Super Bowl hardware party No comments yet

Kick off your kitchen and score a touchdown with our winning football knobs. Super Bowl Sunday is about your favorite team barreling into the end zone, and it’s also about great kitchen cabinet hardware style. This year, host a big-game blowout with our fumble-proof football knobs. Enjoy Cliffside’s football “hardware” Hall of Fame.

Though this writer wishes it were a different Pennsylvania team represented in this year’s Super Bowl, here’s wishing you and yours a fun football weekend!

Add a splash of color No comments yet

This aqua crystal can add a vibrant element of color to your cabinet.

There are many ways to bring some more color into your kitchen. If you’re considering a remodel instead of a full kitchen replacement in these tough economic times, consider some of these tips to bring a new level of creativity to your home.

Hot Colors with Stainless Appliances

With stainless steel appliances still at the forefront of the kitchen world, designers have a variety of options when it comes to pairing up cabinets and cabinet hardware. Since stainless steel is reflective and therefore sheds a lot of light around the kitchen, bold colors can be used to accent the kitchen and its appliances, rather than simply matching them with silver satin or stainless steel hardware.

One of the most popular movements in cabinetmaking today is the trend toward deep, saturated colors on cabinets. This also holds true for hardware; one of the most popular Cliffside finishes is the rich, brown Old Antique. There are two effective ways to pair hardware with these cabinets. One way is to match the colors. To do this, you have to look closely at your cabinets to determine whether the stain or paint color has a yellow base or a blue base. For yellow-based colors, Cliffside offers polished brass, antique brass, and gold finishes, while silver satin, polished nickel, polished chrome, and stainless steel look smashing with blue-based paints and stains.

You can also select fully saturated colors for your hardware as well to give it a classic and dynamic look. Aside from the old antique, other finishes that are available in this family include iron, old copper, and black, as well as the new Venetian bronze, coming soon.

Buying new hardware for your cabinets No comments yet

Some important tips to remember when buying new hardware, in today’s Cliffside blog.

Measure twice

This pull has a 3-inch cc, or center to center.

If replacing old hardware, make sure that you have carefully measured the space that you want it to fill. It’s always a good idea to have a concept of the overall length of your old hardware, the overall length of your new hardware, and the cc (center-to-center) measurements of each, otherwise known as the distance between the screw holes. If installing new hardware, make sure that the space you are installing in is wide enough or long enough to accommodate the hardware that you like. A good tip is to bring a piece of your old hardware with you, if it’s available, to see how the sizes will match up. If you can’t find something to match, especially for a pull or a cabinet that might be slightly damaged on the surface, consider backplates to cover up rogue screw holes or scratch marks.

Mix it up

Using just one hardware style for a kitchen or bathroom may bring a look of continuity; then again, it may just promote boredom. Toward that end, consider finding a second style of hardware that matches the one you like. For example, if you chose Cliffside’s 161 knob for your doors, you could use the B1 pulls for your drawers; these pieces match wll because of their beveled edges. Another possibility is the B674-31 rope-style knob and the K344 rope style pull. You can also coordinate your hardware with the other fixtures in your kitchen or bath, such as stainless steel or oil-rubbed bronze faucets, or perhaps even copper mixing bowls.

Make your space “yours”

Ice box latches add a unique flair to any cabinet.

Find something unique that makes your cabinets stand out from a crowd. Hardware is available in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles, and colors, from knobs shaped like animals to shiny chrome and nickel. Some tips to this end: Don’t combine high-polish finishes with natural-looking grained wood; the combination of the two will clash. Instead, consider finding contrast. Dark finishes on wood look striking next to light-colored hardware, and the opposite holds true as well.

Make smart choices

If you are making your cabinets into a DIY project, be sure to consult with someone who understands them well. A bad choice regarding hinges or catches could cause problems on your cabinets for years. Make sure that you always consider high-quality materials for all of your cabinet hardware, and always make sure that your doors and hinges are mounted properly. Improper installation can cause undue wear and tear and can make cheaper products wear out in a mere matter of months.

As always, if you have any questions about anything you see on the blog, be sure to contact Cliffside’s customer service staff!

What’s the difference between brass and bronze? No comments yet

Another question you may have been dying to know…

Solid brass hardware is durable and versatile.

In the hardware market, there can be many confusing choices. Perhaps most involved is the choice of material for your cabinet hardware. High quality solid brass and bronze hardware is strong and flexible, very versatile, has less maintenance costs, and has a significantly longer lifespan than finish plated hardware and hardware made of economy materials. Questions you may ask include, “Do I choose brass hinges or steel? Do I choose knobs or handles?” One of the most important questions to ask yourself and your dealer is “What kind of material do I choose?” Today, we are differentiating between two commonly confused materials: Bronze and Brass. Often double the weight of comparably sized economy hardware, high quality brass and bronze hardware pieces are solid, quite dense, and sturdy. The average retail sales price premium for all this is only 20%, but the increase in price is made up by an increase in quality and durability.

What is Brass?

K4235-SS is a solid brass cup pull.

Many of Cliffside’s hardware pieces, including our entire signature line, are made from solid brass. The brass used to make Cliffside’s hardware is approximately 60% copper, 37% zinc, and 3% other trace metals. The term “solid brass” means that the brass is not plated over the outside with a filler metal underneath, and it means that the hardware is not hollow. Much of the hardware we offer is composed of this material, which is heavy, quite dense and very durable. Cliffside’s solid brass hardware is also lacquered to resist corrosion.

What are the best solid brass products?

Some of Cliffside’s most popular solid brass items include knobs like the 100, 105, and 110 series, pulls like the SP-3 and SP-12, and hinges, such as BH2A and BH2A-NM. Some new items will be available in each of these product lines, coming soon, including the new K-579 knob and 8″cc pulls (such as SP-8), as well as ball-tip hinges, all of which come with the same quality craftsmanship that you have come to expect from Cliffside.

What is Bronze?

Bronze is a durable material that ages well.

Bronze is a metal alloy produced by blending copper and tin. It can contain between 2% and 20% tin. Other metals, such as iron or pewter, can also be blended with bronze to make them sturdier or to change their color. It is a sturdy, durable metal and is much harder than brass. Bronze has a natural patina that forms on its surface turning the bronze a dark, dull color and provides a protective layer preventing oxidation below the surface of the bronze; this darkening and patina is considered extremely desirable in most uses of bronze. Cliffside’s bronze hardware is coated with a thin layer of lacquer to protect the metal and the patina. Bronze looks its best when it is minimally treated.

What are the best bronze products?

The antique iron finish is a bronze and pewter blend.

Cliffside offers the Sedona series bronze hardware, which includes a line of four differently sized pulls, including 4″cc, 6″cc, 12″cc, and 18″cc, four different knobs in two different styles, and a cup pull. Each of these lines is available in three finishes, including antique iron (AI) and antique silver (AS), both of which are bronze/pewter blends, as well as natural bronze (BZ). These suites of hardware are hand-forged and crafted in Europe; they can add a rustic look to any cabinet.

What about “oil-rubbed bronze”?

Old antique is another name for oil-rubbed bronze.

Oil-rubbed bronze is actually rarely made from bronze; rather, it is a finish applied to brass, steel, and other materials. Cliffside’s oil-rubbed bronze finish is called “old antique” (OA) and is a rich chocolate brown color. It is very popular on all of our solid brass hardware pieces, especially hinges. In addition, a new finish will be added to our hardware line in the coming months called Venetian Bronze (VB). A variation on the traditional OA, VB has the same rich brown color, but shows a hint of copper to create a striking two-tone effect. This piece, along with OA and our other top ten finishes, will be available on every piece of our signature hardware line coming soon. Stay tuned to our blog for more details: you will hear it here first!

Golden Knob awards No comments yet

Today the staff of Cliffside, in association with our sponsors, proudly presents the first annual Golden Knob awards, given yearly to the top performers in the hardware line. Without further ado, here are this year’s “Knobbie” winners!