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Deck out Your Doors with New Door Hardware

Door Hardware by author Meghan Carter

  • How to select door hardware.
  • Where to shop for door hardware.
  • How to determine the type of door hardware you can put on your door.
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   Before making a decision about new door hardware for your home, let's reconsider the role it plays. Your door hardware is the official greeter of your home and every room inside. Sure the door does some greeting because it's bigger and the thing you open. But it's the door hardware that you touch, and if that's not intimate, I don't what is. Your door hardware shakes the hand of every person that enters your home, and you know what happens when it's not a good handshake. You leave unimpressed thinking the home is like a cold, dead fish, and if your door hardware is tarnished, a dirty, cold, dead fish.

Using Door Hardware to Show off Your Sense of Style

    So how do you make sure your home's handshake projects confidence, warmth and sophistication? You use the advice Baldwin Hardware's Vice President and General Manager, Chas Seymour, taught me during my trip to the company's headquarters in Reading, PA: choose door hardware that is stunningly beautiful, remarkably durable and fits the current holes in your door.
    Sounds simple, right? Yeah, right up until the time you stand in front of a wall of door hardware. Then it's just painful. Luckily, while talking with Seymour, I got a few insider tips to make finding the perfect door hardware as easy as taking a picture. You'll get that reference in a second.

Where to Shop for Door Hardware

    Before heading out to find the door hardware of your dreams, you need to know where to go. The first option is your big box store, which will offer you "a 40 foot display" as Seymour put it. While 40 feet may sound big now, compared to the amount of door hardware available, it's nothing.
So if you want the most options, it's best to visit a local showroom that specializes in door hardware. Sure, it may take you a few minutes to find one in your phone book, but trust me it will be worth it. If not for the selection alone, the service should make up for it. In my experience, I've found local showrooms have much more informed staffs than those at the big box stores.

Preparing for Your Visit to the Door Hardware Showroom

   This may come as a shock, but not all door hardware is the same and I don't just mean in color or style. There are two different types of door hardware, and those two types attach to your door in different ways. So if you were to head out to the store and purchase the first style you liked, you would have a 50/50 chance of coming home and being disappointed that the style you chose won't work on your door.
    But don't worry, making sure you get the right door hardware is very easy. Simply tape a ruler to your door right next to your door hardware, and then take a picture. Make sure the picture is close enough for you to be able to see the numbers on the ruler. If you know your way around your door hardware and can remove it from your door, it would be a good idea to do so before taking a picture. But if you don't know how, don't bother trying. The professional at the showroom should be able to tell what type of hardware you need without seeing the actual holes in your door.    

What to Consider When Shopping for Door Hardware

    When choosing door hardware, the two main considerations are fairly basic: beauty and durability. But knowing exactly what to look for took a bit of help from Seymour.
    
Beauty: Door hardware is offered in numerous different styles. In fact, so many that it may make your head spine. To sort through the hundreds of options, Seymour suggests looking at the style of your home. Door hardware companies typically make door hardware styles for each of the popular architecture styles.
    As for the finish, look at the other finishes used in your home. Choose a finish that is the same or blends well with those in the room.

Durability: It's easy to take metal for granted. After all, it's supposed to be tough. That's why we use it for door hardware. But metal is not immune to mother nature. In fact, if certain metals aren't treated with a special coat known as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), they run the risk of tarnishing, pitting or becoming discolored overtime. So before purchasing door hardware ask about the company's PVD coating and how long it is expected to last.
    Another thing to consider is the actual strength and quality of the door hardware itself. To get the best, Seymour recommends choosing a brand with a good reputation.
    "A recognized brand name will last, not only from the finish standpoint, but also from the functionality standpoint," Seymour said. "The last thing you want is to have the knobs start loosening up, for the door not to completely latch. It just gives a bad impression."

Photo Credits: Baldwin Hardware



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