FARM HOUSE/COTTAGE DOOR HARDWARE

I am a big fan of architectural details in any way shape or form that will give my home a timeless look. Though my home was built in 1998, I chose an elevation that that was modeled after a Pennsyvannia Farm House/Cottage. While many fabulous new homes have the high columms at the front entry, I wanted a look that would make it hard to tell what year the house was actually built.

On the inside, though spacious, the house was really a typical base model with no specific details. I have since added transom glass over my large interior openings, picture framing below chair rail, and beadboard in my craft room and laundry room.

I still want more. I love the old door knobs with back plates and keyholes that used the old skeleton keys. Some were brass with georgous glass handles, some were very ornate with very intricate designs, and some where just plain rectangles with plain knobs. I love the latter. I went on line, checked out ebay and many restoration hardware places and the cost for even the reproductions are over $100.00.

Now I have alot of doors in my house. approximately 30 including closet doors.

I want every door to have a back plate on each side, even inside the closet.

The house was built with brass door knobs and brass hinges everywhere through out the house. I have slowly replaced all the hinges and knobs with oil rubbed bronze hinges from Lowes Home Improvement at a VERY affordable price.

I have been searching everywhere on the internet, ebay, and restoration hardware stores for "escutcheons" or backplates that would fit the standard knobs I purchased from Lowes. The internet offers a reproduction set that costs $129.00!! for 1 door. No way can I afford that.

I decided to make all my own. I came up with an aluminun rectangle plate measuring 3” wide by 8 ½” long, and has a 2" diameter hole that modern door knobs such as Schlage and Kwikset will fit through. I purchased special screws that match the oil rubbed bronze color. I just removed my door knob, lined up the plate on both sides of the door making sure they were level and at the same height on each side, and making sure the plate was centered over the hole( so that when the knob was replaced it would be centered over the plate evenly).

Take a look!! I snapped a few pictures of the doors through out my house.

Here are a couple pics at Christmas time. I think the door hardware looks great on french doors.


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A couple of friends of mine have asked me to make them some of these back plates and I did make extra. If anyone is interested, I am selling them on Ebay at meadowcrestgirl. Thank you for looking.