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Discovering Interior Door Handle Packs - Handles, Knobs & Hardware

Article Topics:

1. What is Interior Door Hardware?

2. What are Door Handle Packs?

3. Different Types of Door Handle Packs

4. Interior Door Handle Design Styles

5. Internal Door Hardware Finishes

Introduction

Fitting new internal doors, or renovating old ones, will often require all door hardware elements. This includes door handles, hinges and other items, which would normally be bought separately. But trawling around the internet or taking a trip to your local DIY store looking for the right door hardware can be tedious and time consuming.

Internal door handle and hardware packs offer a convenient solution for fuss free installation, providing all the hardware you’ll need for any interior door in your home.

In this article we’ll explore door handle packs, the different types available, handle and knob styles, and a range of different finishes.

First, let's get straight what we mean by 'interior door hardware'.

What is Interior Door Hardware?

Interior door hardware is a collective term for all of the metal items attached to the doors inside your home. This includes door handles (lever or knob), latch, lock (key or thumb turn), hinges, and fixings. Which hardware combination is right for the job will depend on where in your home the door is located and its function.

What are Door Handle Packs?

As the name suggests, door handle packs (or door handle sets) contain various combinations of hardware: handle, latch, lock, hinges to hang your door, and fixing screws.

Using a door handle pack ensures that all the hardware components are compatible with each other, that they're the same size, the right size, the same finish etc. to make fitting your door(s) as straightforward as possible.

Different Types of Door Handle Pack

It's important that when fitting an interior door that you choose the right hardware for the right door. For example, living room or kitchen doors require different hardware to bathroom doors and doors for rooms that need to be locked.

Here's an overview of the common types of door handle packs that offer solutions for different rooms and different situations. First, let's take the humble living room door.

Latch Door Packs

Most interior doors in your home, such as the living room, kitchen and bedroom will only need doors that latch closed. A door latch mechanism, or tubular latch, ensures a door closes securely and releases when the handle or knob is used.

Latch door handle packs generally contain:

• Handle/knob pair with spindle

• Latch mechanism

• Door hinges

• Fixing screws

Bathroom Door Lock

There are rooms in your home where privacy is important, the bathroom and toilet are obvious examples. But you might want to ensure privacy in the bedroom or study too. The bathroom door lock is a latching lever handle with a thumb turn mortice lock.

A thumb turn lock enables a room to be locked and unlocked from the inside, without the need for a key.

A bathroom lock handle pack typically contains:

• Handle/knob pair with spindle

• Latch mechanism

• Thumb turn

• Bathroom mortice lock

• Door hinges

• Fixing screws

Sash Lock Door Handle Packs

For interior room security, choose a sash lock handle pack. This enables a door to be secured from the inside or the outside using a key. A key lock door handle is great for rooms in the home such as cellar doors, storage cupboard and other rooms where security is required.

They're also useful in shared houses and houses of multiple occupancy (HMO) to secure private spaces. Explore the best locks for HMO applications.

A sash locking mechanism is part of the door handle, with the latch and the spindle running through it. The whole lock fits inside the door or can be surface mounted.

Sash lock handle packs include:

• Handle/knob pair with spindle

• Sash lock mechanism

• Door hinges

• Fixing screws

Euro Profile Handles Packs

The Euro type sash lock offers greater security, with the Euro cylinder lock mechanism being more resistant to attack. Euro locks are typically supplied either as a key lock on one side with a thumb turn deadbolt on the other (pictured above), or key access on both sides of the door.

The Euro lock handle pack provides:

• Euro profile handle pair with spindle

• Euro profile sash lock

• Euro cylinder lock mechanism (key/deadbolt or key/key)

• Hinges

• Fixing screws

Handle Multi-Packs

If you're doing home renovations that include new door hardware you might want to replace lever handles or knobs but keep the existing latch or lock mechanism. In that case, a door handle multi pack may be the best way to go.

With a handle multi pack you get several pairs of handles with spindles and fixings bundled together, rather than buying them separately, saving time and money.

Multi handle packs can also be useful for public and commercial applications, for offices or public buildings where many of a single style of door handle or knob is required.

Backplate & Lever on Rose Door Handles

Interior door handles are commonly one of two types: 'on backplate (pictured above) or 'lever on rose' (below). As the name suggests, a backplate is a relatively flat piece of metal on which a lever or knob is fitted and accommodates the fixing screws.

The lever on rose handle type is a circular piece of metal in which the lever or knob fits and turns within. It has no visible fixings.

Interior Door Handle Design Styles

Many interior door handle designs are inspired by historic periods and modern aesthetic movements. A lot of the handles and knobs that you see fall into one of these two categories

Period Inspired

Georgian Door Handles

Perhaps the earliest period that still significantly impacts interior door handle and knob design is the Georgian era. Georgian door handles and knobs are commonplace and offer a traditional decorative style, typically featuring the Georgian scroll lever and rope edging, as seen above.  

Victorian Door Handles

Victorian door handles often had a more functional sensibility with the advent of mass production. Although, more elaborate decorative handle designs were not uncommon. The simplified Victorian scroll style lever, pictured above, is commonplace today

The Victorian era gave way to the brief but influential Edwardian period. Edwardian lever handles generally continued in a Victorian-inspired style. However, Edwardian-style knobs have a definite look, including reeding and concentric decorative details (pictured below), and floral motifs.

Modern Style

Art Deco Door Handles

Modernist door handles came along later, beginning with the Art Deco period in the 1920s. Art Deco style was a departure from traditional design ideas, in architecture, fashion and interior design. 

Simple shapes are typical of an Art Deco look. With uncomplicated symmetry, modern knurled texturing and sophisticated brushed brass finish, the door knobs pictured above can give modern interiors a classic Art Deco vibe. 

Discover more about Art Deco style and how it influenced, and continues to influence, door handle and door knobs.

Minimalist Door Handles

Another big influence on contemporary door handle and knob design is minimalism. Minimalist style favours the 'form follows function' mantra, rejecting unnecessary decorative design elements. This idea became popular for interiors in the 1950s and is often referred to as mid-century modern.

The handles pictured above are an example of the minimalist style, with a cool, purely functional lever on rose design in an understated matte black finish.   

Internal Door Hardware Finishes

Interior door handle packs are available in a variety of finishes, ranging from universal chrome to more stylised looks.

Different finishes will match or compliment different interiors in your home, with the pack option giving you the same finish for not only handles, but also hinges and other visible metal components.

Here's an overview of what kinds of door hardware finishes you can expect to find.

Polished Finishes

Polished Chrome Door Handles

Perhaps the most common door handle and knob finish is polished chrome. And with good reason. Chrome finish has a wider, more neutral appeal, compared to more stylised finishes. Polished chrome fits in with most interior design looks.

Polished Brass Door Handles

Polished brass has a more traditional look and can make quite a bold statement. However, combining modern handles and knobs with more traditional finishes, such as polished brass, can offer the best of both worlds.

Satin Finishes

Satin Chrome Door Handles

Satin chrome door hardware offers a softer look compared to brighter polished chrome, for a more understated vibe – pictured below right.

Satin Nickel Door Handles

Offering a contemporary look, with a softer, more muted lustre, satin nickel works well in modern interiors – pictured above left.

Matte Black

Matte black door handles and knobs are a popular alternative to metallic finishes. Matte black works well for a variety of modern spaces: understated in darker contemporary interiors, as a statement when matched with bold, primary door colours, and with an air of sophistication with natural timber finishes.

Antique Brass

One of the most popular interior door hardware finishes is antique brass. With a dark brass look, antique brass has a richer, more understated vibe compared with the boldness of polished brass. It also works well for modern interiors, or for giving traditionally designed spaces a more contemporary detail.

Brushed Nickel Finish

As with satin nickel, a brushed nickel finish offers a popular alternative to standard chrome. Whereas satin nickel has an almost matte nickel look, brushed nickel features a unique 'textured' surface. This gives it a more stylised and perhaps a more premium feel.

Final Thoughts

Internal door handle packs are a great solution if you’re fitting a new door or revamping an existing one, or if you're re-fitting multiple doors in your home or business.

As we’ve seen, door handle packs are available in a wide range of handle and knob design styles, with differing latch and lock types, in a variety of finishes.

Discover the full range of door handle packs and door knob packs now at Hiatt Hardware.

If you want to find out more about how to choose the right door handle and how to fit interior doors, explore the Hiatt Hardware Blog for articles and how-to guides on fitting door handles, hinges and more.