It’s been said many times that the classics never go out of style, and that holds true for door knobs.  It’s these small details in the home that some people skip over, but are missing an easy way to make a big impact in their home.  Upgrading to something as simple as ceramic or crystal door knobs is one of the best ways to help your home stand out from the pack, which is awesome when you live there and a great selling point when it’s time to move.

How To Find The Perfect Vintage Door Knob

There aren’t any catalogs or websites that have all of the vintage door knob options, instead you have to have a general idea of what you want before you go on the hunt.  You’re going to come across lots of them, and if you have a fairly good vision of the one that’s perfect for your home, you’ll know it when you see it.  If you’re wandering around without a clue, you’ll either pass the best one or end up with something that doesn’t look right.

The easiest place to start your search is in antique stores.  Here you’ll find a huge assortment of knobs, but finding any that match is going to be tough.  If matching door knobs is important to you don’t have too high of expectations for the antique store.  What’s really good about these stores is that you can buy vintage door knobs at very low prices, not all of them will be cheap but some will surprise you.

Another great place to find vintage door knobs is salvage sales.  These are when they sell off all of a home’s stuff after its been demolished or gutted for improvements.  I usually find them in the classified section of the newspaper, but there can be long spells between sales.  Living in or around a big city will greatly improve your odds of finding a sale.  I’ve been able to pick up enough vintage knobs from the demolition of one huge home that would suffice to fill two regular size houses.

There are also stores all over the web that collect and sell vintage knobs.  Prices vary an incredible amount from one site to the next, so it’s a good idea to shop around.  The key to saving as much money as possible is to shop at the places that offer free shipping.  Door knobs are deceivingly heavy, and when you’re buying enough for your entire home you can expect to pay over a hundred bucks just to ship them!  Shop with free (or discounted) shipping and you’ll get what you want without breaking the bank.

Vintage door knobs are perfect in almost any home.  They’ve already lasted this long and will probably last as long as your current home does.  Shop around to save money, look locally, and don’t worry about having matching knobs!

Related posts:

1. Vintage Glass Door Knobs
2. Vintage Door Knobs
3. Antique Brass Door Knobs

Antiques At The Antiques Store?

The obvious place that people look when shopping for vintage door knobs is the antique store.  This makes total sense and you can usually find them there, but be ready for a roller coaster of prices.  You’ll see some that are well over $200, while another that looks just like it costs only $15.  I have no idea why this happens, but I see it all the time!  Most people want matching door knobs in their home, and the antique store isn’t the place to find that.  You’ll be lucky if you can find two or three matching knobs, but rarely an entire set.  Remember that your door knobs don’t have to match in your house, and it creates a more fun and lively feel when they don’t.  Just be sure that they are all at least similar (like all crystal, not a blend of chrome, nickel, and ceramic).

Antique Crystal Door Knobs At Salvage Sales

If you’re striking out at the antique store, flip open your newspaper to the classified section and look for salvage sales.  This is the ideal place to get antique crystal door knobs.  They tear down or gut old homes and have all of the stuff that was inside for sale.  I’ve been able to pick up an entire home’s worth of crystal knobs for $30!  It takes some digging and getting dirty, but if you find what you’re looking for it’s well worth it.

Bartering, Like Crystal Door Knobs, Never Goes Out Of Style

Another idea is trading.  I’ve never done this, but I know people that have with success.  If you know someone with really cool door knobs, offer to buy new ones for their entire home in exchange for the antique crystal ones.  This works well with the elderly and those in rough neighborhoods since you can use the safety angle to help your sell.  Be up front with your intentions though, and let them know that you really want their door knobs, not just to do them a favor.

The Internets?

Another great place to find antique knobs is online.  There are tons of dealers online that specialize in antique, or at least antique looking, knobs.  You can shop eBay if you like the bidding process, or cruise the web looking for what you want with cheap shipping.  Saving money on shipping is incredibly important because crystal door knobs are freakin’ heavy and cost a ton to ship!  This is even more true when you’re buying an entire home’s worth of them (think over $100 to ship if you don’t get a deal).

There are probably millions of antique crystal door knobs around the world just waiting for you to find them.  Use these three resources to get started, and if you have any hot leads please drop us a line in the comments section.

Related posts:

1. Crystal Door Knobs
2. Antique Brass Door Knobs
3. Where To Find Vintage Door Knobs

When I’m looking for vintage hinges or door knobs or anything old, for that matter, I’ll start at my local antique stores.  I honestly don’t have much luck finding them at these stores, but what I do is talk to the ladies that work there to see if they have any leads that can help me out.  Nine times out of ten they can point me to an estate sale or a salvage sale that will have exactly what I’m looking for.  Not only do I get what I need, I get it cheap.  Double win!

On the odd chance I can’t find vintage door knobs that way I’ll cruise to my local salvage yard to see what they have.  It’s a dirty and difficult job to look through all the crap that they have, but if you do find what a vintage knob you can get it for nearly free.

If all else fails, I’ll turn to the internet.  eBay has tons of vintage door knobs from all periods, and there are stores set up that do the hunting for you.  You’re going to pay much more this way, but if that’s what it takes to get the perfect vintage door knob, that’s what it takes!

Related posts:

1. Where To Find Vintage Door Knobs
2. Vintage Glass Door Knobs
3. Where To Find Antique Crystal Door Knobs

Crystal door knobs aren’t cheap, but if you look at it like you’re doing something that will make a real difference to the value of your home you may be able to swallow the cost.  The average crystal knob is about $60 to $70, and when you multiply that by home many doors in your home need them it can be a large chunk of money.

Antique crystal door knobs are also a viable option.  If you can find a salvage sale or an antique store going out of business you may be able to find these door knobs very inexpensive.  It will take some work, and you’ll probably have to spend some time refurbishing them, but you can save a ton of money.  This is definitely the best way to get your hands on enough door knobs.

Another cool thing that I’ve seen in some homes is where not all of the door knobs match each other.  This might seem like a wacky idea, but since all of them were crystal and of similar design, it worked out really well.  If you were to do this you could potentially save a lot of money because you can pick them up one at a time when you see really good deals.

When decorating a home good is in the details, and adding a detail like a crystal door knob is a way to make your home feel like a mansion!  It’s also a really good DIY project that even the most beginner of beginner’s can successfully complete in an afternoon.  The only major roadblock I see for beginners is having to repair or refurbish old crystal door knobs, but if the ones that you’re working with are new or in good condition this will be very easy.

Related posts:

1. Where To Find Antique Crystal Door Knobs
2. Why Are Pink Crystal Door Knobs So Hard To Find?
3. Vintage Glass Door Knobs