The renovation at our #FinnFixerUpper is FINALLY coming to a close and I realized that I haven’t shared all of the details with you guys just yet. One area I’ve glossed over? Our doors and door knobs! The doors have been in since the end of July, but the black door knobs were just added a couple weeks ago and holy smokes I’m in l-o-v-e. But before we get to the scoop on everything, let’s rewind to the status of the doors and knobs before…

Closet Doors & Door Knobs – Before

All of the doors throughout the home were hollow core and an orangey-oak color. They were in rough shape and I knew that replacing them would instantly upgrade the entire home. The closet doors were all bifold doors, which aren’t my favorite. I feel like bifold doors are constantly breaking and getting off track and I much prefer French doors. Plus, there is just something about swinging open French doors that makes me feel extra fancy!

The doors to each room were also that orangey color, hollow, and with dated door knobs. Hollow doors are so light and flimsy and I knew they had to go!

Our New Doors

For doors, I went with 3-panel flat shaker doors. These were an upgrade (about $190 a piece, and boy did we need a lot of them!), but they make the entire home look much more high-end. They come with hinges and I went with black for those.

It was hard for me to choose the exact door style I wanted, but I’m really happy I ended up going with these. My contractor ordered them through a local door company here in Chicago, so I don’t have the exact link, but if you look locally for “3-panel flat shaker style”, similar ones should pop up!

Door Knob Variety

I’ve never ordered door hardware before, so it was a bit of a learning curve to figure out which knobs I needed to order. Before I even got to color or style, I needed to nail down the exact types of door knobs we would need. After some research, here is what I learned about doors and choosing door knobs.

• Privacy: These are doors that you want to lock. They are used mostly for bedrooms and bathrooms.
• Passage: These are doors that need a knob on both sides, but they don’t lock. I got these for the front closet, basement door, laundry room, door, etc.
• Dummy: These don’t have a mechanical latch system and are non-turning. Instead, they are just placed on the outside of the door to pull. We put these on all of our French closet doors.

I walked around the entire house, making a biiiiiggg list of knobs that I needed to order and then looked online to find the perfect ones to match our style.

Our New Black Door Knobs

I ended up going with Schlage knobs…specifically the Bowery Knob with Greyson Trim (privacy, passage, dummy). Since the doors have a lot of straight lines, I liked the idea of doing both a round knob and a round trim plate. These also have a gorgeous matte black color and I figure that will be a classic look for decades to come!

When you buy door knobs, they come in a set of two…one for each side of the door. The latch is also included. You can see that the privacy door knobs have a pin key on the outside if you accidentally get locked from the outside of the room.

On the other side, it’s a push-button to lock the door.

Here’s a look at the passage door knob. It has a flat front on it with no pin.

Here’s a better look at the dummy door knobs. You can see they’re just on the outside of the door and there isn’t a handle on the inside.

We put these on all of our closet doors.

Don’t Forget!

One item that is easy to forget is a doorstop. They don’t come with the door knobs and you have to buy them separately. I ended up getting these matte black ones that match the door knobs perfectly. They’re easy to screw right into the baseboards and will prevent some serious damage to your walls.

Before & After

Paint Color: “Ballet White”

Paint Color: “Tarrytown Green”; Ceiling Fan

Paint Color: “Ballet White”; Ceiling Fan

I’m so happy that we decided to upgrade the doors and knobs throughout our entire house. It’s crazy what a big difference they make. Our house feels new, contemporary, and more high-end thanks to these changes.

While these are the changes to the interior door knobs, I’m also upgrading our exterior door knobs and handles. Stay tuned for those changes that feature some cool smart technology!

Casey