What does this Door Chime have in common with this Pitcher?
Rachel Delphia, a Curator at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art was combing through the notes and drawings of one of the 20th Century's preeminent industrial designers in preparation for an exhibit. Serendipitously, Rachel found this post at ElectraChime's companion site, the Doorbell Museum.
The astute Curator instantly recognized the "Skyline" Door Chime as the work of Peter Muller-Munk. “The touchstone for him as a designer is the idea of bringing ‘beauty, reason and order’ to the rituals of everyday life,” Ms. Delphia told the New York Times.
In November of 2015, this never-used Skyline will take it's place among Munk's other icons of design including the Normandie Pitcher. ElectraChime is honored to lend a hand toward furthering appreciation of Muller-Munk's work.
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Can you Spot the ElectraChime Upstairs?
Photo courtesy of Covington Homes.
Talk about attention to detail. This house does.
Does Your Doorbell Match Your Floors?
On occasion, a client requests an ElectraChime to match existing architectural elements. In this installation, we executed a Metro cover in white oak and used the same stain as the refinished original 1930s floors.
Paired with three nickel-plated brass bells, this Oakland, California doorbell niche is stylishly retro-modern with a kind of "always been there" aesthetic.
Contact us about a doorbell to meet your own needs.
This Client Photo and Note Says It All
"Here is our new ElectraChime at home in Alameda. The niche is occupied again, and it looks and sounds great! Thanks for your work, Eric."
ElectraChime Empire Tubular Doorbell with two brass bells.
Flattered to share a wall with Edna Hibel
An Empire Seashell Doorbell shares a wall with original lithographs from Edna Hibel, a family friend of the Brunswick, Maine homeowner.
Edna Hibel's prolific work has been featured on playing cards, as dolls and as reproductions for her fans. In response to criticism of a line of Royal Doulton plates featuring her work, Ms Hibel told the Boston Globe:
“I’m flattered by the good company I’ll be keeping on the plate rails and china closets of the world.”
ElectraChime is flattered to share a wall with Edna Hibel.
How high is too high?
The answer isn't entirely existential when it comes to doorbells. Still, there is no single answer. ElectraChimes are meant to be seen, and heard. As a rule of thumb, we recommend the top of the chime be hung just above eye level at about six and one half feet on a standard eight foot wall.
Here are two installations close to the the ceiling.
In the first example, a Coronet with a custom walnut cover and nickel-plated bells rests comfortably in a newly constructed home in Connecticut. The homeowner could have built the chime niche anywhere they wanted, yet chose a location near the ceiling.
The Texas installation at right is a Coronet with three brass bells at the former location of a more modest doorbell. This negated the need for the homeowner to move the wires and patch the wallpaper.
As a practical matter, playful children and pets are less likely to play with the tubular bells when they are mounted just out of reach.
A Tale of Two Metros: Custom for an Existing Townhouse and a Standard Finish for a New Custom Home
Here are two ElectraChime Metro doorbells. The top two photos show a Metro executed in rift cut white oak with Minwax Classic Gray Stain beneath three coats of satin urethane for a Philadelphia townhouse. The lower two photos show a Metro in natural walnut installed in a newly constructed home in Colorado Springs. The juxtaposition of the ultra modern Metro with the traditional Spanish arches and plaster is stunning, don't you think?
