Banishing Boring Door Knobs

How often do you think about your door knobs? We tend to ignore those essential chunks of hardware until we see a fabulous one, and then everybody notices them. Lately some gorgeous new selections have been catching my eye.

Door knobs are an important accessory because there are so many in our homes. Try counting all of them one day, or having one of the kids count them for math practice! If all of those door knobs are really beautiful it adds some polish and panache to your rooms. They can make a plain door look fabulous and a great door look spectacular.

When I lived in my 1920s home in Libertyville I chose acrylic egg-shaped door knobs with a chrome, rectangular back and you wouldn’t believe how many people oohed and aahed and touched them. They made a quiet statement that wasn’t overwhelming.

For a long time egg shaped knobs or traditional cut crystal knobs were popular, but now I am seeing so many more unique styles and lots more acrylic options. For one of my current clients I just selected a circular flat acrylic disc from Emtek – think Frisbee – with a rectangular chrome backplate. They’re perfect on the client’s three-paneled custom doors, painted in Benjamin Moore’s white dove. Emtek also has a flat square acrylic knob that I love too! 

How to choose? Here are four tips: 

• Remember, you’re making an investment in a lot of hardware, and you’re going to be using those knobs often, so be sure to “test drive” one and make sure you like the feel of it. 
• I recommend installing the same door knobs and back plates throughout the interior to ensure a sense of unity and consistency, with one possible exception.  You may want the  door knob or back plate finish on  the interior side of your exterior doors to match the finish of all the interior doors and the exterior finish to be different so it correlates to the exterior of the house and or your exterior lighting. 
• When choosing a style it is perfectly fine to be a bit eclectic. Just because your house is traditional or from the 1800s or early 1900s doesn’t mean you have to choose a cut-crystal look for the door knobs. 
• Don’t go overboard. You want people to notice but you don’t want to distract from the room.    

Here are some fresh styles from a few of our favorite vendors:

          Photo Courtesy of Emtek

          Photo Courtesy of Emtek

          Photo Courtesy of Baldwin Hardware

          Photo Courtesy of Rocky Mountain

          Photo Courtesy of Rocky Mountain