Remodelling that’s knob too expensive

Okay… sorry about the title! But for every groan I think there’s a tiny smile inside somewhere! Seriously, if you are renovating your house, or trying to improve the value a bit before you sell it, door knobs are one of the easiest, most personal and cheapest ways to add value to you home. Greg Bettenhausen, a hardware man in the States, calls door hardware “the jewelry of the home” … and who wouldn’t want to dress their home up a bit?!

If you are happy to hunt around, checking out all the different priced, gorgeous knobs available, you can pick up some absolute bargains when it comes to door knobs. Check our handy guides to installing and troubleshooting them yourself, and you don’t even need to pay tradesperson’s fees. Then again, for those of you that live like Scrooge McDuck, you could spend around £500 per door – this is what a recent project involving custom-made French-deco lever handles, in hand-plated antique silver cost the homeowner.

One of the aspects of your knobs that is noticeable by feel as well as by look is the metal or material that it is made of. Cut glass knobs look ornate and feel distinctive on your hand … oil-rubbed metals and aged brass feel deliciously soft, and polished metals have a clean, shiny and new feel that creates a bit of spring about a room. What sort of materials are available in the wide, wide world for door knobs?

• Nickel – polished, satin or dirty nickel handles are available. “Dirty’ nickel handles are actually pre-tarnished – don’t let your Gran polish them while you aren’t looking! Satin nickel is quite common, especially among reproduced door knobs as opposed to originals. Polished nickel has that clean finish.
• Brass – polished or lacquered brass handles are available. Iti s actually quite difficult to find unlacquered brass handles (hate to brag, but that is one area Architectural Classics excels J ). If all you can find is lacquered brass but you prefer that gorgeous soft feel on your hands, check out our ‘How to Age Brass Hardware’ blog post. Lacquered brass also has that clean, polished and looked-after feel.
• Cut glass and crystal door knobs are very traditional. They are also very breakable and not given to self-maintenance, so if you’d like to install these throughout your house, professional tools and skill would be best.
• Porcelain creates the same sort of mood as cut glass, and you can get some beautiful painted or printed porcelain door knobs from older eras. One of the only knobs that it is actually easy to do intricate (and coloured) designs on.
• Wrought iron comes in gorgeous shapes and with a rough and authentic older feel. Keep in mind how the colours will work with your home though!

Take your time picking knobs – the browsing is half the fun!
Photo credits: Crystal door knob by raviK