Broken hinge on your old(er) cabinets?

Broken hinges are a common problem with euro-hinges, and less common with old exposed hinges or knife hinges.

What do you do when a cabinet hinge breaks?

First, take the hinge off and record all of the names and numbers stamped thereon. Take some digital photos of the hinge from all angles.

Next, look to see who manufactured the cabinets.

If the cabinets were made by a manufacturer, rather than a local cabinetmaker) there should be a stamp or sticker on a drawer box.
If you find one, contact the manufacturer, if they are still in existence.
Google the name to find them.

Such hinges are usually lifetime guaranteed, so the manufacturer should provide them free of charge. They may want to see a picture to ascertain that the cabinets are theirs, if you do not have piurchase records.

Even if your cabinets were locally made you might have some recourse, although you will probably have to buy the replacement hinges once you find them.

Most cabinet dealers save old hinges and drawer slides. I did when I was a cabinet dealer.

So your next resource would be any local cabinet dealer...especially those who have been in business a long time.

Call and ask them if they have a supply of old hinges and, if they say they do, and they have yours, ask if you can buy a few.
The reason I say buy a few is that, if you have broken one, others will follow in the coming years.

Euro hinges that mount on face frames are commonly broken because they open only to 105-110 degrees.

It's very easy to stress them by opening them to the end of their swing (as in the picture at left).

Cabinet dealers learned this early on and collected them to satisfy calls from past customers.

The third option is a big city hardware store. Some older ones, like Hundley Hardware in San Francisco, stash old hinges. Don't expect to find them on a web site. You will have to call or email. Email your images.

The fourth option is a recycle yard that sells old cabinets. They will often also have boxes and drawers, full of old hinges. One that comes to mind is
Urban Ore in Berkeley, CA. It may even pay you to buy an old cabinet just to get the hinges.

I always order a few extra hinges for my clients nowadays, especially if they are euro-hinges that do not open fully. That way they have them for just this sort of problem.

Peggy

Article on Designing and Remodeling Kitchens

Most newspaper/magazine articles on designing and remodeling a kitchen are deficient in some way or another. They usually contain misperceptions and outright errors that cloud the whole article.

I just ran across a great article called Get Cooking on a Dream Kitchen, by Matthew M. F. Miller of CTW Features, that calls me to task on my opinions. Great job Matthew!

I then Googled his name to try to figure out why he is so on-target in his writing and came up with his blog, Maybe Baby, about his ongoing attempt to become a father. He's a Chicago twenty-something who lost a lot of weight in the past and is married to a feminist. They just bought their first home. He writes well there too.

I then found his bio on Content That Works, the company that he works for. He's a content writer!

I then found another great article by Matthew called RETRO Fit or miss for your kitchen? on the use of retro appliances and strong colors in kitchens. He's spot-on again!

Then I found another one, Test your energy-saving savvy to save big bucks, on energy conservation in the home. Again, very well presented.

This guy is just a great researcher who really does his homework!
So great in this day of misinformation masquerading as gospel.

My faith in writers is reborn!

Peggy

Swedish Integrated Farm Sink

In my blog roaming tonight I came across this absolutely wonderful concept on the great Swedish interior design blog Tinaminastina.

It's a farm sink INTEGRATED into the countertop!!!

How cool is this?

I can't tell if it's natural stone, concrete, or a synthetic...

But it sure looks great.

MUCH better than the choppy look of a typical undermounted farmhouse sink and it's a more comfortable height. For those late night cleanup marathons.

Peggy