Welcome to the dark side: achieving timeless kerb appeal
When it comes to hardware and door furniture, continuing its popularity well into 2024 is the colour black. Kerry Blackford, Senior Category Manager at ERA, explores how this versatile and timeless finish is moving beyond interiors to become a hardware colour of choice for both modern and period homes.
With 68% of homebuyers reporting to the Homeowners Alliance that kerb appeal is important when purchasing a new home*, it is becoming increasingly important to many homeowners that they create an exterior look that not only suits their own style but will help to attract buyers in the future too.
Fabricators will know that this can be easily achieved by following wider design trends; namely by installing windows and doors fitted with furniture and hardware that complements and elevates the overall style of a property. This is where opting for black hardware finishes can make a real style statement, allowing homeowners to follow this trend in both new-build and older homes with the added benefit of modern performance characteristics, especially when enlisting Fab&Fix’s suited hardware.
Interior Trends
Matte black has been the finish of choice for kitchen and bathroom projects in recent years and, as is so often the case, trends that start here (and in kitchens), often flow into design choices for other areas of the home.
Shower enclosures, kitchen and bathroom taps and cabinet handles are just some of the fittings being designed and sold in matte black finishes, often in contemporary and industrial styles.
This design trend has also been visible in the resurgence of slim aluminium framed windows, doors and internal screens that are now frequently specified for open-plan kitchen and family room extensions.
Forever Versatile
Black is enduringly versatile and can be used across a wide variety of hardware and interior styles.
Should a homeowner want to achieve a contemporary look, black brings a clean, bold and modern touch, when specified in a matte finish. Equally, for homeowners wishing to follow a more traditional and heritage style route, black can help to achieve the desired aged effect when chosen in a satin or hammered finish on a period-style handle, for example.
No matter the home’s age, black can adapt, and across ERA’s Fab&Fix range, the finish is available in many styles that are designed to suit many different property types.
Mixing and Matching
Given its neutrality, black famously goes with everything. Offering a contrast against colours and textures, black will not only suit any window and door style or colour, it will also create a striking look to boot. Paired with anthracite doors, black hardware can create an industrial aesthetic or when used with a classic white or sage green woodgrain, black can enhance a period look.
Benefits to Manufacturers and Fabricators
Offering an array of hardware design choices in black can open up sales opportunities for window and door manufacturers, given that homeowners are more aware of design trends than ever, thanks to increasing points of reference across social media, advertising and online.
Not only is black bang on trend, its versatility and timeless appeal mean there is no doubt that customer requests for this impactful shade will continue to rise across the coming year and beyond.
Introducing more black style options can be a style-led point of difference with competitors in 2024, creating upselling opportunities and catering to audiences who are following wider design trends when investing in their homes.
Fab&Fix Decorative Hardware
The Fab&Fix Classic, Forged and Heritage window and door hardware ranges offer a selection of black finishes to suit a range of window and door styles.
The Fab&Fix decorative range now offers manufacturers and fabricators more versatility than ever before when it comes to perfectly matching doors and windows for a variety of property styles. Leading the way in performance standards, all Fab&Fix hardware endures real-world prohesion testing and has over 30 years of proven field performance.
* https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-selling/showing-your-house
