The following post is sponsored by Emtek and contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.

When we built this house, the budget only allowed a certain amount of items. We wanted to put our money into upgrades that made the most bang for our buck. We also wanted to do upgrades with the builder that couldn’t be done ourselves, after the house was finished. Mr. Whitelane and I both knew that we could add little changes to make it our own once we moved in. A lot of items made sense to upgrade with the builder. However, smaller things like doorknobs, we chose to do builder basic. Meaning we got whatever was the cheapest or free option with the intent to swap it out later.

You may be thinking that handles for a door are not even a noticeable thing. That is what my husband thought too. After we moved in, he quickly realized that we have a lot of doors and the knobs are definitely noticeable. I feel they can either be boring basic and blend in or really make a statement. I knew I wanted to do levers for our doors. When I saw the Helios lever and square rosette, it was love at first sight. The modern and sleek look matches our faucet handles in the bathrooms. I was beyond excited to partner with Emtek on this project. They have an amazing selection of knobs, levers, and exterior sets. The finish options are everything you could want. From brass to satin nickel, chrome, and even black. Emtek has it all covered. Did I mention they also have cabinet hardware too? I could have spent all day looking at all their products and finishes. I may have to upgrade my kitchen cabinet hardware at some point too. 🙂

Swapping out doorknobs is such an easy upgrade that can be done anytime for a big impact. Can levers be sexy? Because I sure do feel like our new Helios lever in satin nickel makes our doors sexy. 🙂 The square rosette with the lever just makes such a pop against the door. I have to say that my favorite is the front door Baden Set. I love how stately it makes the front door look. The square deadbolt is really a showstopper too. It combines class and modern design all in one. The perfect look we wanted for our doorknobs.

This was such an easy DIY. Mr. Whitelane and I started with the front door. We did one door at a time. We would remove the old knob and put the new levers on before moving to the next door. This just made it simple to keep everything organized and not confuse any of the handles. We also thought if we had to take a break or finish later, we wouldn’t be left with a bunch of non-functioning doors. You never know how long you will get to work on a project when you have three little kids running around. Luckily, we got this whole project knocked out in one afternoon. Anyone can do this.

I really love the look of our new levers and exterior sets. A huge thank you to Emtek for making this possible. They have such quality products. I know we will be enjoying these levers for years to come. They have even passed the kid test and seem very durable. What do you think? Such a great DIY upgrade that makes a big statement.