When designing a home, choosing concealed hardware and minimalist fixtures can be the difference between building a house with nice materials and creating a fully realized, high-concept home.
It is all too common to see a beautifully built home equipped with custom cabinets and handcrafted doors finished with hardware that was an afterthought.
Doors, cabinets, and drawers are the parts of a home that your client will physically interact with every day. Give your client the high-end finishes they will notice every time they walk into the house, open a closet or close the bathroom door. Making thoughtful hardware choices can be the difference between building a house and creating a home.
When designing a home, choosing concealed hardware and minimalist fixtures can be the difference between building a house with nice materials and creating a fully realized, high-concept home.
It is all too common to see a beautifully built home equipped with custom cabinets and handcrafted doors finished with hardware that was an afterthought.
Doors, cabinets, and drawers are the parts of a home that your client will physically interact with every day. Give your client the high-end finishes they will notice every time they walk into the house, open a closet or close the bathroom door. Making thoughtful hardware choices can be the difference between building a house and creating a home.
Concealed Hinges
As sleek, modern design becomes more en-vogue in homes worldwide, it becomes vital for door hardware to follow the precedent set by the rest of the house.
Installing traditional hinges on a casing-less door disrupts the subtle, minimalist lines envisioned by the architect or designer. Because of this, concealed hardware has become a mandatory tool in a designer’s repertoire.
Several popular options exist for achieving the sleek, streamlined look that concealed hinges provide.
Center-Hung Pivots
Center-hung pivot hardware, like Rixson’s, provides a floating door aesthetic and moves the pivot point closer to the lock edge of the door. Capable of handling weights of up 1000 lbs, these pivots are perfect for oversized entry doors that serve as a statement piece in the entrance of a home.
Rixson also offers an electrified model that can be used for additional power transfer on heavy doors and offers integrated door positioning and monitoring for security systems.
Offset Pivots
Offset pivots are another excellent option for minimalist entry door hardware, providing the same “floating door” effect as center-hung pivots.
While the aesthetics are similar, offset pivots move the pivot point further away from the hinge side of the door and can create a wider opening.
Accurate Lock and Hardware offers this concealed hardware in various finishes and can create custom offsets based on your project’s needs.
Concealed Hinge Systems
Concealed hinge systems, like the Simonswerk Tectus, offer a different approach to minimalist hardware than their pivoting counterparts.
While maintaining the streamlined look of a hingeless door when closed, the Tectus embraces its modern aesthetic by flaunting its beautifully engineered hinge system when opened. Perfect for interior doors, this hinge system allows for 180 degrees of opening and enables doors to be closed perfectly flush with the wall.
Concealed Overhead Door Stops
Concealed hardware can help to overcome the many challenges presented by designing functional and visually appealing commercial spaces.
Bulky swing control mechanisms can compromise even the most elegant and breathtaking interior design. Products like Glynn-Johnson’s concealed overhead door stops help to alleviate this. Completely hidden when the door is closed, the channel for these stops is completely encased within the door, and the jamb bracket is mortised into the frame, providing the lowest profile overhead door stop possible.
Magnetic Concealed Hardware
Magnets are by no means new technology, but utilizing them for door hardware presents new and creative ways to create minimalist aesthetics throughout a home.
Latches
If you have already designed your project with concealed hinges, see your minimalist design through to its logical conclusion with magnetic latches.
Eliminate protruding strike plates that become discolored and worn. Products like Accurate Lock and Hardware’s Magnetic Latch allow you to securely close a door without friction or contact. Not only does this prevent unsightly wear on your doors strike plate over time, but it also effectively silences closing doors.
Catches
Another place strike plates can accumulate unsightly wear is where a ball catch is typically used, most notably interior double doors.
By speccing concealed hardware, like Precision Lock Services Concealed Magnetic Catch, for your next build, you can eliminate vulgar, protruding strike plates and replace them with a catch that is invisible while the doors are closed. When opened, this concealed hardware is discrete, and because it operates with magnetism instead of friction, it will not wear or discolor.
Minimalist Rosettes
Typically, the best minimalist hardware will rarely, if ever, be seen. However, levers provide functionality and ease of use.
Using a lever or knob does not mean it cannot be minimalist in its design. Minimal radius rosettes can provide the look of a “floating” lever.
Many exquisite door handles and locksets are available today to the discerning designer. These products are built with exceptional craftsmanship and feature smooth, well-defined lines without being ornate or gaudy.
Some of the most notable manufacturers of these products are as follows;
Single Dummy Doors
When an active latching mechanism is not needed, a range of options are available, providing varying degrees of visibility to fit your desired aesthetic.
Knife Edge Pulls
Perhaps the most minimal of all privacy door hardware, knife edge pulls like this one from Accurate Lock and Hardware are highly versatile. Quickly slipping out of sight when not in use, these space-saving pulls exemplify minimalism while adding a desirable accent to any door.
Flush Pulls
Most often used in conjunction with sliding or pocket doors, flush pulls are often used as concealed hardware on a concealed door, a tasteful double serving of minimalism for the refined designer.
Though often a simple cup pull, products like Accurate Lock and Hardware’s Combo Flush Pulls add a handsome touch of strength and robustness to a pocket door while providing the ability to lock.
Flush Drop Handles
Flush drop handles like those made by Merit can be a sophisticated accent to a minimalist design without being garish and loud. Though still visible, flush drop handles do not alter the profile of a door, giving your doorway a visible grip with a mature sense of restraint.
Touch Latches
One of the best ways to create a clean, minimalist look in a home is to eliminate hardware altogether. By using products like Saint Louis Designs Magnetic Push Latches, you can eliminate the need for cabinet pulls, and door handles, creating incredibly modern designs.
Most often used for kitchen drawers, push-to-open magnetic latches are by no means a new concept. However, stronger, more robust versions of this technology allow you to implement this hardware in places where it wouldn’t have made sense to do so previously. Closet doors and larger storage spaces can now utilize this minimalist technology, keeping your design clean and your customers impressed.
However, eliminating any contour or contrast from your doors is not always what your space will require. Using minimalist edge pulls, like these from Accurate Lock and Hardware can add precisely the accent that your cabinets need, giving them presence without protruding into the room.