While this metal’s name can sound more like a primary school insult, or the name of your country cousin from down Miss’ipi way, it actually has a long, illustrious and extensive history! Pewter is an alloy of tin and copper, and has been used for crockery, utensils and ornaments commonly for at least six centuries. If you have and love your pewter hardware at home, here is the 401 on pewter The types of pewter for varying uses differe mainly in the amount of copper used to alloy with the tin. While lay pewter (which cannot be used for eating or drinking from – but can be used for making...

The front door of your home is the first actual physical contact that people will have with it – touching the door to knock on its wood or glass, picking up the knocker or touching the doorbell. So it makes sense that your front door forms an enormous part of the first impression that people have of your home. Many of you are renovating to sell, not only to live in, and a well-presented front door is said by ’some’ agents to add ‘up to’ 10% to the value of a property! We aren’t sure if you’ll be able to charge an extra twenty thousand on top of the price of...

AT Architectural Classics, we have known for quite a long time about the bactericidal properties of copper (and its alloys, including brass). We have written on it quite a lot … including the value of having traditional handles in the germ-swamp that is a public lavatory, the health virtues of having your home decked out in brass as well as the visual virtues, etc. Scientists worldwide have also known this for quite a while, as would you if you have been following the blog! However, the news truly is ‘new’ for the International Copper Association, strangely enough. Reuters reports...

For arbitrary reasons that the metal itself would probably find most amusing (were it able to giggle!), gold is one of the most valuable metals worldwide. Most societies have a fascination with it, it is used as a universal measure of worth, and many a person has lost their life over this soft, heavy, shiny old metal. You may have some gorgeously decadent door furniture made of the infamous material – and if you do, here is the story of its history and family! Amazingly, a single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet as large as a square meter – if you wanted to floor your house with gold,...

One of the more important decisions that you will make when doing a traditional renovation is whether to purchase the same hardware for every room of your house, or to mix and match … and then just how eclectic you can be with your choice of handles! In an Oklahoma newspaper, Mi-Ling Stone Poole, the resident interior designer, gives some very pertinent advice on the topic. The first thing she notes is that the main doors to your house should be in the same metal, and preferably the same style… although, her advice is not targeted specifically to people doing period style renovations. In your...

Bronze: the colour of beach gods and goddesses (later to shrivel to wrinkled walnut shells, of course), and also of third place at the Olympics. And, occasionally and with very good taste, the metal making up your door hardware in a traditionally renovated home! What’s the go with this illustrious metal? Bronze is not an elemental metal –it is not dug out of the earth, it is made up by humans from copper and tin. Occasionally other elements are added, like aluminium, silicone, or phosphorus, to make bronzes with different properties. The Bronze Age was when it was used most widely as a metal...

We have heaps of gorgeous and decorative door plates in our range, that are usually called fingerplates. Many of them were made, are were most frequently used, back in the days when soap was a bit more a luxury than it is today, and less of a necessity! I know a few people who’d like to bring back these glory days, actually. The point is though, that fingerplates are not generally used anymore. However, especially on interior doors, a lot of people kick their doors open. When you are carrying a screaming child to their bath… when you have a huge basket of washing in your hands … when you...

This gorgeous door handle is a truly interactive experience! It comes from Naomi Thellier de Poncheville’s portfolio, and while it is definitely clever, we think one of its best aspects is the way it turns cleverness into a very visceral experience of feeling welcomed! Beautiful. We often see the hand motif in older knockers, where a fist grasps the ring for you to knock with, and we also have seen various fist shaped door knockers … which we imagine would feel a little like countering a punch in a martial arts class … or even a pub brawl. This hand-le has a lovely welcoming feel though....

If you needed yet another reason to go for the beautiful softness of patinated brass in your door furniture, here it is! We’ve already looked at how brass is naturally bactericidal, without having any resins, coatings or anything else applied to it. And we also know (from the foot pull post!) exactly how icky door knobs that aren’t in your own home can be. Well, courtesy of an American news service, we are reminded that if somebody with the flu covers up a cough or sneeze with their hand, exactly like they are supposed to for good hygiene (when there aren’t any tissues handy), but then needs...

Christmas is all about family togetherness … and your kids are likely the ones that are constantly asking for more time with you. Over Christmas you get to indulge them – they won’t know what hit them! They may even be so surprised they faint … and you can lie down on the floor next to them and have a little nap Here’s a lovely activity you can do together in the lead up to Christmas – if you follow the Roman Catholic traditions, around the same time you are decorating your tree. These door knob notes are super easy and suitable for kids of all ages – although younger ones might...