Vinayak Exports

In the race to beautify your door, which will win - door knobs or lever handles? Antique door knobs are more easily found than antique lever handles - the lever handle being a relatively newer design. However, if you can find an older lever handle that you like, this sort of door hardware offers much better functionality, especially for children and older persons.

figure Door Knobs

There are four main types of door knobs - entrance knobs, passage knobs, privacy knobs, and dummy knobs. Entrance knobs, and also entrance lever handles, have keyed cylinders. You will probably prefer to have something more modern, and therefore more secure, on your front door - burglary technology has well surpassed the key sets of the 1800s! However, inside, you could use antique entrance knobs or handles on the bedrooms or bathroom, or on storage rooms which the kids aren't allowed in. Passage door knobs are also known as closet or hall knobs, and are used where locking is not required. Privacy knobs have a built-in locking mechanism, but don't require a key to undo them - you may have to push a button or flick a lever from one side to open them. Finally, dummy door knobs simply provide a handle to pull a door open or push one shut, for example on a cupboard, where a magnetic latch may be used, or on the unused side of a set of double doors.

figure Lever Handles

The main benefit of lever handles over door knobs is also their biggest downfall, as usual! You will find that kids and older people can operate door levers much more easily than knobs, but you will also find that then kids can get into and out of rooms that you didn't want them anywhere near! Dogs are another culprit - many dogs with half a brain will figure out that when they jump up on a door lever, it opens for them - and then even your dogs will be thwarting your efforts to keep parts of your house either mud-free, cool or warm! One solution to this is to buy a lever-lock, which is generally a plastic attachment to your door lever, which stops the door from opening when the lever is pushed. The only downfall then is that your elderly mother will have just as much trouble getting into the living room as the dog does... So if you already have levers, and you'd rather they were more like knobs, this product can help you out!

If, one the other hand, you have doorknobs in your house (which many of the beautiful period pieces and antiques tend to be), but you would rather have the ease of a lever handle, for a variety of temporary reasons, you can look into getting door knob extenders. These are door handle levers which fit over the top of knobs that are already there, and allow people with a minimum of upper-body strength (like Gran), to easily operate the doors that your antiques grace. These implements fit most standard door knobs, and are quite easy to install. For some you only need a screwdriver, and others are available which snap over the top of your existing knob. The latter is probably a better choice if your door matches your antique doorknob - fewer screw holes to try to contend with when you can go back to using a standard doorknob again. The lever is three inches long, so are not too obtrusive in terms of your antique décor. And all of these adaptors are available quite cheaply, at between £5 and £15.

One thing to consider when you are thinking about whether to get door knobs or levers, is that while there are gorgeous antique door knobs available in glass (made from the early 1800s to the mid 1800s), lever handles are not available in glass. Consider the decorating scheme of your home when you are looking at the relative merits of door knobs versus levers for yourself. Because door levers are a relatively newer phenomenon than door knobs, if you have much older furniture in your house, you may want to start your search with knobs, rather than levers.

Door knobs are something that everyone who comes into the house will notice, as everybody needs to use them, and touch them ... distinctive door knobs or levers, that catch the eye and hand , can add so much to the ambience of your home!