How the Right Door Hardware Can Be the Perfect Finishing Touch in Your Home

In the journey of designing our homes, it’s easy to overlook the beauty of those small, utilitarian features that bring a space together. These are the hardworking pieces, humble in size but brilliant in execution, that bring function and flow to everyday life. For Camille Styles, the designer and owner of our next Sunset Idea House, paying careful attention to such design nuances includes choosing door handles that fit her aesthetic and needs—which is why she worked with lauded door hardware brand Emtek when designing her Malibu home. 

Styles is known for spotlighting the beauty in the day-to-day, which she does as founder and editor-in-chief of her lifestyle platform Camille Styles. No detail goes unnoticed in her world, particularly when it comes to home design. She viewed the handles, knobs, and pulls in the Emtek collection as essential pieces that will elevate even the simplest moments in her Malibu home. Here, Styles breaks down the beautiful functionality behind her design decisions. 

Photo by Michelle Nash

Elevated Function 

“Door handles are like that perfect, subtle piece of jewelry you wear every day, adding a certain something that you might not be able to instantly put your finger on,” explains Styles. “Just as your favorite gold bracelet can make an outfit, the right door handles can add the finishing touch that pulls a home together.”

Her Emtek hardware makes for a “touch point” that brings consistency and essence throughout the home, Styles adds. This interconnection is a goal of the brand. “Door and even cabinet hardware is something you touch more than most other things in your home—it should be something you love interacting with and using,” says Amy Biller Switzer, senior marketing communications manager for Emtek. “It is the first thing you touch when coming home and the last thing you touch when leaving.” 

Courtesy of Emtek

Vivid Variety 

Emtek offers seemingly endless options to allow customers to create tailored hardware looks for their homes. Biller Switzer highlights a few of the many ways hardware comes into play. An Emtek doorknob can complement the polished nickel of a bathroom faucet. Or a glass knob can elevate a room, same as a sleek Satin Brass lever. “You can select your preferred rosette or back plate style, your favorite knob or lever style, and each in any combination of finishes you like,” adds Biller Switzer. 

The Personal Touch

For her Malibu home, Styles chose the Lariat Lever with #6 Bronze Rosette in the medium bronze patina finish (below), a part of Emtek’s Rustic Modern series. A slightly beveled rosette and lever with a contemporary profile, the #6 Bronze Rosette Medium Bronze Patina is meant to be a “living finish” where the bronze will gracefully age over time. “I’m drawn to the juxtaposition between modern clean lines, and timeless materials—and these have both,” says Styles. “We’re using other living finishes, like unlacquered brass, throughout the house, so the patina that these will develop over the years will lend the same, soulful quality.” 

Courtesy of Emtek

Investing in a product that feels intentional and solid, particularly one that works tirelessly, can make a world of difference in a home’s overall aesthetic. As Styles points out, her Emtek hardware is neither loud nor brash but lends quiet confidence and beauty. “It all makes a quiet statement that feels aligned with the rest of our home’s design.” 

Read the Current Issue Here!

Get one year of Sunset—and all kinds of bonuses—for just $29.95. Subscribe now!