How to Choose Door Knobs: A Complete UK Guide

Every time you walk through a door at home, your hand finds the knob before your eyes find the room. Door knobs are arguably the most-touched piece of design in a house — and the detail most people change last, if at all. Get them right, and a doorway stops being functional infrastructure and becomes a quiet piece of personality. Get them wrong, and even the most considered interior feels slightly off.

This is the practical companion to our design-led guide, How to Choose Door Knobs That Finish a Room. Where that article focuses on the styling side, this one covers the technical side — anatomy, materials, finishes, sizing, installation and care — the reference you'll come back to when you're actually ordering.

The anatomy of a door knob

Before you fall in love with a finish or a colour, a quick orientation. A complete door knob set consists of:

• The knob itself — the part that turns in your hand. Round, oval, faceted, or sculptural.
• The rose (or backplate) — the disc behind the knob that sits flush against the door. A small backplate gives a clean, modern read; a longer plate is more period.
• The spindle — the thin square or threaded rod that joins the two knobs through the door and engages with the latch mechanism inside.
• The fixings — small screws, machine screws, or bolts that hold everything in place. On our knobs, these are supplied as standard.

For interior doors that need to latch shut (most of them), you'll also need a mortice or tubular latch fitted inside the door edge. Most UK doors take a standard 2½″ or 3″ latch.

Cabinet, cupboard and drawer knobs are simpler — they're single-fix items with a threaded screw running through the cabinet face. No spindle, no rose, no latch.

Materials — and what each one says

The material is the single biggest decision you'll make. Here's how to think about each one.

Ceramic

Ceramic door knobs and cabinet knobs sit at the heart of the G Decor collection. Each piece is thrown by hand, glazed, and painted — so no two are exactly alike. Ceramic suits Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian homes especially well; the painterly florals and traditional Wedgwood-inspired blues read as period-appropriate without being literal. In modern interiors, hand-painted ceramic adds warmth where a polished metal might feel cold.

Care is straightforward — a soft damp cloth keeps glaze clean. Avoid abrasive cleaners on hand-painted designs.

Solid brass

Brass is the workhorse of door hardware and ages beautifully across decades. We finish brass four ways:

• Polished — bright, reflective, golden. Reads contemporary on a black or charcoal door, traditional on a panelled one.
• Aged brass — softer gold tone with patina. Versatile across periods.
• Unlacquered brass — bare metal that develops its own patina with handling. Beloved by purists; it will darken and lighten with use over years.
• Satin / brushed brass — matte and warm. Hides fingerprints; reads modern.

Browse our brass door knobs, brass cabinet knobs and brass cabinet pulls.

Glass and crystal

Faceted crystal and clear glass knobs catch the light in a way no other material does. They're elegant, low-key, and pair beautifully with both period plaster and contemporary lacquered cabinetry. On a south-facing door, a crystal knob throws prisms across the walls in late afternoon — a small daily pleasure.

Glass knobs are typically mounted on a brass or chrome base. The combination of metal warmth and glass clarity is what gives them their character.

Mother of pearl and bone inlay

Inlaid knobs — usually mother of pearl set into a brass base, or hand-cut horn bone — are statement pieces. They suit considered, lived-in interiors with curated objects: think bedrooms, dressing rooms, or the cabinets in a quietly opulent kitchen. Inlay knobs are best on cabinetry and built-ins rather than on heavily-used internal doors, simply because the surface is finer.

Iron and forged metal

Hand-forged iron speaks to country homes, farmhouses, barn conversions, and Arts & Crafts interiors. We pair forged iron with beeswax or black finishes; both age gracefully and add a sense of mass to substantial doors.

Finishes, and what they do over time

Two doors with identical knobs in different finishes will read entirely differently across years of use. A short field guide:

• Polished finishes stay bright but show fingerprints. Best for low-touch doors (formal rooms, occasional guest spaces).
• Aged finishes have a deliberate patina baked in. They forgive use and won't change much over time.
• Unlacquered finishes change deliberately. New, they're bright; after six months of use, they're matte and warm; after five years, they're objects with history. If you want hardware that feels like an heirloom, choose unlacquered.
• Satin / brushed finishes hide everything — fingerprints, smudges, light scuffs. Best for high-traffic doors: kitchens, bathrooms, children's bedrooms.

The honest answer: there is no “best” finish. There is the finish that suits your tolerance for change.

Sizing — the numbers that actually matter

For an internal door knob, the spindle size is almost always 8 mm square (UK standard). Backplate size is a personal preference — smaller (around 50 mm diameter) for clean modern doors, larger (60–65 mm or rectangular) for period mortice locks.

Cabinet knobs use a machine screw (typically M4) running through the cabinet door. Standard cabinet doors are 16–18 mm thick; most knobs ship with screws sized for this, plus a longer screw included for thicker doors. Measure your cabinet door thickness before ordering.

For door knob spacing on double doors or matched pairs: the standard centre-line height is 1,000 mm from the floor (UK building regs prefer this for accessibility). For single doors, 1,050 mm is more traditional but a touch of personal preference is fine.

How to install a door knob

A standard internal door knob installation, for someone with a screwdriver and twenty minutes:

1. Check the door is prepared. You need an existing latch bore (a hole drilled through the face of the door for the spindle) and an edge bore (for the latch itself). Most modern doors are pre-prepared; period doors often need drilling.
2. Slide the spindle through the latch. The square shaft should engage with the latch mechanism inside the door.
3. Position the first knob and rose. Slide the knob onto one end of the spindle, hold the rose flat against the door face.
4. Mark and drill pilot holes for the rose screws. Use a 2 mm bit. Don't over-drill.
5. Repeat on the other side. Adjust spindle length if needed — most spindles can be cut to size with a hacksaw. Tighten the grub screws on each knob to secure them to the spindle.

Test the door before you put away the screwdriver: it should latch when closed and release cleanly when the knob is turned.

For cabinet knobs, the install is even simpler — a single machine screw through the cabinet door, tightened by hand from the back. No drilling, no spindles, no fittings.

Care and cleaning

For hand-painted ceramic, soft damp cloth only. Avoid solvent cleaners.

For polished brass, occasional polish with a non-abrasive metal cleaner keeps the shine. For unlacquered brass, do nothing — the patina is the point.

For glass and crystal, household glass cleaner or warm water with a microfibre cloth.

For aged brass, brushed nickel and powder-coated finishes, a damp cloth is enough. Avoid abrasive pads on any finish.

Cabinet knobs vs door knobs: the quick distinction

A common question — are they the same thing? Technically no. Door knobs are for full-size doors and require a spindle, latch, and rose. Cabinet knobs are for cabinets, drawers and cupboard doors and use a single machine screw. Cabinet knobs are simpler, cheaper, and used in much higher quantities (a typical kitchen has 20–40 cabinet knobs vs perhaps 8–12 interior door knobs).

Both can use the same materials and finishes, which is how you build a coordinated look across a room.

Frequently asked questions

What size spindle do I need?

UK standard for internal doors is 8 mm square. We supply this with every set of door knobs. For external or thicker doors (over 50 mm thick), an extended spindle may be needed.

Are ceramic door knobs durable?

Yes — fired ceramic is harder than you'd think and lasts decades with normal use. The glaze is the layer to protect; avoid abrasive cleaners and you'll never have a problem.

Can I mix finishes in the same house?

Yes, with one rule: pick a primary metal and one accent. Polished brass in the kitchen + unlacquered brass in the bedrooms reads as considered. Polished brass + chrome + satin nickel in three different rooms reads as accidental. When in doubt, fewer finishes, used more consistently, looks more expensive.

Should cabinet knobs match door knobs?

They don't need to, but they should share a colour or material story. Ceramic door knobs and ceramic cabinet knobs from the same family of glazes work beautifully. Polished brass on doors with polished brass on cabinetry is the safest pairing.

Do you ship internationally?

Yes — to the UK, US, Australia, Germany, France and UAE as standard, and most countries on request. See our delivery page for full details.

Are G Decor's door knobs Made in Britain?

Many of our designs are made in Britain, and we're a proud member of Made in Britain. Ceramic pieces are hand-thrown and painted in small batches; brass hardware is finished by British metalworkers. Provenance is listed on each product page.

Building the rest of the room

Door knobs are usually the starting point for a wider hardware story across a home. Once you've chosen yours, the natural next stops are:

• Cabinet knobs and cabinet pulls in the same materials family
• Cabinet hinges for visible joinery
• Front door furniture — door knockers, letter plates, numerals
• Wall hooks and curtain holdbacks to extend the materials story into the room

Browse the wider G Decor hardware collection for the full picture — every piece is designed in England, finished by hand, and shipped worldwide.