dekeoboe-Schlage makes a few differnet levels that you may want to look into. I have read some success stories with buying off Overstock.com--alot of times they won't list the manufacturer so you're not sure what you're getting until it arrives. The good thing with Overstock is the prices are usually greatly discounted, the shipping to you is only $2.95, & they take returns.

Now, let's go local--I read you're in the piedmont NC area (where by the way? We're building in Asheboro which is just south of Greensboro, NC). I know you listed brushed nickel contemporary style levers, but if you're flexible at all with that, you may want to stop by one or two of the Tuesday Morning stores. A high end door knob company out of Charlotte, NC called Architectural Ironworks went out of business and everything got liquidated to Tuesday Morning. I cleaned them out of the Venetian Bronze levers and bolt locks from Greensboro to High Point to Burlington to Chapel Hill and even up into the mountains. They still have a huge stock of brushed nickel flat knobs with a beautiful arched backplate at the Greensboro store on Battleground Ave. At their new store on Wendover Ave in Greensboro they have a huge stock of a distressed nickel beaver tail style lever. Interspersed throughout the stores I have also seen a really nice contemporary black lever with a rectangle backplate as well. They are all solid brass structure and they have dummy, passage, & privacy knobs as well as bolt locks and exterior door handlesets to match. These sets retailed for $170 each and they are marked down to $29.99 each on clearance. No way I could have afforded them otherwise and I was really stressing over having to spend $$$ on Baldwin or Emtek to get the look I wanted when we're already over budget. So if any of those options pique your interest, it may be worth the effort to go check them out. They also still have some beautiful higher end light fixtures that they got on a liquidation from Lighting One if you are interested--we got our ornate semi-flushmount pendant foyer light ($30) & 9 light dining room chandelier with the little shades ($60) there on clearance. Hope this helps--Good luck on your quest!

We used Schlage several years ago in a renovation. We used the lever kind in brushed nickel. Never a problem.

mydreamhome - You aren't far from us, we are in Pittsboro. Okay, I will be off to the Tuesday Mornings soon to look at what they have. Thanks so much for the information. I am currently looking for lighting too. Stupid hurricane may delay my excursions a bit though. FYI - did you know that if you buy something at a Tuesday Morning and are looking for more of the same you can find out which local stores also carry the item? I did that when we lived in San Antonio, and I am trying to remember how I did it. Someone at one of the stores gave me a piece of paper about the service. I don't think you can do it online, I think I had to call an 800 number.

Okay, found it online. You just need the SKU number and then call 1-800-901-0881 and they will tell you where you can find the product.

I will also try Overstock.com. It is good both you and Joyce said Schlage is find to use as that is what our builder usually uses for inside doors.

dekeoboe--On the Schlage, verify with your builder which style he uses. If I'm not mistaken, Dexter by Schlage is their least expensive line and the Decorative Collection is their most expensive.

Using the 800# product finder through Tuesday Morning sure comes in handy. That's how I found out High Point & Chapel Hill had more of the levers I needed. Silly me, I started off with just 1 handleset and hunted from that point on! Let me know what you think about the AIW handlesets at Tuesday Morning when you go. FYI-the Burlington store did not have any handlesets left in any style when I was in a week ago. But they did have a very nice selection of Delta lavatory faucets if you're looking for an excellent deal.

Check out King Electric in Burlington & Butler Lighting in Greensboro on Church St. for lighting as well as TM. Our builder has an account with Butler (Vicky is the salesperson we dealt with), so we went through them for our lighting needs other than the 2 we had already found such great deals on. Very competitive pricing and often willing to price match online stores if you find it for less.

Thanks. I went to the Cary TM this afternoon. No luck on the handsets; all they had was distressed nickel egg shape. And they had very little in the way of lighting fixtures. Lamps yes, lighting fixtures, not really. I'll have to take a trip to Greensboro next week. I was planning on going there sometime anyway as I want to check out the Habitat Restore there.

On the lighting, the TM on Battleground in Greensboro is your best bet. Between the store on Battleground and the one on Wendover you should be able to see all the other handleset styles too. The Wendover store just opened a few weeks back and they don't have as much selection as Battleground. Happy hunting!

I haven't purchased anything from them but locksetsonly.com looks to have some good prices. They carry schlage, kwikset, Baldwin and emtek. I was looking at the dexter by schlage and they were around 20 bucks for brushed nickel passage levers. I think the decorative schlage levers were around 35 depending on style. Baldwin and emtek around 80. Shipping looked pretty reasonable too.

Again, I haven't bought from them yet so I can't say anything about returns or customer service.

Reasonable Price, go to Adonai Hardware!

Here is a link that might be useful: Adonai Hardware

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