Modern Geometry by California Faucets!

Introducing California Faucets New Contemporary Luxurious Square Showerhead, the ultimate in modern design with over 100 water jets providing a wonderful rain shower experience right in your own bathroom!

"Anything but “square,” the simple cantilevered composition proves that superior design need not be complex. Measuring eight inches by eight inches, the Contemporary Square Showerhead features 100 self-cleaning rubber jets that make a textural design statement, while delivering a soothing and liberal rain-shower bath experience. Constructed of solid brass, the showerhead also pivots to create a personalized spa-like feel.

Available in more than 34 decorative finishes, the Contemporary Square Showerhead’s right angles and multiple jets combine to make a sleek, yet textural statement in any modern bath. The progressive design mixes and matches with a wide array of California Faucets’ coordinating products, including Thermostatic Shower Systems, Tub and Shower Sets, Cal Trim, and Bathroom Accessories, to perfectly complete the latest contemporary designs."

At Belmont Hardware, we enjoy working with California Faucets, as they have so many options and finishes for our customers to choose from.  Any finish from a standard chrome to  a weathered copper plus much more, including several options  super-durable PVD  finishes.  For a quick tour of their decorative plumbing fixture finishes, try their Virtual Finish Gallery.

California Faucets also has over 25  decorative styles of plumbing fixtures to mix and match; allowing a customer to choose any handle with any spout to create an unique personal design. We invite you to stop by our Walnut Creek, San Jose or Belmont Showrooms for a complete product and finish tour of all of the options for California Faucets!

Creating A Spa Refuge - 5 Wellness Tips from Duravit

Ah.....the place where you can leave all the stresses of the day behind, your own personal spa bath at home with Duravit. 

 
"The baths and whirlpools from Duravit  offer you not only an exhilarating experience in the bath, but highly agreeable after effects too. The air bubbles stimulate the blood circulation, while the water massage stimulates bloodflow throughout.  You feel carefree and relaxed, tenseness and aches are soothed away."

Duravit, "Living bathrooms for living people" has created these 5-Tips for relaxation when creating your own personal spa experience at home.   Enjoy!

1. The best bath time Taking a bath after 9 o'clock in the evening is an ideal way to really relax. The bath should not be any warmer than 98.6F.  Optimal bath is 15 minutes, afterwards you can fall asleep totally contented.


2. A bath that is too hot makes you sluggish  Hot bath temperatures - above 100.4F - cause the heart to beat faster and make you feel weary, and lethargic.   Your skin loses at least 20% of its natural oils, even if moisturizing bath products are used.  Just cool the water down a little for the perfect spa experience!


3. Health Aspects As well as the feeling of well-being, Duravit places great importance on the health aspect of relaxing in your bath.  The effects of temperature, and the feeling of weightlessness can play an important role in treating circulation problems, and other muscular mobility issues. Immersion in water with its' support for body weight, provides well-deserved relief for joints and muscles.


4. Adding Scent Scents and fragrances can create positive emotions and moods, and directly affect our sense of well being.  The effects of pure ethereal oils can be obtained by adding them to the bath or using an aroma lamp.  For relieving colds, headaches and muscle pain, think about adding eucalyptus, lemon balm, or pine scented oil.  The invigorating pleasant scents of orange oil and vanilla will help to revive both body and spirit!

5. Variety at Bath Time - with a few extras
      *add a bath pillow to support your head, relaxing your shoulders and neck
      *Turn on the active jets in the whirlpool bath - well worth the investment!
      *opt for one of Duravit's two-person baths, enjoy with candle light and your favorite CD  (and your favorite person!)
      *light (carefully) candles, and turn down the bright lights      

Duravit, headquartered in Hornberg, Germany,  has a 200-year history as one of the leading companies in the decorative bath accessory industry, and a driving force in the world of designer bathrooms.  "An indefatigable curiosity for innovations and unconventional approach have driven Duravit to seek new ideas, to help transform sterile wet spaces into elegant refuges."

Our Belmont showroom is very excited to introduce these fantastic contemporary bath designs to our customers!  Duravit recognizes excellent design, and is proud to be the recipient of numerous international design awards, celebrating innovation and bold ideas.  Stop by our showroom, and take a quick tour through their design catalog, highlighting the luxury creations of Phillipe Starck, Christian Werner and Sieger Design.

(photos and detailed information, courtesy of Duravit.us)

The Devil is in the Details - Custom Hardware from Martin Pierce

Monday's Inspiration!  A featured guest blog post from our friends at Martin Pierce!  If you haven't had the opportunity to see Martin's work, we are inviting you to come by our Belmont showrooms for just a small preview of the fabulous design and quality that his studio produces.  Unparallelled, unique functional hardware design is their specialty!

Now for a peek into their design world....

"Do you long for items in your home that are unique and out of the ordinary?  Lucky for you, one of the simplest and most affordable ways to add custom details to your home is through the use of bespoke hardware such as knobs, levers and pulls on your doors and drawers. 

Martin is inspired by the work of  Grinling Gibbons, an 18th century English sculptor and wood carver.  His detailed work often included “surprises” like a small peapod or little mouse scattered among one of his favorite shapes, a five petaled flower.  (image of Grinling Gibbons' detailed Hampton Palace Court carving)

Martin is hard at work carving the latest addition to our collection, the heroic vine and leaf pull, and he has added details that are so important to custom work.  In this case, a shield bug, or beetle, is carved into the handle.  I find this detail so charming and unexpected.  

 

For this piece, Martin is using cherry wood which, like most fruit bearing trees, is a hard wood perfect for carving.  These photos taken during the carving process will provide you with a close-up view of the details that are present in this piece.  Keep in mind that further refinement and finishing will make the details even more prominent and beautiful.

One more photo of the carving details of this vine pull - "


What a great pull for a wine cellar, or for a Tuscan themed rustic kitchen island...

If you are interested in this design or any other pieces from Martin Pierce's varied collections, please stop by one of our Bay Area showrooms, and let us help you design something for your home with his fabulous detailed bronze work.

Thanks again to Martin Pierce for sharing their design ideas with us!


 

Hardware Renaissance - American Handcrafted Custom Hardware

Hardware Renaissance,  one of Belmont Hardware's premier sponsors of the Hardware House program,  offers  unique custom hardware solutions.   They will create custom hardware in both hand-forged iron, and also in solid bronze.  Their designs are produced in-house from their design team located in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The design team is made up of blacksmiths and sculptors who are attracted to the project by virtue of receiving a royalty for every piece created.  The distinctive hand applied  patinas that are singular to Hardware Renaissance come from local area artists, who also receive a royalty for the use of their work.  


We at Belmont, have great admiration for their philosophy of working so actively with great local artistic talent! 

1.       When your company is asked to create custom hardware or modify current hardware for a specific client’s project what is your approach to this?  Do you have a defined process in place?

Hardware Renaissance has a lot of experience in custom work, so we have a defined process for it.  Fully 35% of our hardware is customized to some extent or the other.  We are very unique in that we do custom hardware in two totally different processes and metals:  hand forged iron, and cast bronze.   We start with detailed consultations with the customer to define requirements and then have finalized, signed-off drawings to use in manufacturing.  Doing custom work in hand forged iron is very different from cast bronze, as the iron is totally hand made, and custom work does not require moulds or patterns. So we are able to it with minimal upcharges.

2.       Do you have a person or department dedicated to custom projects?

We are a small company so we do not have a fully dedicated department for custom projects, but 2 of our staff have the expertise, along with our engineers in manufacturing.

3.       How important is having a custom capability to your company?

It is VERY important, because we are able to fulfill the customer’s dreams and requirements for the job exactly as they envision it.  It also continually challenges us and many time leads us down new, exciting avenues of growing our already unique product range.

4.       In your opinion what makes for a successful custom project?

COMMUNICATION!  Clear definition of requirements and expectations on both sides, personal prompt communication with updates and any changes, and a dedication to total customer satisfaction.

5.       What aspects of creating custom hardware are the most challenging?

New engineering is always more challenging than simply new designs or styles of existing products.  We have done custom jobs where no one else was interested because the engineering required was not worth their time.  But we never shy away from the difficult, indeed we thrive on it!  Hence I believe that we have developed a solid reputation for a wide variety of custom work, from unique hand forged iron hinged door grilles, to retrofit hardware for Scandinavian log homes (a real challenge!) to hardware for the most unique antique doors that customers find all over the world. 

6.       What aspects of creating custom hardware are most rewarding?

Doing something where the end result is even better than the customer expected.  Creating something beautiful and unique that absolutely fits the bill for the job.  Taking a sometimes blurry vision from concept to reality.  Hardware is something people see, touch, and use all the time, and creating one of a kind pieces is absolutely rewarding!

We want to thank Hardware Renaissance for being such a great partner with Belmont Hardware, and for being so generous with your time and expertise for the Hardware House Program!

Welcoming Anton Poliakov to our Belmont Showroom

Anton began his new career with Belmont Hardware in the  Belmont showroom in August.   Belmont welcomes his extensive experience with high-end decorative hardware and plumbing fixtures, not to mention his years with a proven track record to deliver the highest in customer service standards.

With an educational background that includes; business, economics, marketing, and computer information systems, Anton is more than ready to provide excellent customer service to his new design trade clients, and homeowners.  He also brings with him an interior design base of clients from his previous experience, and is looking forward to the opportunity to introduce those new customers to Belmont Hardware's growing decorative cabinet, door and plumbing hardware showroom collections.

Coming to the United States 15 years ago from Moscow, Russia, Anton is excited to bring his design and business background to Belmont Hardware.   So far, learning about Belmont's decorative cabinet and door hardware has been a fun experience for him, he already has some favorite hardware lines that he likes to recommend!

Baldwin Hardware is his "go-to" choice for door hardware, Anton feels that Baldwin has so many different styles and options to offer his  design clients.  Everything from their Archetype Bronze hand crafted line, to their ultra-modern stainless steel European, Estate Collection styles.

For decorative cabinet hardware, Anton's first choice to recommend is the Dekkor line.  Fabulous stainless steel styles;  modern, contemporary streamlined looks at an incredible valued price.


Belmont Hardware welcomes Anton to our Belmont Hardware showroom sales team, and is encouraging  his customers to stop by and see him in the expanding showroom on El Camino Real in Belmont.

Anton can be reached via phone: 650-591-0345
or e-mail: anton@ belmonthardware.com

A Conversation with Bronzes de France

As part of Belmont Hardware's,  Hardware House Program, co-sponsored with California Homes + Design Magazine,  a list of questions was developed by Brad Clore, the owner of Belmont Hardware, and sent to the custom hardware sponsors.  We received back some great answers that we'd like to share with our trade design clients, and our homeowner clients, that are seeking out something that can be tailored for just their needs.

Creating custom hardware for a clients' dream home is such a interesting process, making it possible to design decorative, functional hardware that are truly unique statement pieces.

This was the conversation that we had with Bronzes de France, a world renowned, timeless French design company.  Belmont Hardware is proud to be an exclusive source,  representing their incredibly beautiful hand crafted decorative hardware in the Bay Area.

1. When your company is asked to create custom hardware or modify current hardware for a specific client's project, what is your approach to this?  Do you have defined process in place?

 As every individual client has different imaginations and desires, every project is unique. When we developed a custom plate entry set for the palace in Thailand, we received a drawing from the architect, and from that drawing, we made a technical drawing with specification and dimensions. From there we make a resin mold for approval. 

Another approach we took recently was for a residence in Chicago. The client requested a custom Louis XVI knob on rose, and after reviewing the elevations for this client's residence, the factory sent drawings of a custom piece, developed by their own expertise.

With recent developments in advanced manufacturing technology, we are able to replicate, modify, and develop anything one can imagine!

2. Do you have a person or department dedicated to custom projects? 

Yes. Located in the Normandy region of France, we have three technicians with over 100 years of combined experience in design.  Monsieur Barthel, Madame Bouvet, and Monsieur Maitrel implore you to push their custom design skills to the limit.

3. How important is having the ability to create custom hardware to your company?

It is the key to our success. Over 80 % of our business in the past decade has included some kind of custom design.

4.  In your opinion, what makes for a successful custom project?

 Thinking outside the circle!


5. What aspects of creating custom hardware are the most rewarding?


The most challenging and rewarding aspect of custom design manufacturing is foreseeing and developing a product that will not only appease the client's requests, but will also stand the test of time. We manufacture our product with the thought that it will outlive the house.

6. What aspects of creating custom hardware are the most rewarding?
See above!

From the Bronzes de France website: 

"When bronze was first used for decorative hardware in the XVII century, it was originally sand cast. Today our company still uses this traditional form of casting as well as the Lost Wax process, which gives much finer detail to the castings. Most of our products are still individually hand chased by craftsmen using methods originally used back in the XVII century.  This accentuates the details of the pattern before we carry out the actual finishing process." We think you will be highly impressed with the quality and craftsmanship in their hardware!

Top Knobs Decorative Cabinet Hardare + A FREE Sample Program

Belmont Hardware's 6 Bay Area showrooms are now part of a select group of  participating dealers in the Top Knobs free sample program!  This is a great program for design clients to check out what might be the best options for affordable and unique decorative hardware.

If you, or your client, see knobs and pulls you like while visiting the Top Knobs website,  or while you are in one of the Belmont  showrooms,  but are not sure how they will look in your kitchen, bath, or closet design,  then Get Free Samples!

Top Knobs will mail you up to 3 samples at no charge for the sample. There is a $5 shipping and handling fee per sample.    To make this an even better offer, you will receive a $5 discount coupon for each sample you order, redeemable at any of the Belmont Hardware showrooms. 

Products that qualify for a free sample are:

• Any knob, regardless of price
• Pulls that are less than 7” in length, regardless of price

Each $5 discount coupon can be used with each order of $50+ or more (purchase $50 and use one $5 coupon, purchase $100+ and use two $5 coupons, purchase $150+ and use three $5 coupons). Each coupon is good for $5 off the list price.

Since there is no charge for the product samples themselves, they cannot be returned to Top Knobs for product credit.   Our showroom staff will be more than happy to help you order your free samples, and will be happy to assist you with recommendations for decorative cabinet knobs and pulls to help complete your new home design project from Top Knobs.

Art for the Bath - Alchemy Glass

Alchemy Glass handcrafted sinks are only available through select decorative plumbing dealers, and Belmont Hardware is excited to announce that they are now a new dealer for Alchemy Glass in the new Belmont decorative plumbing hardware showroom location.  These fused glass sinks, manufactured in Los Angeles, are amazingly gorgeous and each one is truly an original work of art.

Alchemy Glass has been crafting these studio made fused glass sinks for over 15 years in their Los Angeles factory.  There is no pigment added to the glass or painting of patterns, by applying only natural elements, they have been able to create artistry for beautiful homes.

"Colors not only vary from piece to piece but also within a piece itself, depending on how the piece is lit and from what angle you may be viewing it."

Using a process in which glass is fused and slumped, it is slowly heated in an oven in excess of 1000 degrees, trapping a mixture of minerals and metals within the glass sink design.  Alchemy Glass has perfected this process over many years of trial and error; of cooling and heating the glass to create complete works of art for homeowners.

Passionate artists, the Alchemy Glass Studio takes two or more weeks to complete a glass sink from start to finish.  Each extraordinary sink is truly a one of a kind design, as the natural processes of heating the glass and mixing in the additional elements cannot be controlled by the artists, only influenced.  These "Art for the Bath" sinks are definitely worth waiting for!

(detailed information and images courtesy of AlchemyGlass.com)

Custom Hardware; A Perspective from Rocky Mountain Hardware

At Belmont Hardware, we are so fortunate to work with the great creators and designers at Rocky Mountain Hardware.  Recently, we had an opportunity to interview Christian Nickum, (co-owner) Christine Pfau (marketing director)  and Susan Butler (marketing)  of Rocky Mountain for an upcoming article that we are producing with California Home + Design Magazine about the process and creation of custom finish decorative hardware.

They were extremely gracious with their knowledge of the steps involved in designing and producing custom bronze hardware.  Listen in!

1.  When your company is asked to create custom hardware or modify current hardware for a specific clients' project what is your approach to this?  Do you have a defined process in place?

One of the most unique features of Rocky Mountain Hardware is our ability to create custom work cast in solid bronze - from a simple door knob to elaborate screens.  We have a team of people dedicated to working with clients to bring ideas to life - whether it is a simple concept or very detailed schematics.  The process begins with our engineers and designers to collaboratively come up with a final drawing and ends with a cast piece of bronze.  In the middle are many varying steps, depending on the projects' needs and complexities.

2. Do you have a department dedicated to custom projects?

We have a dedicated team to take the custom process from concept to completion.

3. How important is having custom capability to your company?
 
The custom work is a very important part of Rocky Mountain Hardware's offering - having the ability to bring a broad range of projects and ideas to life sets us apart from the competition.

4.  What aspects of creating custom hardware are the most challenging?

Each project is different and requires problem solving to get the best results.  This takes time, knowledge and experience.  We welcome the challenge.

5.  In your opinion, what makes for a successful custom project?

A pleased client that feels ownership in the finished product!
 
6. What aspects of creating custom hardware are the most rewarding?

Completing a complicated project with a satisfied client to enjoy it!

We want to thank Rocky Mountain Hardware for their expertise!  Custom decorative hardware is obtainable - we can help you create a signature style for your own home, or for your clients' home.  Belmont Hardware has experts on staff that have worked closely with Rocky Mountain Hardware's team to produce some truly original decorative home hardware.  We welcome the challenge too!

(All images courtesy of Rocky Mountain Hardware)

Baldwin Door Locks Simplified!

Baldwin Door locks simplified!  Very informative and short presentation from Meghan Carter of  "Askthedecorator.com" and Baldwin Hardware Tech Trainer, Tom Embriani.  When considering decorative finish door hardware for a new home, or for a remodel,  there is not only style, finish and design to contemplate, but also choosing the correct function for your home.  

Meghan and Tom have done a great job of explaining these choices with Baldwin Hardware.

Enjoy their short video!

Belmont Hardware is proud to be a Key Partner for 2011 with Baldwin Hardware.  We have experts in our showrooms than can assist you through the many steps of selecting from Baldwin's wide variety of finishes and styles.  Baldwin has created many design options  that will fit just about any home;  traditional, old world style,  contemporary, modern, rustic

Creating a Grand Entrance....

A door knob is so much more than a lock, and a series of knobs or levers - it can set the whole design tone of your home.  Inspired by high style, and true craftsmanship, here are some of our favorites for creating that incredible entrance for your home!

The Kensington from Baldwin

Custom Designed Bronze Hardware from Rocky Mountain Hardware

The Amagansett from Omnia Hardware - Italian Design

From Hardware Renaissance, the Manhattan Bronze Thumblatch Entry Set in Khaki Patina

Also from Hardware Renaissance, the Casa California Lever with notched escutcheon plate

Arched Suite with Colonial lever in Dark Bronze from Ashley Norton

The No. 6701 Georgian Style Thumblatch Entrance set from Nanz

The Bamboo Suite from Von Morris

French Door Multipoint Trim Louis XVI Style from Fersa

Modern Solid Brass Serie Carmen from Valli Valli

The Lakeshore from Baldwin

Martin Pierce Custom Bronze Door Hardware (think organic shapes!)

 

The Corbel Series from Nobilus Luxury Hardware

More bronze options from Rocky Mountain!

The design and finish possibilities are endless, we can even work with our custom manufacturers to produce a one of a kind entrance set.  Stop by and let us help you create a unique "Grand Entrance" for your home!