Best-Looking door handles according to designers

Your next home improvement project might be easier than you think. Changing up your door handles is an easy project with a big impact.

To ensure a cohesive look, it’s important to keep your home’s existing fixtures in mind as you search for new handles. Interior designer Raena Albers says to approach the process this way: “If you have an ’80s faux-French brass finish on your hinges, but you really want black door handles, are you willing to take the door off the hinges or do you want a quick replacement?” That’s because you’re more likely to be happy with your new door handles if you consider your space’s style, and the look you want to achieve, when choosing them.

“Replacing your old door handles with a matt black finish is a way to make a huge visual improvement,” says stylist Emily Henderson, who likes that this handle is “modern, but can talk to almost any other style.”

Stainless steel form lever handle on rose with escutcheons

Stainless steel Solid lever handle on rose with escutcheons

Gil Schafer typically uses knobs on regular passage doors and levers on French doors because they offer more space for hands.

“Our work is generally rooted in tradition, so we try to find hardware that reinforces that idea,” he says. “Curvier levers are very appropriate for a traditional interior with a late-18th or early-19th-century feel.”

PVD stainless steel form lever handle on rose with escutcheon

Arles lever handle on keyhole plate

When working on modern houses, Joe Nahem finds clean solid levers to be an ideal fit. “The doors were all big and heavy, so we wanted something that felt really nice and substantial and provided a reassuring grip,” he says. ” Levers also offer a slightly more European flavour than knobs, he notes, “This works well in a modern space, but I could also see it on a two- or three-panel door.”

PVD stainless steel form lever handle on rose with escutcheons

Stainless steel form lever handle on rose with escutcheons

Satin stainless steel round ball knob handle with spring action

Satin stainless steel round knob handle with spring action