Meeting the hardware needs of the modern homeowner
With consumers now expecting more choice when it comes to window and door hardware, Sarah Knight, technical product manager for ERA, discusses the importance of offering a wide range of options.
According to IMARC Group, the UK home improvement market is due to reach approximately £17.4 billion by 2033, up from £11.6 billion in 2024. It cites a variety of reasons for this growth, including an increased focus on home aesthetics and the continued rise in home renovations, as a result of the pandemic.
With the market forecast set to expand, it is important that installers can offer a versatile choice of hardware, without compromising on quality or security, in order to keep pace with customers who are passionate about investing in their homes.
So, what are the key considerations for window and door professionals when it comes to their hardware offering?
A colourful choice
While traditional whites and natural woodgrains used to be the only colours on the market, these days there is an almost unlimited number of options.
Doors are now considered the ultimate exterior statement piece for many, and customers expect a wide range of choice when it comes to door furniture and matching hardware across windows too. So, while white, black and chrome are still popular, they don’t meet the needs of customers looking for a more diverse portfolio, one that will help to personalise and complete their home.
Homeowners are also looking beyond colour, with finish and texture playing an important part too. Enter effects such as matte, satin and forged, which are continuing to soar in popularity, thanks to their respective contemporary, luxury and period feel.
Offering a wide choice of colour and texture is ERA’s premium Fab&Fix hardware range, with a palette that includes 13 finishes.
In addition, ERA’s all-new Decorative Range, designed for the more modest budget, comprises of six popular finishes.
An authentic aesthetic
Many homeowners in more traditional style properties are looking to invest in enhancing their home’s period features, while incorporating modern technologies that match today’s standard of living.
To ensure that this balance can be achieved, hardware for heritage style windows and doors has been developed to ensure quality, durability and high-performance, as well as an authentic look
For example, replicating the feel of traditional forged iron hardware are ERA’s popular Fab&Fix Heritage finishes, including its Forged Black and Hardex Pewter options. These finishes can also be offered across entire hardware ranges for a suited look.
At the other end of the aesthetic scale, fabricators and manufacturers can offer hardware choices for modern new build housing, and sleek city apartments too. For contemporary properties like this, some developers and homeowners are stepping away from high-gloss hardware and opting for a more minimalist, industrial look. This can be seen in the popularity of Fab&Fix’s Hardex Graphite, and Decorative anthracite grey finishes, which both provide a stylish alternative to chrome.
Cost considerations
While security and performance must always be front of mind, it is important to offer hardware options for a variety of budgets too, although it is paramount to ensure that affordable options can still deliver reliable security and durability.
It’s vital then to offer products that have been tested to the highest standards and are supplied with a comprehensive guarantee.
ERA’s Decorative range offers an affordable route to coordinating hardware encompassing key door and window furniture lines, with all the performance and quality characteristics expected of the ERA brand.
Fab&Fix is ERA’s premium offering of perfectly matching furniture in form, function and finish. The range features Classic, Heritage, Architectural, Forged and S Series collections.
There are over 200 items in the Fab&Fix range, and each product comes complete with a 10-year mechanical guarantee and a 10-year function, finish and security guarantee.
The ERA Decorative range is a new stylish and cost-effective collection of matching door and window products, including door handles in both patio and MPL Euro cylinder versions, a window handle, letterplate, knocker, and numerals and letters.
Each product comes complete with a 10-year mechanical guarantee and a five-year finish guarantee.
With the market predicted to expand and as demand for personalisation continues, fabricators and manufacturers can award themselves a competitive edge by offering a broad and versatile range of matching hardware products and finishes.