{"id":15754,"date":"2025-11-09T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-blacksmith-forges-artistic-hardware-for-homes\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:50:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:50:33","slug":"durango-blacksmith-forges-artistic-hardware-for-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-blacksmith-forges-artistic-hardware-for-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango blacksmith forges artistic hardware for homes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango blacksmith and owner of Element Hardware Nathaniel Winkler works on some of his handmade hardware, including knobs, handles, rods and hooks, out of the home shop he built himself off of Lightner Creek Road (County Road 207) on Oct. 23. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Not everyone thinks about the shape of kitchen cabinet handles, the design of the towel rods in the bathroom or the texture of keyhooks inside a door.<\/p>\n

But Durango blacksmith Nathaniel Winkler thinks about them everyday.<\/p>\n

Winkler, who runs hand-forged hardware business Element Hardware, creates what he calls \u201cfunctional art\u201d \u2013 the small pieces of a home, like cabinet handles, drawer knobs, toilet paper holders and towel rods \u2013 that often get overlooked but can make or break a space.<\/p>\n

The business, which has been operating since 2016, serves Durango locals as well as customers from all over the country through the shop\u2019s Etsy page<\/a>. Key chains and sculptures are also sold on the site.<\/p>\n

\"Local
Local blacksmith Nathaniel Winkler talks about his business, Element Hardware, on Oct. 23 at his home shop. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Durango
Durango blacksmith and owner of Element Hardware Nathaniel Winkler creates handmade hardware like knobs, handles, rods and hooks out of his home shop. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Element ships pieces out of a shop Winkler built himself on his property off Lightner Creek Road (County Road 207), but the plan is to move the business into a storefront in town as soon as he can find the right spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to happen, it\u2019s just a question of when,\u201d Winkler said. \u201cI really want that engagement. I miss being with the public, and I really love that interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winkler has a long history with handcrafting. He worked in his grandfather\u2019s woodshop in Indiana as a child, and crafts sculptures and other artistic works alongside his functional endeavors with Element.<\/p>\n

Crafting iron hardware for cabinets in his own home inspired him to start his own business, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango blacksmith and owner of Element Hardware Nathaniel Winkler works out of his well-stocked home shop off Lightner Creek Road (County Road 207), just west of Durango. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
\n

For more information<\/h4>\n

Nathaniel Winkler, owner of Element Hardware, can be reached at (458) 206-9754 or nate@handforgedhomedecor.com<\/a>. Element Hardware\u2019s Etsy shop can be accessed by visiting www.etsy.com\/shop\/ElementHardware<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He has worked with a range of local businesses, including 2180 Lighting and Design Studio, Urban Market and Azul Gallery.<\/p>\n

Winkler has worked on more than 100,000 kitchens since the business began, and sold over 150,000 pieces on Etsy in 2024 alone.<\/p>\n

When a space includes handcrafted, custom hardware, you can feel it, he said. And in an age where most hardware is sourced from out of country suppliers and commercial businesses, that magic doesn\u2019t touch as many homes as he\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Handcrafted hardware) is something that kind of has a soul and tells a story,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can feel it when you grab onto your cabinets, (that) energy of something that was really handcrafted, and every single piece has different little marks, because they were (made by hand). I think that\u2019s disappearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Local
Local blacksmith Nathaniel Winkler, through his business Element Hardware, created custom hardware for a local kitchen build that honored his client\u2019s late husband. He showed off one of the remaining custom pieces Oct. 23 at his home shop off Lightner Creek Road (County Road 207). (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Some of that magic arose for Winkler while working with a customer whose husband died before he was able to complete interior work on a cabin near Electra Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe came to me and she said, \u2018It was my husband\u2019s dream thing, and he died before he finished, and I\u2019m trying to honor him and what he wanted,\u2019\u201d Winkler said. \u201cWe did some (custom hardware) for the kitchen, and she was over the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remembers her as one of his happiest customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant a lot, because for her it was all very emotional,\u201d Winkler said. \u201cShe wanted to really do it right, in honor of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each piece of hardware at Element costs about $12 and takes several hours to complete, Winkler said. Tools like a power hammer, press and forge are used to make the pieces, and everything is completed by him and employee Kelli Wallace.<\/p>\n

\"Element
Element Hardware employee Kelli Wallace works on handmade pieces of hardware Thursday at owner Nathaniel Winkler's home shop. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Wallace called the business, and Winkler, hidden gems of Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The business) is amazing and beautiful, and I think everyone should know about (Winkler),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Winkler wants to make sure that handcrafted artistry remains alive in Durango homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the cottage industry and staying true to a craft and putting out quality is dying,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m trying to put forward that, \u2018Hey, these crafts are worth it,\u2019 you know? It\u2019s worth it to support local, to support real craftspeople who are creating functional art.\u201d<\/p>\n

epond@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Local
Local blacksmith and owner of Element Hardware Nathaniel Winkler works out of his well-stocked home shop off of Lightner Creek Road Road (County Road 207). (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Local
Local blacksmith and owner of Element Hardware Nathaniel Winkler works on handmade hardware like knobs, handles, rods and hooks. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Local
Local blacksmith and owner of Element Hardware Nathaniel Winkler works on handmade hardware like knobs, handles, rods and hooks. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Local
Local blacksmith and owner of Element Hardware Nathaniel Winkler works on handmade hardware like knobs, handles, rods and hooks. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

to open storefront to display iron knobs, handles, rods and hooks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[246,431,28,435],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts-general","tag-business-general","tag-headlines","tag-metal-and-mineral"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15754"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19825,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15754\/revisions\/19825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15754"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}