In the spring of 2012 we decided to upgrade the door handles and hinges on all of our doors. We had standard gold knobs. Every time I ever saw a room I loved I always loved the oil rubbed bronze look on doors. I somehow noticed it, no matter how much the door was hidden in the background. My eyes gravitated to it. We have these great white doors with detailed rectangles on the surface. I am so happy that they are not the standard cheapo no detail brown doors that are usually all over my house built in the ‘burbs with a home owners association.
Our hallway has 7 doors in it. So there was a lot of gold going on. It is also the center of our house, and this long L shape. I walk down that hallway about 100 times a day at least. So to ignore the hallway decor would be like ignoring half my house. The doors are a part of that ambiance. And gold was not what I was feeling. Onto Menards we went. I found what I wanted but was shocked. One door knob was $24.65. One door knob! Total in my house including closets I needed 14 door knobs and 6 hinges per door. That is a lot of money. $345.10 total for door handles, and $209.08 for hinges. It was too much of a financial burden at the time. I convinced myself that gold was fine. It was kind of vintagy… right? Cut to a few months later we finally saved up and found some great coupons. Yeah, once they became an option again these gold had to go. Vintage was out. Well gold vintage, the new rubbed oil bronze is the vintage I want. And got! And cost aside I could not be happier with the results.
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| the new door handles |
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| the new door knobs |
Does anyone notice them? No. People have been in my home, before and after, turned the handles, opened the doors and said nothing. It is beyond overlooked. But I notice! I know it seems crazy, but this is something that I think many interior decorators, decorating lovers, you can all can understand me. Something that really no one else notices, completely overlooked. But you love. I walk down my hallway, turn a door knob and just love it. We got these great ones that are door handles for all doors. And closet doors have knobs. I love them. I think it fits great with the wainscoting, and adds another level of uniqueness and timeless to my house.
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| the hinges and doors with the detailing I love on the doors |
I think this is the complete example of home decorating. We spend so much time thinking about a room, a corner, a table. Plan in our head. Spend money, sometimes a lot and sometimes a little. But it is money and time that truly only we will notice or appreciate. Sure you might get some “wow, what a beautiful room” or “I love your home”. But do they notice the details? The just right pops of color. The perfectly imperfect coffee table decor. The rubbed oil bronze door handles. No. They do not. It is the whole package that people notice. But really if you are putting in all of this work for others you are doing it wrong. Your home is yours. You love it, you obsess over it. So decorate for you. Spend that money on what is important for you, even if it is overlooked by everyone else. What is something in your home that you spent a lot of money or time on and most people visiting overlook it?
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| this is showing how the door handles look with the hallway |
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| I updated all of our door handles to match the other accessories in our house |
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| showing the hinges and door handles |
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| this is the closet door knobs |
