The CHAREAU collection began with a question we get from designers more than any other: where can I find hardware that reads refined without reading traditional?
Most of the pulls and knobs in a typical hardware catalog skew one of two directions. Traditional shapes — bow pulls, cup pulls, ornate knobs — handle refined well, but read instantly as period pieces. Modern shapes — bar pulls, tab pulls, finger pulls — feel current, but tend to read minimal or industrial rather than refined.
CHAREAU is built in the narrow space between those two — the design language of early-20th-century French interiors translated into proportions that work in a modern kitchen.
Why CHAREAU
The name is a tribute to Pierre Chareau, the French architect and designer whose Maison de Verre (1932, Paris) is one of the foundational works of modernist domestic architecture. Chareau's work sits at a hinge in design history: trained in classical decorative arts, he produced furniture and interiors that anticipated modernism by a decade. His pulls, hinges, and ironwork were never minimalist, but they were never ornamented either. They were proportioned.
That's the brief we gave the team designing this collection. Take the proportions Chareau worked with — the slight tapers, the carefully weighted ends, the long shafts that flare almost imperceptibly toward a finial — and translate them into pulls and knobs sized for contemporary cabinetry.
The Emerald Pull
The collection's signature piece, named for Chareau's most-photographed door hardware, is the Emerald Pull. The shape is a long, slim shaft with subtly weighted ends — a silhouette that reads classical at a distance and refined up close. Available in 7" and 9" center-to-center, in finishes ranging from Tuscan Bronze to Polished Nickel.
The proportions are the work. The shaft tapers slightly from end to center, so the pull never reads stiff or industrial. The terminations are weighted just enough to give the eye somewhere to rest. The finish thickness is heavier than most decorative hardware to give it the substance Chareau's originals had.
How designers are specifying it
From the project briefs we've seen this year, three rooms keep coming up.
- Pantry walls and butler's pantries. The 9" Emerald is the right scale for tall pantry doors, where most modern bar pulls feel too thin.
- Primary baths with vanity drawers wider than 30". The 9" pull in Polished Nickel reads as bath-appropriate but never sterile.
- Range walls with custom hood surrounds. The Tuscan Bronze finish ages beautifully and gives a range wall the heft of a hearth.
The CHAREAU palette
Five finishes form the core of the collection.
- Tuscan Bronze — the warmest in the line, with a hand-burnished look that develops more character over time.
- Polished Nickel — the cool counterpoint, with a richness that polished chrome can't match.
- Polished Chrome — for clients who want CHAREAU's proportions in a more contemporary cool finish.
- Brushed Satin Nickel — the workhorse. Reads as either warm or cool depending on what it's paired with.
- Honey Bronze — added to the line in 2026 in response to the warm-metal trend covered in our trend report.
If you're considering CHAREAU
The collection rewards being seen in person. Photography flattens the proportions; the small tapers and weight differences only show up in your hand. Our sample program ships the Emerald Pull in any of the five finishes; we'd recommend ordering at least two finishes side-by-side in the size you'd actually use, and holding them up to your cabinet front.
Browse the full CHAREAU collection.
0 comments