A while back, we replaced all of our interior door knobs. It wasn’t a huge job or an expensive one, but it made a big difference to me. The former knobs were two-toned, brassy and dated, so I wanted an alternative that would be newer, but also fit with the style and age (35 years) of our home.

Here’s what we started with:

Totally functioning, but not attractive.

With my budget, or lack thereof, in mind, I went for the cheapest option I could find in a brushed nickel look:

But they really weren't what I had hoped for. They were boring, and felt cheaper in my hand than I expected (get what you pay for, right?)

Luckily, within the same week, Rona came through with these beauties in the flyer ... on sale for $8.99 each!

At first I was worried that they might feel too modern for our house, so we swapped one knob and lived with it for a few days, but soon decided to change them all. We put privacy knobs on our bedroom and the bathroom, and non-locking versions on the kids’ rooms and the pantry door in the kitchen. The two basement knobs (on the workshop and bathroom doors) had already been swapped when we first moved in, to brushed nickel versions that look similar in shape to the original knobs, but when replacing only two, I sprung for the ones that were $20/each, but we didn’t want to put $100+ into the upstairs doors.

I’m still very happy with our choice, except for one tiny detail. Those new handles are extremely handy for an almost-two-year-old when he decides it’s not time for bed and he’d rather come out and see Mum and Dad. If you have a Houdini on your hands, I’d recommend a round option that would make it much trickier to escape.