Replacing Doorknobs - How on Earth do I Pick?

[dottyblue]

Share with me what you have done because I'm overwhelmed by too many doorknob options!

My house is a 1941 cape.  We have a bunch of dinged up brass doorknobs, many of which have broken internal parts and need to be replaced.  My DH recently got stuck in our home office and had to climb out the window, run around and pop the door frame trim to get back in the office.  So we are replacing ALL of them and fully expecting it to cost $350-450 to replace 14 doorknobs.

Almost all of our door hinges have been painted over, so I'm not stuck with brass doorknobs.  Nickel?  Black?  I'm overwhelmed.

[Susie]

In our last house, we did nickel Schlage Georgian style knobs, and matching nickel hinges.

www.amazon.com/Schlage-F10GEO619-Georgian-Passage-Nickel/dp/B0002YR17E

We haven't done them yet in the new house, but might do the same thing again.  We have a mix of finishes in the house, mostly black and nickel.

[dr.girlfriend]

Not really what you're asking, but FYI we put the handle-type ones on all our doors in the addition, with the goal of aging in place. You don't have to grip as hard, good for arthritis, opening with crutches, etc. Ours are satin nickel, seem to go fine with everything. We have a mix of finishes elsewhere.

[lolalolalola]

We chose black lever style for other new house, I really like them

I don’t know if you have little kids or plan to have kids but lever style are much harder to baby-proof if that’s a consideration.

[icedcoffee]

Oct 8, 2021 15:00:30 GMT -5 Susie said:

In our last house, we did nickel Schlage Georgian style knobs, and matching nickel hinges.

www.amazon.com/Schlage-F10GEO619-Georgian-Passage-Nickel/dp/B0002YR17E

We haven't done them yet in the new house, but might do the same thing again.  We have a mix of finishes in the house, mostly black and nickel.

We did these too. I like em. I thought about doing black but got concerned it was too trendy. The satin nickel looks nice.

[lucygoosey]

I just swapped out all of my very worn, grungy door knobs with these in nickel. Easy to install and I liked the price. There were 15 of them and I have 2 left to do. They have a version with locks if you need those isntead.

www.homedepot.com/p/Defiant-Simple-Series-Round-Satin-Nickel-Hall-and-Closet-Door-Knob-EVTFX230B/310307885

[divanerd]

We did black matte I think.. such a great deal with FIL military discount 120 before taxes for like 15 handles at Lowes not sure i would have tried it otherwise

[aprilsails]

We have pretty boxy black matte lever style knobs throughout our place. They are our builder’s standard selection, and for accessibility reasons the Building Code here requires lever knobs for all new builds.

@@@ They are indeed a total PITA with littles. DS can get into any room and he just turned 2.

They also HURT when you smack your arm or elbow into them and DH has lost two shirts to the hallway doorknob so far. I don’t know how he does it but his shirt gets caught on it and then as he walks away it rips the shirt. This may just be an exclusive my DH problem.

[TBM]

I feel like for the most part, doorknobs are like everyday jewelry...adds to the finished look, but doesn't detract from the main focus. The color/finish shouldn't draw your attention away from any architectural or decor that you want to be the focus of the space, but in the end, you choose the color/finish/ style that works for you.

We replaced all of ours with some modern style knobs, to help our 1970s, rustic hippie modern house lean more modern. It was a little too heavily 1970s for us. lol

We got them from signaturehardware.com, but their prices seem higher now. When we were looking, what we wanted was hard to find at any price point, and they were very affordable. Now there are similar styles available at big box stores at a very reasonable price.

aprilsails, I get my clothes caught on lever handles too, and we only have them on the exterior doors. I have a strong dislike for them.

I know that levers are easier to use, and some people need them, but they also make it too easy for small kids and not so small dogs to use.

I am sure that we will replace ours as we age, but even though we are already in our sixties, we are not in any rush to switch from door knobs.

[Deleted]

We are half way through replacing all of the doors and hardware in my house. We went with matte black and lever style handles and I love them.

Signatures Halifax Matte Black Universal Passage Door Handle www.lowes.com/pd/Kwikset-Halifax-Square-Hall-Closet-Lever-in-Matte-Black/5001741079

[Wallflower]

Oct 8, 2021 15:03:33 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Not really what you're asking, but FYI we put the handle-type ones on all our doors in the addition, with the goal of aging in place. You don't have to grip as hard, good for arthritis, opening with crutches, etc. Ours are satin nickel, seem to go fine with everything. We have a mix of finishes elsewhere.

I was coming in to say this, exactly. Now that I'm in my 50s (OMG, how did that happen?!?!), a lot of my focus is on finding all the ways to help me live in my home for as long as possible. Thankfully, I bought from some older people and my front and back doors are already levers, so I just need to think about my interior doors. And as I mentioned on another post, I'm single with cats - cats don't approve of closed doors. LOL

[dr.girlfriend]

Just updating to say that we have never ripped a shirt, so IDK that that issue is universal, but my husband wears mostly t-shirts so maybe the problem is button-down specific? The kid issue is not a concern for us as our guy is almost a teenager. We have a big dog but although she is an escape artist in many other ways she has not attempted any velociraptor-style door openings, probably because she's not too interested in getting into our master bedroom or bathroom or whatever. :-)

[dottyblue]

I’m getting a couple of the Schlage Georgian Passage knobs with Addison trim (similar to what l Susie linked). If they work with my doors I’ll order the full 14.

dr.girlfriend, we never really considered lever knobs for aging because our only full bath and both bedrooms are upstairs. While we plan to be here a long time, the stairs will probably require we move when we have mobility issues.