Sunday, September 30, 2007

"Acorn" forged iron exterior hardware for retro style











My brick, ranch-style home has a colonial feel, especially on the exterior. I am dressing it up with black-iron hardware and lighting -- and it looks terrific. In fact, if you look at a lot of the classic "California ranches" you see these kinds of colonial touches, with the black forged iron really making the wood and brick "pop."
"Acorn" hardware appears really well made and just what the doctor ordered. Van Dyke's Restorers has a great selection -- you can see it best by browsing their Catalog (rather than online). In their Fall 2007 catalog there are 8 pages of Acorn products. Call 1-800-558-1234 for a catalog. Their url is vandykes.com, but again, the catalog is the way to go.
For the most complete listing of Acorn products, you can go to the Acorn website -- http://www.acornmfg.com/index.php. However, it is a bit hunt-and-peck, not really oriented to consumers. Looks like you can buy closeout items direct from them, but otherwise you must go to a retailer.