A ‘Guy’ Thing
OK, now that Mother’s Day is over, let’s refocus on some important ‘guy’ things, such as how the man of the house would want living space hardware to appear. Let’s see, should it be sports? Fishing? The great outdoors?
You probably wouldn’t believe all the options available at and for your fingertips. See some of them here. Somehow, if there is a significant woman in your life, I don’t think she’ll approve of your taste. Well, at least on this page, you can dream about what it would look like. On the other hand, if you have a cabin “out there,” then, of course, you can furnish it to your liking. 
Umm . . ., favorite professional sports team on your dressers, lobster or putter door knocker, pine cone door stop, steelhead cabinet knob, etc. Use your imagination!
Browse the following collections to find your statement: Big Rock Bronze, Michael Healy, Topperscot, Trout Studios, Pine River Pewter and Timber Bronze.
Add comment May 14th, 2007
There are many alloys of copper. Bronze is comprised of copper (60%) and tin (40%). If you add about 10% zinc to copper, though, you get something rather unique called brass. 
What makes it unique, among other characteristics, is its resistence to salt water corrosion. This, in addition to its strength, is why most faucets in the home have brass underneath. (If you don’t believe me, take a discarded faucet to the grinding wheel and see what’s underneath, even if it is silver in color.) 
In fact, taking a silver-colored faucet to a wire wheel will remove any electroplating and reveal, often, a beautiful brass underneath. We did this to a piece we obtained from an antique house and found ourselves a gem that now adorns our bathroom.
Isn’t it interesting that many fixtures aboard old wind-blown vessels were made of brass? Now we know the reason. We can also be grateful for its beautiful color, reminiscent of the sun that makes it glow brighter than surrounding objects because it reflects strongly in the sun’s spectrum of colors.
For this latter reason, raw or polished brass is a good choice in a home or room that does not use fluorescent lights. So called “natural” lighting, or incandescent lighting, gives off a spectrum of color that more closely matches what brass naturally reflects.
If you’re thinking along these lines, be sure to browse the brass options available at 
In a non-elective course I took at the university, I was taught that glass is a fluid! Huh?! Yup. That stuff that’s made into windshields and windows is actually a “supercooled fluid,” according to the professor. “It just takes a while for it to flow,” he said. Yet, in almost the same breath, he said that glass has a very high hardness, measured in millions of pounds per square inch. Well, I finally believed him when I saw an antique car in the junk yard. 
This car was at least a generation old and its windows looked entirely like they were just melting down, not at all retaining their shape. I can imagine that the heat inside the car with closed windows, aged over decades, brought it to its abnormally early demise, because we don’t see glass doing this normally. 
OK, professor - I’m a believer now. But, even though some cabinet hardware is beautifully made out of glass, we don’t have to worry about it because cabinet knobs are not usually subjected to the same harsh treatment seen in a junk yard. Even coke bottles buried for decades retain their original shape.
It’s no wonder, then, that some hardware manufacturers, such as 
Is there a reason why many manufacturers of kitchen faucets choose this basic shape?
Well, of course. It is primarily a matter of sanitation. Without the downward pointing end of the tube, debris from the air would likely fall into the end of the tube, mix with the water, and then what would you get when you turned the water on to get a drink? 
One other perhaps more practical reason is that you would not want the water to be spraying uncontrollably upward and make a mess.
When the water is turned off, what remains in the end of the tube flows downward into the sink, being discarded through the drain. 
I’ve seen a lot of cabinet knobs. You’re supposed to grab them in normal use. Every once in a while you happen upon a collection that grabs you and stops you in your tracks. I’ve found such in the offerings from 
British, French and other decidedly European styles include designs named Brittannia, Chateau (Castle), Normandy, Nouveau (New), Somerset and Tuscany. Elegance and class are captured in their essence - see samples on this page and others at 
I’ve been to many meetings and have always been impressed with the rugged but attractive hardware that stops the sprung door from hitting the wall or closing when you want it to stay open. I’ve always wondered where the architect and contractor managed to find such hardware. 
Well, it’s fair to say that the folks at 
First impressions are often lasting ones. For this reason, many in our culture are sure to take a quick glance at our appearance before going out the door to a public event. Mirrors, the silvered servants of our society, stand in rapt attention, always waiting to “tell it like it is.” 
Some dollar-store varieties tell it like it is, but no more. Others say, “Here’s who you are today” - while being framed in brass, chrome, polished nickel or other elegant frames. If you’re about to leave for a cultured setting somewhere on the town, you may want such an elegant framework so as to get a preview of your presence out there in the culture. 
Be sure to check out the offerings from 
