Inspiration: Hardware

One of my goals in the new year is to keep my design blog a little more active. 2013 was a year of growth for me and my hardware line and there just wasn't much time to devote to blogging.  I'm hoping this year with the help of regular guest posts, some graphics folks coming to the rescue and better time management (nothing says time management like having another baby right?) that I can be a little more consistent about posting to the Nest Studio Blog. 

So I wanted to show you all is the things that inspire me in my hardware design process. I could design hardware all day.  I have so many ideas for pieces to complement just about any interior design scheme - and I generally keep track of all of these inspiration shots on my hardware pin board on Pinterest . Unfortunately execution (sourcing, manufacturing and dealing with all that technical stuff) is super difficult and a long process.  I'm hoping to introduce two new product lines this year but in the meantime here are some things that caught my eye and will no doubt inspire my designs:

A -   I love this detail from Avroko's restaurant Carnevino.  Mixing leather strapping and metals is so cool (of course any time you mix materials you get into a huge manufacturing mess!).

B -  This table is so cool.  The way the metalwork inlays into the stone reminds me a bit of a pair of fine cufflinks.  One of these days I'll do some hardware a bit like this.

C -  I love the texture on this door. Could be such a cool pattern at a much smaller scale on cast bronze or brass hardware.

D - Mid-century sculpture is such an inspiration to me. I'd love to do something more organic but still modern.

E -  And what hardware designer isn't inspired by jewelry. I could see doing some really cool 3-D printed hardware with a cage-like structure

F -   I'm not sure if this ram's head is hardware or jewelry but it's cool nonetheless. Whimsical yet traditional.  Maybe not the Nest Studio Aesthetic but would be amazing on a front door!