My business began with a floor grille. We were remodeling our home and I saw this huge gaping hole in the entrance way and I had no idea what the options were. We have an old home so I wanted a style that suited our house so I scoured antique markets and second hand stores to find a beautiful brass register. I found a few but nothing the right size. I’m not sure what made me decide I could just design one, but I pulled out my carbon paper and a pencil and started to draw. I remembered a textile I had designed which was inspired by an elevator in the Chicago Stock Exchange, a Louis Sullivan building; I reinterpreted that textile pattern to work in metal and thus became From Sphere to Eternity, Modern Metal’s first design. I googled “cut metal” and sent my carbon sketch to many makers throughout the US. Eventually I found one, and thus began a new venture.
My architect saw the floor grille and said “hey this is really cool, you could sell these!”. Since then I’ve learned the nuances of designing in metal and the technicalities of designing floor grilles, but really it’s quite basic. You just pop in a new grille, beveled edge and thicker metal preferred, and you have a wonderful and functional design statement that will last for years. What I can tell you is that I stand behind our metal floor grilles because that first one has survived years of us all stomping around, three kids and two dogs in a constantly bustling entranceway. If that floor grille could talk!
