When it came to choosing interior door handles for my home, the decision for the doors on the upper floor – bedrooms and bathroom – was easy. The original door knobs from the mid-1930s were still in place and functioning. Some were covered in layers of paint which occupants of the house had applied during those intervening years while my family lived elsewhere but I felt confident they could be restored to reveal the dark brown Bakelite beneath.
Keeping It Authentic
The ground floor rooms required further research. One of my aims with the renovation was to retain original features. I wondered if it might be possible to find a match for the existing, original knobs and achieve uniformity throughout the house. I began an internet search for companies offering replica Bakelite door knobs and handles. I wasn’t disappointed. There were several UK companies selling what seemed to be excellent replica handles, backplates and knobs in dark Bakelite material.
Further Options to Consider
I noticed that if I typed something along the lines of “1930s door handles” into an internet search platform, the results included a second type of product: metal door handles and backplates with Art Deco styling.
At that point, I started to think back to my childhood years spent in that home. By the time we moved into the house in the 1960s, the Bakelite knobs had all gone from the ground floor rooms. Contemporary metal handles had been applied instead. So if I were to introduce new metal door handles into this part of the house, it would not be at the expense of any original features.
Additionally, I started to think more about the practicality of the handles. One day when moving from the kitchen to the sitting room with a cup of tea in one hand and a clutch of papers in the other, I used an elbow to push down on the door’s existing handle to open it. The functional capabilities of a handle were not lost on me.
Still, I felt a little resistant to introducing overtly Art Deco features into this house. This was not an Art Deco building. Rather, it belonged to that class of English thirties suburban ‘semis’ which display architectural components from times past. I remembered, though, that even the most ardent builders of pseudo-historical houses in the 1930s seemed unable to resist including an Art Deco motif here and there. Our own house sported the original wrought-iron garden gates when we moved in and they featured one of the most recurring motifs in Art Deco craftsmanship: the sunburst.
So, the first step towards the decision was made. I would opt for the practicality of metal handles on backplates and go for an Art Deco style which would be in keeping with the era of the property. The next step was to trawl through the wide range of designs meeting that description. There was a great deal of choice.
Finally, the design which caught my eye was the Jedo Deco Suite Lever on Plate designed and produced by Frelan Hardware in England. When my joiner was fitting the hardware to my doors he was impressed with the quality. In my opinion, they are not only beautiful to look at but comfortable to hold and use. I chose the polished chrome version – which seemed most in keeping with the Art Deco theme – and they are extremely easy to keep fingerprint-free and shiny with a light wipe using a dry, soft cloth.
Several UK online retailers stock this line. I purchased mine from Choice Handles, an ironmongery business based in Wales.
Remarkably, these handles are currently retailing for £14.50 per set (the handles are sold in pairs) at the time of writing. I am delighted with my “find” and with my overall decision on these handles and also for the surprisingly low price for this quality.
Details
Frelan Hardware
Website: https://www.frelanhardware.co.uk/
Choice Handles
Website: https://www.choicehandles.co.uk/
Back to the Thirties 