Getting the Doors Right
You might not think much about door handles - who does! But if you are confronted everyday with using a door handle that is difficult to grab, things change. We spent a lot of time researching what door handles would be the easiest to operate. Here is what we came up with:
- Levers are better than knobs. With a lever you can use the “lever” action to unsnib the latch. Turning a knob can sometimes be impossible. Particularly when there might be pressure on the door.
- Straight levers are not so good. Once you get the lever moving, if the lever is straight your hand often slips off. A lever with a turn back is best.
- The handle needs to have some substance. It needs to be easy to grab and take some rough and tough abuse.
Using the above criteria we found a handle called Samoa produced by an Italian door furniture company called Parisi . I contacted Parisi in Australia to see if they wanted to become involved with our project. Unfortunately they were not so helpful and would not deal with me as I was just a member of the public. As the product they made was the best for our needs I needed to invoke plan B. I contacted a friend at Integrity Locksmiths to see if he would help facilitate the transaction. Thankfully he agreed and we now have our Parisi Samoa door handles.
You can clearly see the turnback on the lever on the Parisi Samoa door handles. They are constructed of solid stainless steel so they will hold up to the salt air down in Merimbula.