The main door handle is the first thing a guest touches, and the one piece of hardware the whole family uses every day. It also sits outdoors, in sun, monsoon humidity and city dust. This guide walks through the four decisions that matter — size, material, finish and style — using the 54 designs in our main door handle collection as examples.
1. Start with the door, not the handle
Measure the door leaf first: height, width and thickness. Most Indian flat doors are 7 ft (2,100 mm) tall and 35–45 mm thick; villa and duplex entrances run taller. A pull handle looks right when it is roughly a third of the door height, so a standard 7 ft door carries a 600–900 mm (24–36 inch) pull comfortably, while an 18 inch (450 mm) handle is the safe, most-bought size for apartment doors. Anything shorter than 12 inch (300 mm) reads as a cabinet handle on a full-size door.
| Door | Recommended handle length | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow or secondary door (up to 2.5 ft wide) | 300 mm / 12 inch | Slim Arc 300 mm, Arch Pull 300 mm |
| Standard apartment door (3 ft × 7 ft) | 450 mm / 18 inch | Regent Slim 18", Linear Minimal 18" |
| Wide single door or villa entrance | 600–900 mm / 24–36 inch | Odysseus 24", Cilo Reeded 24–48", Pinnacle Arc up to 900 mm |
| Pivot or full-height door | 1,050 mm+ / 42 inch+ | Altona Full-Height 42" |
2. Double door handle designs
On a double door the handles are read as a pair, so buy two of the same design in the same size and mount them at the same height — the grip centre about 1,000–1,050 mm from the floor is comfortable for most adults. Symmetric pulls (two identical bars) suit modern doors; a mirrored pair such as Odysseus and Penelope, cast as a king-and-queen couple, gives a traditional double door a focal point. Where one leaf is fixed, a single 36–48 inch handle on the working leaf is the cleaner choice.
3. Material: what you are actually paying for
- Solid brass — heavy, cast in one piece, and the only material that improves with age. Our brass main door handles run from ₹7,799 for an 18 inch Linear Minimal to ₹43,399 for the sculpted Zeus. Browse the brass main door collection.
- Aluminium — lighter and about half the price (₹4,399–₹16,199), available in 300, 450, 600 and 900 mm. Good for apartment doors and for matte black schemes.
- Zinc alloy — takes a crisp plated finish; used for shorter designs such as the 12–18 inch Monolith.
- Wood-resin — hand-poured resin over a timber core, 15–24 inch, ₹5,799–₹7,999, for doors that want colour rather than metal.
4. Finishes that survive Indian weather
Antique brass is the most forgiving outdoor finish: fingerprints and light scratches disappear into the patina. PVD gold is a hard vacuum-deposited coating that keeps a gold tone without tarnishing, which is why we recommend it over plain gold plating for entrances. Matte black is the current favourite for modern facades and pairs with black grills, light fittings and door frames; keep it out of direct afternoon sun on a west-facing door if you can, as black surfaces get hot. Rose gold and copper-antique finishes are available on selected designs. Filter by antique brass, gold or matte black to compare.
5. Five styles, with examples
- Sculptural — cast forms that read as objects: Twig, Galaxy, Branch.
- Classical — figurative brass for traditional and colonial homes: Leonidas (lion head), Zeus (acanthus), Paris (fleur-de-lis backplate).
- Minimal — straight bars with a fine section: Linear Minimal, Eiffel, Regent Slim.
- Textured — grip you can feel: Bark, Cilo Reeded, Begonya Knurled, Anzer Faceted.
- Colour — wood-resin pulls in turquoise, smoke grey and gold: Terra, Soleil.
6. Fitting notes for your carpenter
Main door pulls fix back-to-back: bolts pass through the door and thread into the opposite handle (or into a rose on a single-handle door), so tell us the door thickness when you order and we pack the right bolt length. Mark the centre-to-centre distance of the fixing points before drilling, drill from both faces to avoid tear-out on veneer, and hand-tighten only — brass threads do not need force. Every handle ships with its fixings.
Budget guide
- ₹4,399–₹10,599 — aluminium 300/450 mm pulls in antique brass, black or copper.
- ₹7,799–₹15,499 — solid brass 15–18 inch designs (the largest group in the collection).
- ₹12,599–₹43,399 — statement solid brass pulls, 20–48 inch, cast in Odyssey series moulds.
Orders over ₹5,000 ship free across India and dispatch within 24 hours. If you are choosing for a project, send us the door drawing on WhatsApp and we will suggest a size and pair.
Frequently asked
Which main door handle size is best for a 7 ft door? 18 inch (450 mm) is the standard; 24 inch and above if the door is wider than 3 ft or you want the handle to be the feature.
Do I need two handles for a double door? Yes — one per leaf, identical or a designed pair, mounted at the same height.
Will brass tarnish? Natural brass darkens gracefully; PVD gold and antique-brass finishes hold their tone with a wipe of soft cloth. Avoid acidic cleaners.
Can a main door handle work as a wardrobe handle? The 6–12 inch versions of the same designs are sold as wardrobe handles, so a home can match the entrance to the bedroom.