Hinge – Does your life depend on them?

Daily we find and use elements that become so normal, so automatic that we don’t even realize they exist. Hinges make our lives so much easier on many levels, yet they are almost invisible in their efficiency.

With an existence of thousands of years, the hinges have come a long way to finally reach their current state. The first versions involved large rocks and pivots, which later evolved into planks of wood and animal skins. Regardless of how humble their beginnings may have been, living without them today would definitely be much more difficult.

Consider your daily activity. You get out of bed in the morning and head to the bathroom door, which is suspended on hinges. He opens the medicine cabinet door (hinged) and takes out his pillbox (hinged). Reaching the vanity cabinet, open the hinged door to grab a towel for the shower, the door of which is probably hinged. Already, in those few moments, you’ve already relied on invisible hinges multiple times to get your morning chores done.

Hinges come in many different forms, depending on their designated use. Cabinet and door hinges will be the main types the common person would encounter in their normal home life, but even narrowing down the uses to these two basic functions involves many different types of hinges.

A hinge, in itself, is a work of simplicity; simply a joint that connects two objects; easy to understand, easy to install and easy to use. While many types of hinges are concealed, many are overtly functional and can actually be decorative.

Adding personality and ornamental value to your cabinet doors, decorative hinges are available in different finishes that will complement your cabinets. Black, gold, silver and pewter finishes can be used to accentuate the color of the woods in your cabinet, as well as the drawer pulls and cabinet handles or knobs. A variety of sizes are also available.

If you like to update old or antique furniture, you may want to consider adding the added feature of decorative hinges. Buying these pieces with an aged finish can maintain the antique quality of the furniture while adding the beauty of the hinge design that was not available years ago.

Even small accessories in your home can sport a new face with decorative hinges. Take a jewelry box or cabinet, for example, which may have been passed down through the generations and now sits on your desk. Those little pieces of hardware can become stiff and rusty, making it difficult to open the lid. Simply replacing the old, worn hinges with new decorative hinges will ensure that the piece will be in the best possible condition to pass on to future generations, with your own added personal touch.

So look around you as you go about your daily tasks for those seemingly unimportant hinges that make your daily steps so much easier. And while you’re at it, take a look at where you can upgrade and add additional accent keys with new accent hinges.