Right before we installed the hardwood floors upstairs, we mentioned how we sprayed all of the blue trim and doors upstairs here…
… but they’re now naked when it comes to knobs.
We’re no strangers to ORBing things like we did here, but a lot of the doors here were rusted and pitted and some were even jammed/didn’t turn/didn’t lock.
So in this case, it really makes sense for us to replace them with something befitting of our freshly painted six panel doors. On one hand, it was a bummer to have to shell out loot for new knobs, but on the other hand the doors are in awesome shape and look like new with glossy white paint on them- so it’s a lot easier on the budget to just get new knobs (and hinges, which Home Depot sells in bulk “contractor packs”) than to replace all of the doors themselves.
I think we were aiming for two things when it came to our knob hunt: something classic (to work with our house’s style) and something special (we thought it was a fun opportunity to choose something you don’t see every day). So here are a few of the knobs that we courted, so to speak:
- This $56 white porcelain knob with a pewter stem
- This dark-toned $108 antique-ish knob
- This $73 chrome knob with a square plate
- This $35 oil-rubbed bronze knob with a rectangular plate behind it
- This $90 oil rubbed bronze & crystal one
- This $109 plated knob
- This $105 egg-knob in polished chrome
- This $28 oblong ORBed one
- This $24 chrome knob
- This $30 satin nickel egg-knob
- This blinged out $97 crystal and satin nickel one
- This $16 classic oil-rubbed bronze knob
- This interestingly shaped $43 satin-nickel knob
- This dark-toned $30 lever knob
It definitely wasn’t an easy decision – we honestly thought almost any of them would work nicely – but in the end it came down to what we were drawn to most, and our budget of course (some of the pricier ones would have been 1K worth of knobs just for the upstairs!). We’ve been in love with the idea of rich mocha hardwood floors, white trim and doors, and dark knobs for a while – just because that classic high contrast look seems so perfect for this house. So that helped us eliminate a few. And when we came across inspiring photos like this one and this one, it was pretty clear to us that we loved the look of a rectangular plate behind the knob – just for the added interest that it brought.
In the end, we chose these $35 guys (#4 above) for the four bedrooms and these $24 ones for the two bathrooms (they’re similar to #12 but without a hole in the middle and in the same finish as the other knobs since they’re the same maker, so we thought that was worth it). Then we got the cheaper closet versions of those for the closets (many of which could be dummy knobs like this).
Oh and before checking out I googled around for a coupon code that took 10% off of our order and gave us free shipping. So that saved us some cash.
We hope the new knobs will add up to an entire upstairs floor with a fresh-yet-classic feeling. We already have the dark hinges up, so we’re just waiting on our doorknobs…
It’s crazy to think a few short weeks ago the upstairs hallway looked like this.
As much as I thought the old carpet and blue trim were burned into my mind, they’re like a distant memory now that we’re all moved in. It’s funny how quickly your brain adjusts when you update things. Maybe that explains my love of before pictures. They save the starting point forever so you can always look back and say “dude, remember that?!”
*Update: none of the links in this post are affiliate links (got a question about it, so I thought I’d add a little note for ya).
Update – Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint colors we used? Just click on this button:
Love it! Can’t wait to see them up. I love ORB.
Out of your lineup of 14, you picked the one I picked! I approve. Do you ever see yourselves jumping on the dark-painted door trend in the future? I love the look of white but am curious about going dark. :)
We like that idea in theory, so we might try it down the road. I think the first step for us was getting the house un-dark if that makes sense (dark trim and wood and wallpaper everywhere had us craving white) – but you never know where we’ll end up!
xo
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Before I saw what you picked, I was thinking 4, 5, & 13 were my faves. Whoo!!!
Also I have to say I love that with this house you are doing budget friendly things (like reusing existing doors) mixed with “long term home” investment type things (like knew, nicer knobs).
Perfect mix, I would say. Cant wait to see them on the doors!
Good choice. 2, 4, and 5 wer my top picks. Floors adn trim look great!
Good, you chose one of the three I liked. HA! Definitely not 14 though…you’ve seen Jurassic Park. ;)
You’ve already made such a huge improvement up there! Kudos!
Bahahaha best comment ever!
Yes, it is very important to veloceraptor-proof your home!
HAHAHAHAHA YES!!!
Hilarious! Haahahahaa! Viloceraptors are sneaky buggers.
Best comment ever! Cue camera panning to a raptor opening the kitchen door with his long, sharp, creepy raptor claws. Agh!!! ;)
Haha. You guys are all hilarious today. I love it.
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“veloceraptor-proof your home” HILARIOUS!
On a side-note, while trying to type in “veloceraptor” my computer kept auto-correcting it to “VeloceCRAPtor.” Seriously. It was a battle of wills.
That’s hilarious!
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The before pictures are precisely the reason why I suggested to the hub that he make notes of all of his changes for a project. Sometimes we just don’t remember what the original thought or intent was.
A few moments of detailing what was going on in our brain with an idea beats trying to sift through that incredible organ looking for the origination point!
Oh, and love being able to “walk through” the journey of your thought process as you make your new place fully yours!
We did some major work to our home a few years ago, and I just thought I was trying to erase my memory of all the labor. But, yeah, I’ve noticed that it takes no time at all to get used to a change and it’s amazing how quickly you forget how things were.
Love them! One of the main reasons I bought my 1926 craftsman bungalow was because I love the door knobs so much. It really does add a lot to the charm of a house!
I ORB-ed some of my rusted/pitted doorknobs and they look great, well maybe not “great” but certain inoffensive. Which sometimes is the best goal possible.
Here’s a blog post about it:
http://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/2012/10/and-the-bronze-medal-goes-to/
It’s all part of my plan to start a blog called “The Inoffensive Decorator.” ;-) Seriously though, they’re holding up perfectly.
Katy
Hahah!
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We have #14 and I hate them! My 3 year old son thinks they are some form of fun jungle-gym equipment and likes to hang on them putting one hand on each side of the door. UGH!
I like the choices you picked! You guys are amazing at changing your homes look!!
REALLY? Those were my favorites. Hmmm… never considered the kid angle – good food for thought. Thanks!
We have those too (only in a different finish) and our daughter does the exact same thing!!!
On the other hand, levers are really disabled- (or even I-have-things-in-both-hands-) friendly. They are a component of universal design (choices that will work with the disabled, elderly, etc.).
My husband installed one door with this style…The exterior basement door that leads to the shop. This way he can open the door with the end of a long board or object he may be moving by himself.
i was thinking the same thing –
1 – the kid thing
2 – easy to open for elderly and when you don’t have a free hand.
My 17 month old can open doors now, thanks to our levers – can’t hide from him now – LOL
And yes, if you have something in your hand or even if your hands hurt – say you arthritis or something, those levers are life savers
Never thought about the child using it as a jungle gym… the things I have to look forward to. Greaaat… LOL
Did you order any to replace knobs/hinges downstairs?
Not yet, we figure we’ll do that once we start stripping wallpaper and painting trim (don’t want to get new knobs and then get them dirty, haha!).
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Yeah, there’s nothing worse than a dirty knob!
Haha!
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Wow, that is such a huge improvement from before you moved in!
I guessed right!!! I love what you went with. Classic/vintage-looking without the high price. The dark color and rectangular shape are awesome.
We have the white doors and ORB knobs (no backplate) in our mid-’60s colonial. Love them! I do have to re-spray one, however, because the previous dog clawed the finish. So I’ll be following your ORB tute shortly. thanks!
Love the knobs, especially the rectangular plate! Kinda confused why you got a different style for the bathroom…since there is only one bathroom leading to the hall, all of the knobs will match except for that one. In my head it looks strange – why not get the rectangular one for the hall bath? (you could still do the round one in the master bath, since it will be next to the master closet knob). Not trying to be difficult, just thinking it would look more seamless – love them though! :)
We figure if it looks weird we can get another one for that door, we just thought since there’s also a linen closet on that hall (with two double doors, and the plated knobs would look like too much on that spot – we just think it’s too heavy) that a break with some simple knobs on the closet and the bathroom might work well :)
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oh yes, I forgot about the linen closet! that makes sense :)
I thought the same thing Jennifer…great minds think alike, lol.
I actually like the idea of the bedrooms having a cohesive doorknob style and the bathroom/linen closet doors just a simple knob to set them apart. When directing guests to the bathroom you can just tell them the door without the knob plate….hopefully they won’t pee in the linen closet;)
Haha! Here’s hoping!
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LOVE the knob choices – very classy, yet fresh and new like you said! This doesn’t have to do with the knob choice, but looking at your hardwood floors again reminded me I wanted to ask a question when you originally posted about them! This is probably a “well, duh” question, but did you have to cut the hardwoods to fit your rooms and wall corners or did the store do that for you?
Oh yes we had to do that! John’s writing another post with more detailed info about how we dealt with the hard stuff (corners, doorways, angled walls, etc) since so many people have asked for more info. Stay tuned!
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It’s always fun to try to guess which ones you will pick. I like them. Can’t wait to see them in place.
Drool. Those would have been my pick, as well! It’s amazing how a simple doorknob can add so much to a room, like those Pinterest photos showed.
#14 is what our bedroom doorknobs look like, after I ORB’ed away the tacky ’90’s gold finish. I love the look of the ORB against the glossy white!! I still have 3 other doors in the hallway with the gold lever knobs staring at me . . . not sure why I didn’t ORB them all at the same time, but now I’m inspired to finish the job – thank you!!!
P.S. I love your choice of knobs – I totally was rooting for the ones with the plates behind them as I read through the post :)
I really like the look of ORB doorknobs. Just looks a little fancier than brushed nickel. Our house came with brushed nickel, but eventually, I’d like to change them out/spray paint them.
I also like how you got different knobs for the bedrooms vs the bathrooms and closets. I like to use different knob styles to differentiate between doors that lead to actual rooms versus doors that leads to closets/storage spaces.
Just makes it a little easier for guests to intuitively avoid walking into a closet while looking for the bathroom….not that that has ever happened to me before or anything….
Haha!
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Love the new knobs! That hallway pic looks great!
#4 was my first pick for you! Love them. Classic style, but with a bit of a modern edge.
I win! I guessed either #4 or #6! :)
Looking awesome in such a short time!
Would you use the bathroom knobs for closets as well?
Bathroom knobs can lock (privacy) but closet ones don’t (they’re called “passage knobs” and are cheaper since they don’t have a locking mechanism).
xo
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Speaking of “saving the starting point forever”. When my parents redid their kitchen and got a new backblash and countertops, they completely forgot about a little closed off cabinet space where the toaster oven and can opener are stored. So it’s a little reminder of the old 80’s laminate top and dark backsplash. We discovered it weeks after the whole project was done and had a good laugh over it!
That’s so funny!
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That is hilarious! (Well, hopefully they feel that way too…)
But I like how you can open the little appliance garage (which is what I’m assuming they have) and peek back into the past. It’s the kind of thing we would have great fun with in our house! Maybe we’re just weird though?
Love the back-plated knobs! We had those in our old house (original from the 1920s AFAIK) – sadly they had been painted over to match the doors :(
However, to pull this comment fully together – we had one closet in the house (well actually there were two total… um yeah), but one closet door in the house where the previous owners did not paint over the inside of the solid two-toned cherry wood door. Everytime we opened that closet, it was like, ‘oh wow, what could have been, all the doors in the house used to look like this…’
Lack of funds, lack of time, and a fear of possible under-layers of lead paint prevented us from stripping them. It was definitely not our “forever home” but man it would have been nice to have tackled those doors :-)
I really like the style of knobs you chose, it goes well with the style of your new place. It’s funny you mention your love of before pics. My parents are currently redoing their backyard (deck, patio, poolhouse) and I asked if they had taken before pictures and my dad says “why would I want to remember how ugly something was.” I love comparing the before and afters at my place, I think i’m going to have to go take pictures of my parents for them!
Oh yes, I think every pretty after deserves a truly hideous before – just so you can appreciate how far it came :)
xo
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I don’t have very many before pictures of our current house because I thought the same thing your dad did. In addition, the place wasn’t only ugly but dirty and gross too… All I could think was “I don’t want people to know we moved into THIS,” but it would make it so much more impressive to show them those now when all they see are the new updates.
Nice choice! Enjoy reading your decision making process. This is a lasting investment.
We recently did the same door thing in our house – 6 new doors and hardware. Fun time! Do you guys use ebates? Every little bit of savings is great!
I always forget about ebates! I’ll have to start being more up on that!
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Yeah it is fun to guess what you go with at first glance I thought # 8 was a keeper. The before and after shot is awesome, so what’s the reason why you didn’t paint over the blue on the staircase?
We only sprayed trim where we had removed the flooring and had exposed sub-floors, so since the stairs are still hardwood (that we want to keep) we’d need to cover that and spray the spindles down the line :)
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Wahoo! I’m so stinkin’ proud of myself. I (confidently) “guessed” correctly. Very fun! Thanks for providing me a sense of accomplishment for today. :)
And I think you made the perfect choice. They’re fabulous.
We are replacing every single door in our home. Ten total! We saved a ton by finding brand new doors, still in shrink wrap, at Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for $35 each- solid core!
And now we need new knobs. Can’t wait to see what you pick! I love the knobs with backplates so I’m rooting for that one, though they sure are pricey!
Woah! Brand new solid doors for $35 is like hitting and jackpot!
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We recently did the same door thing in our house – 6 new doors and hardware. Fun time! Do you guys use ebates?
I always forget to, but I need to start remembering!
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You can add the ebates tool bar and it will remember for you!
Such a great tip! Thanks!
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I can completely relate! If we weren’t on such a tight budget I would replace all my 1949 mismatched door knobs since many don’t work. I’m so appreciative of your ORB How to!
Love the sneak peek of the bedroom! I’ll be interested to hear about the rug switch-a-roo. The green one looks so pretty in there!
Man those floors look so friggin delicious, they’re like a beautiful bar of chocolate that you can walk on.
I also dig the look of crisp white doors with dark hardware. We have to replace all the old brass knobs and hinges in our house too, I think I’ll buy one set in ORB and another in satin nickel and just see what looks better with our lighting.
Keep on truckin!
I gave a silent fist pump when you said you chose #4 for the bedrooms. That was my fave too. Also – what a contrast between the before and after shots! Amazing what a little paint can do.
I was guessing #12, so not too bad! Now paint the walls!!!! Also, what types of google search terms do you plug in when you do a coupon code search?
I did “myknobs.com coupon code” and “myknobs.com discount code” – hope it helps!
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The website retailmenot.com is amazing for this. Just type in where you are shopping and a whole list of specials will come up.
Love the final choices, especially with those gorgeous dark wood floors. You guys are seriously classing up the joint.
And can I just say thanks again for the inspiration? We’re in the process of buying a house that is… well, pretty ugly on the inside. Every time I see what you’re doing here, it gives me hope that it will one day be almost as pretty as a Petersik house. :)
Aw thanks Richelle! You’re so sweet! Best of luck with the house buying process!
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Love those! Especially the bedroom ones with the backplates. Makes me want to get some new knobs even though we just did it a few years back…
I guessed you’d pick #4 and I was right! :)
I totally guessed right!
You said you already have dark hinges up, where did you get those? Or were the old ones in good shape to still use?
Those were from Home Depot (we learned that they sold them cheaply in “contractor packs” so we grabbed them.
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Love your selection! I’ve got the egg-shaped knobs throughout my house, the expensive Baldwins on the exterior doors, and the cheapy Kwikset version on the interior doors :)
It is looking great. I can’t wait to see what y’all do with the rest of the house. I need to get started on some projects. I always love you guys ideas.
Great choice on the knobs! Our master suite is still lacking knobs on all of the doors so we know the emptiness. We ended up buying antique backplates from eBay. Maybe one day we will get to it…
I’m jealous of how quickly you are knocking out your projects. We moved into a outdated fixer upper may 24th and its all we can manage to get someone out to fix a sunken front step! Cudos to you guys!
Great choices. Those pictures made me realize they painted all the spindles blue, too? OH MY GOSH!
Oh yeah- they went for it.
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Can’t believe how much of a difference some new floors and bright trim can make to a place. Love the doorknobs you picked!
I noticed most of them are knobs, do you just aesthetically prefer knobs to the levers?
I guess we do! That’s funny, I didn’t even notice that. We have seen gorgeous levers on french doors though, so we love those too!
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I still can’t believe the blue trim and doors that you started out with! It’s pretty amazing how much you’ve been able to update the space in just a few weeks. It looks great! Have you decided what you guys are doing with the banister spindles?
I think for now we’re leaning towards dark ebony railings and glossy white spindles, but we’ll have to see where we end up!
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