dotting every last 'i' on our list! It's hard to believe we're thisclose to making toast for breakfast – wait, let's dream big; homemade pancakes! – in our kitchen. So, so close.
We're building right now, but our kitchen won't have hardware when we move in, so this post is good timing for us, definitely saving for later!