I have levers, but they are ORB and have squared edges rather than rounded like the ones in your link. I find that they are more temperamental than standard knobs on the doors that get opened and closed a lot...meaning that they get loosened and have to be taken apart and tightened regularly. The door that gives me the most trouble is the one that leads into the garage.

I have had lever style since the mid 90s... so much easier for DH and I!

Ooh! I see why you like those. We have the more traditional lever handles (with a bit of a curve to them) on several interior doors. It's easier to open the door when your hands are full of other things with a lever than a regular round door knob. The down side is that our dogs have also discovered how easy it is to open those doors! Nevertheless, we really like them.

Have ORB levers on the pantry doors. None of the issues Fun reports. Knobs everywhere else.

I want to switch ours. It is easier for DH and me now that we are getting older. I think it is a good idea, especially for those of us getting up in years!

Funny about the dogs, Kashmi. Our son's dog has figured that out on our french doors to the deck. Happily, our two seem to not care and will wait for us to open the door if they can't push it open. :)

We have levers not knobs in antique brass and love them. So much easier to open with hands full and such. Only thing is you can't hang a bunch of hangers on them like you can with a door knob.

One other issue to think about--small children who can't reach and turn a door knob can reach and pull the lever. Which means they can open doors that you might not want them to, a year or so earlier than with door knobs.

Here's your lever, not at all what I expected. :)

Thanks, Writersblock! Oh, I see why you are thinking "office!"

This is so timely, as I'm changing my interior knobs to levers this week (& getting new door hinges, whoo hoo!) Mine are ORB with a pronounced curve, so they look warm & homey. I have vintage-y things & a traditional/transitional house.

If your house & decor are contemporary, the one you picture should be ideal. It is very handsome. It shouldn't remind anyone of an office if sleek design elements are in the spaces beyond the doors. They will fit right in with your aesthetic.

Yeah, the Emteks are a step down compared to Baldwins but IMO....ALL the doorsets out there just don't have the fit and finish of yesteryears. Levers do get loose over time....I've yet to see how fast they get loose in a residential setting though.

All our interior doors are levers, and I love them! The finish is shiny brass, however, and I want to change that out for orb or black, so I may have to spray paint them all. Do you think that would work?

With a good scuff, the right primer, should be doable...

Had levers at last house and now at this house. I like them - last house - gold finish new house ORB. Like another poster my one lead to the garage seems to fall off frequently. Last time I had my fix it man deal w/it, this time I fixed it...OMG I put it on upside down. I didn't even bother fixing it - it will fall off again anyway..Yes, I'm a woman living alone..with no live in fix it man...I do the best that I can - then scream for help ! LOL

We have had our brushed nickel lever knobs on all our doors and love them. They still look new after 13 years. DH complains now and then about catching something on one though, but I tell him he would do the same thing on a knob. ADN is right...you can't stack a bunch of hangers on one like you can on a knob.

We've always had lever style handles in our late-80's house but they are pretty cheap looking polished brass. We're in the process of replacing all of them with Baldwin levers.

We remodeled our whole house last year and replaced every interior and exterior door, save one ext French door. I wanted levers with clean lines, no fussy whoop-de-dos, etc, without breaking the bank. The Kwikset Vedani isn't the highest quality, but I couldn't afford $100+ per handle.

I like that our little ones can open doors for themselves now and that they will work well for us in our aging years. Zero trouble with them in the 7 months they've been in use.

I'm so glad this thread was started! It confirms I'm on the right track with changing to levers. I'd wondered about how user-friendly they were, and everyone here seems to love using them! The only cons seems to be that dogs can also use them (just a cat here!) and garage door levers fall off for some unknown reason. That's not a deal-breaker!I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Now I'm really excited about saying "bye-bye" to my 1987 "antique brass" knobs and hinges! Handyman is coming Friday!

I have them on all the doors in this house. Love them!

The link shows the ones on the doors in the basement. The ones upstairs are different - don't have the link for them as the builder purchased those.

I won't show you the ones I really wanted. They were way over my budget but looked great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Door levers in basement

Cats can learn to use them, too. We had levers in a previous house, and the cat kept getting out, and we thought we weren't pulling the door all the way shut--until we caught her standing on the dryer, with her front paws on the lever, opening the door!

When I lived in Germany 20 years ago, levers were standard. I've only wanted levers since then--they're so much easier to use when your hands are full.

I don't have little ones anymore, but it would require more careful child proofing on the doors. I can't remember what we did--it's been a while.

We have interior and exterior levers. Our dog knows how to open them too. We've been in our home almost 7 years and they have not gotten loose at all.

You must have narrow doorways. That's one of the first things DH changed about our plans.

We did a whole house reno two years ago and switched all of our interior door handles to lever handles. Love the look and the function.

We replaced almost all ours with levers. Love them...

My dog learned how to open the front door too, so I took the lever off and re-installed - pointng up! Not very fashinable - and it is easy to scrape your knuckles but it sure beats chasing an Australian shepherd down the street!

LOL, Musicteacher!

The house we lived in for a year before we moved into this one had them.
I noticed that I could operate the lever with my elbow and nudge the door open with my knee while my hands were full.

So we have them everywhere in this house, interior and exterior. They're great; we have had no issues with them so far.

We have levers also and love them for look and ease of use as others said. No problems at all with loosening...must be the particular brand if that happens. Ours currently are Schlage, but have had Baldwin also. (Did have problems with Baldwin exterior knobs and levers with the supposedly lifetime warranty when our "solid brass" ones became terrible looking within 10 years...and Baldwin just said too bad.) We've also had egg shaped knobs in 2 previous homes, and they're also easy to use--use the elbow to open when hands are full, but I do prefer the levers.

We put lever knobs on our doors several years ago when we built our house. We are finally putting plantation shutters on all the windows where we just had blinds. We are trying to decide whether to change out the lever knobs on 4 french doors we have, rather than having cutouts on the shutters being mounted on the doors. We would replace those with regular door knobs. Any thoughts..? I LOVE the levers otherwise, but not sure i want to pay $100.00 per door more to have cutout!

chefwong....i think you will love them...!

We have had them but do not have them in this house. I'll agree with the poster who said they catch on them. Particularly I catch on them. Sleeves. LOL

And we don't have narrow doorways.

They are pretty and I can see the advantages as you age. My dad has just changed his exterior security and glass doors to levers instead of knobs. He has arthritis in his thumbs and the levers are easier for him.

tina

When I worked on an Army post in Germany people always referred to the U.S. as "the land of the round doorknobs". I prefer them myself, but my parents did have an issue with a dog who discovered how easy they were to use without an opposable thumb. However, he was a rather dim-witted dog (the breed rhymes with "Irish setter") and never realized that he could open all the doors like the one he originally opened by accident. Since that door was poorly hung and would close itself, whenever their dog went missing, they knew where to find him

Bethohio3, that's a cute story about your cat! Smarty cat!

Just yesterday a neighbor was trying to talk me out of doing levers because of the "clothes catching" on them situation. It may happen, I realize.

We had no hardware on our kitchen drawers until 18 months ago, when we installed egg-shaped, brushed nickel knobs. Well, wish I had a nickel for everytime we've been snared by them! It's very disconcerting when it happens...like whoops! The first time I thought, "What is going on here?" Then my dh got trapped by the same one. We're more aware now, and don't have as many mishaps. Hopefully, watching out for clothes with the levers will help too. I DO appreciate the warnings!

I'm a little late to the post here but my husband and I have been faced with whether to go for lever style or door nob. My husband really likes the look of a door nob but our architect recommended levers, said he hasn't done a house with them in years. Anyway, does anyone have any specific brand or handle that they love? We're going with a brushed nickel look and we prefer clean, straight lines. I didn't realize that door hardware can easily break the bank! Is there any benefit to going with a more expensive brand (such as Emtek or Baldwin) over a less expensive brand?

I had the upstairs knobs changed to levers a couple weeks ago and I love them! Changed the hinges to match (orb). I think they make the entire second floor hallway (surrounded by 5 doors) look so much better, and they are easy to use...no problems.

Laschnit, I had Kwikset levers installed that I purchased at HD. I think they look and feel super, and my handyman said they were easy-peasy to install. They are still fairly pricey, (though I know not close to Baldwin's prices)as the bill adds up when you go from door to door! So worth it, though. I'll change out the downstairs after I re-do the powder room and paint a couple of doors.

HD had Baldwin on display, but I didn't think they looked any better than the ones I bought. I couldn't justify the cost differential. In fact, I liked the way the Kwikset looked more than the orb Baldwin options.

I am currently renovating my home. Most of my furniture is traditional/classic so should my levers reflect this? In other words, should they have a bit of as curve to them or should I just get the straight levers?