Everywhere you look, and everywhere you do not, are little pieces of hardware that keep our furniture, and our lives, in one piece. From T knobs to cable glands, from rubber grommets to nylon nuts, our lives would be in shambles and pieces, were it not for these silent heroes keeping it all together. They are taken for granted and underrated, but we would be lost without them.

An example is the cable gland, or cable connector in the United states. This little guy simply secures the end of a cable to a piece of equipment. An easy task, but think of how we would be doing it without that piece specifically designed for the task. The wires running to appliances, snaking through walls, have little comb devices in them making them more convenient to use. This wire management keeps the wires separated for safety purposes, as well as for easy organization.

Rubber grommets can offer water tight seals, or prevent the slipping of things like wires, but the right size is crucial in order to attain the desired effect and for accurate installation. Nylon nuts can be used for machinery pieces that are regularly taken apart. The nylon is more durable and strip resistant than a metal piece, and will survive the regular screwing and unscrewing process.

Think about casters that help you wheel about in your office chair, or the leveling feet on your desk that keep your pencils from rolling off, or even the desk grommet that protects the wires that are run through a hole in your desk. Things like T knobs, hinges, washers, spacers and latches are all over the place, although we may never think to look for them. They are so omnipresent we take them for granted as being a piece of the scenery.

The next time you open your front door or sit down at your desk, take the time to look at all of the tiny little pieces that went into making it usable. Imagine what life would be like without those bits of hardware. It puts life into a whole new perspective when you realize how important something so small truly is.