DIY Home Improvement Guide

Antique Brass Door Knobs

Antique brass door knobs are a class addition to any home, whether inside or out.  Most homes have some variation of the “generic door knob” that was installed when the house was built.  Any improvement on those will make a huge difference on the home’s style, but antique brass ones will also make a statement.  In this post I want to show you where to get these without spending a lot of money on them.

Before you go shopping, it’s important that you know how to clean them up.  You can save a ton of cash by buying the ones that don’t look like they’re in great condition.  Don’t forget that brass lasts forever, and as long as there aren’t any major dings, dents, or broken pieces you can bring an antique brass door knob back to life.  To learn more, see our post on cleaning brass door knobs.

You will have the best luck finding these knobs at antique stores.  The problem that you’re going to run into is finding enough of the same knobs to fill your entire home.  Matching door knobs certainly isn’t necessary, but some people prefer it.  I helped design a home that had the exterior door knob of each bedroom and bathroom match the style of the room’s inside.  It was very creative and looked great.  You may be able to save more money by getting the mismatched door knobs.

Finding matching vintage door knobs online is much easier.  There are door knob dealers that specialize in the shopping and hunting of these.  You’ll pay a premium by shopping with these specialized dealers, but they have everything you need.  Some knob stores have an antique section where you can shop from.  This is helpful because many of the larger online retailers will offer free shipping and brass is very heavy, so free shipping will save you a ton of money.

You can also check eBay and Craigslist to see if there are good deals.  Craigslist is helpful for finding salvage sales, which is when they sell all of the stuff from a house being gutted or torn down.

Antique brass door knobs are easy to find, just be patient and shop around and you’re going to find a good deal on exactly what you want.  The prices on these range from free to hundreds of dollars apiece, so check everywhere you can to get what you need.

Vintage Glass Door Knobs

Vintage glass door knobs are the perfect addition to homes of any age.  Finding enough of them at affordable prices can be tough, but in this post I want to share some different ways to find vintage door knobs and crystal door knobs at decent prices.

The key to finding door knobs that fit your budget is to be patient and shop around.  There are millions of these floating around vintage and antique shops all around the country/world, as well as online.  If you buy the first ones that you see, odds are that you aren’t going to find the best ones for your home and you’ll probably pay too much for them.  Saving money is important when shopping for these because there are a lot of doors in your home, and changing out all of them could potentially be a very large expense.

Vintage glass door knobs are easily found in antique shops.  They collect them because they look cool, and will assign a price based on that “coolness”.  There isn’t a price guide for antique door knobs, so you can find them in every price range imaginable.  Heading out to different shops will give you an idea of what’s out there and easily found.  If you aren’t seeing what you want, turn to the internet.

There are stores on the web that specialize in going to antique stores and finding these door knobs for you.  eBay is also popular, but you’ll rarely find any sort of shipping deals on eBay.  Vintage glass door knobs are much heavier than they look (especially brass door knobs), so shipping costs can be extraordinary when you’re buying an entire home’s worth of knobs.  The trick is to shop around until you find the one that’s offering free shipping (it’s common).  This will save you at least a hundred bucks!

Some of the offsets on vintage door knobs are different than what current homes have.  This is rare, and the older the door knob is, the more likely it is that it won’t fit.  Professional online stores will have these dimensions listed for you so that you can measure your doors ahead of time.

Vintage glass door knobs can be very affordable when you take the time to shop around.  I don’t know many easier ways to make a huge improvement in a home than by adding the class that comes with crystal door knobs.

Where To Find Vintage Door Knobs

Vintage door knobs work perfectly in any home, but can be hard to find. This post is dedicated to showing you where to find them without having to spend a fortune.

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!

Vintage Door Knobs

Nowadays old equals cool, and this is certainly the case for vintage door knobs.  I love going on the hunt for vintage door knobs.  There are tons of places you can find them, but I’ll share my secrets with you in this article.

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!