We all know that doors are functional things – they provide a movable barrier between one room and another, or the inside and outside of our home, office or shop. Not only that, they provide privacy when closed and freedom of movement when open. The door may be wooden, have glass panels, be made of a composite material or uPVC and of course you may choose to paint it, stain it, colour it in some way or simply leave it plain. In the majority of cases, one other thing that doors have in common is the presence of a handle!

Depending on where the door is, and what purpose it serves, you may only need to have a simple and quite basic style of handle that allows for operation of the latch enabling the door to be opened, such as on a front or back door (the lock also sitting within the handle plate). That said, there’s still an opportunity to jazz up the door a bit here! You could choose a finish that adds some shine to the door, like a polished chrome or polished stainless steel, or you may decide that as a change to a backplate style handle, you’d prefer a handle on rosette and partner it with an escutcheon around the keyhole instead. You may even go a step further and revolutionise your front door entry by using a digital, key-free door handle, creating what’s known as an Access Control system.

Once inside your home, or office, or shop, or maybe it’s a hotel or restaurant… more than likely there are more doors that need to have a handle. Here again you have a choice of handles: handles on rosette, handles on backplate, or if you want something that looks quite different you may well choose a door handle with a concealed rose. These days there’s a massive choice of designs, styles and finishes to choose from, and as such you can make a real statement on your doors with some well thought outdoor furniture.

If it’s a bathroom or shower-room door, there’s no need for them to be forgotten either! Privacy Turns & Releases have had something of an overhaul in design terms and are no longer restricted to the functional and sometimes unattractive devices you find on the cubicles in a motorway service station. If you’ve got a handle style in mind that has a square rosette, you can match it up with a privacy turn and release that has a square design too. If you prefer having it ‘all in one’ with a backplate handle, there are now many more styles beyond the traditional Victorian Scroll or Georgian design (of course these are well suited to period homes!)

Similarly you may have a door that also has a key hole to consider, and again there’s plenty of scope to make this a feature using keyhole escutcheons paired with handles on roses, or modern and stylish backplate door handles where everything is once again all in one. If you’re not needing the keyhole anymore, you can cover it up with a blank escutcheon or choose a handle on a blank backplate that will hide the hole in the door, no bother at all.

Once upon a time door handles were largely finished in brass or aluminium, and there wasn’t much choice on the design front either. Today we’ve got ranges that combine chrome with leather, brass with ceramics, satin/brushed stainless steel with polished stainless steel, not forgetting handles with glass lever grips or polished nickel to name but a few.

So, give your home a refresh and let your style and personality shine through on your doors too! Be brave, be bold and dare to be different!