I am a realtor and some of it can be regional. Sometimes areas have older homes that are desirable to the younger people and they will be willing to invest time and money to get it fixed up the way they want it. As a homeowner, for you to get the most money out of your investment, you should paint, upgrade lighting fixtures and flooring. And concentrate on the kitchen and bathrooms. Again, it’s regional though, if the vast majority of homes on the market have hardwood floors on the first floor and your home as linonium then your home will stand out in a bad way. In addition a great through deep cleaning goes a long way too and don’t forget to have the windows cleaned. The majority of my buyers want the same thing…at least 80%+ renovated. I had a couple that told me that they want to move in one weekend and be able to go out of town the next weekend…so they didn’t want to even paint a room. Hot colors are greige and greys and white trim. If you have an older century type house, you need to see what is in for your market, sometimes wood trim is desirable for those types of homes.
What is wrong with brass doorknobs?
They are so nineties… 
Yeah, 1790s, 1890s…
I wish! The cheap, shiny-gold, coated “brass” is ugly.
Not as ugly as the faux “antique” brass. Trust me. The prior owners of my house though that it would be just perfect to go with all of the real antique brass original hardware. Shudder.
Maybe you should save those brass doorknobs. The trend is into copper right now for metals so brass will likely make a comeback soon. 
When I think of brass door knobs, I think of things like this:
http://www.doorknobsonline.com/Baldwin-Hardware-Single-Dummy-Egg-Door/bal5425030idm.html
Our front door if our house has a deadbolt and doorknob which looks very much like that–we like it just fine.
For those swapping out door knobs for something trendier, are you swapping out door hinges to match or is that considered to not be an issue, just the knobs?
The first floor of my house has stained, custom moldings…if the next owner wants to paint them…fine. But they are custom wood that is what an older home would.have in it.
We don’t have any knobs or handles in our kitchen or baths. No need to update there.
We will likely replace the brass doorknobs…starting with the main floor. Not. Big deal.
Our house is on one of a very few cup de sacs in our town. Most roads are through roads. In addition, we have a private neighborhood beach we share with our neighbors on a gorgeous lake.
We are doing the big things…roof (done), floor refinishing, painting, carpet. Probably furnace.
But then, really we are doingnthese things for ourselves…because we aren’t moving for a while.
@doschicos, we recently redid the folks 60s house which had been updated in the 80s; we removed all the brass doorknobs and hinges and replaced them with brushed stainless, I learned how to remove & install doorknobs which was a real challenge in the obscure rooms that had the original 60s knobs!
We also removed/covered over popcorn ceilings, painted and recarpeted. It needs full kitchen and bath renos, but we just freshened it up.
Consolation, that one is too nice.
It is the cheapo $5 HD version that was used extensively in lower to mid end new construction until recently. Looks like this:
The reason why many people get upset about painting stained wood is that it is typically much more expensive than paint grade wood. We could have saved big bucks in the houses we built if we used paint grade wood everywhere. But DH wanted the “good stuff” in our kitchen and his office. His office was entirely clothed in mahogany, which was stained a dark cherry color. It was pretty stunning, though I wouldn’t want paneling or too much wood in our family room or bedrooms. In most rooms we had paint grade wood and trim because I wanted them painted white or cream.
Right, but you aren’t selling your house, right? In certain markets, people don’t like brass.On a front door, I would certainly cater to current trends, since that’s one of the first impressions you make.
I’m sure it will circle back as things often do.
When you are unloading your house, you have to design it to sell, not to live. It’s no longer what appeals to you that matters, it’s what appeals to the buyers who are looking in your area, as well as what your competition is offering.
We have mostly brass, but we had one gorgeous purple glass one that I believe was original to the house. We also had a plain glass one. Most of our door knobs are brass - they just blend in with the colonial style of the house IMO.
Mine are mostly brass and glass and are staying that way. Fits the house.
My house was built in 1998 and they put in all that cheapo brass. Hate it, hate it. Crappy pine trim too. I replaced it all with Amish milled 6" white oak, 5 coats hand layered and stained by me. No way am I painting it. Just have to wait for oak to come back The new 4 panel solid oak doors now have glass knobs.
Still have the awful bright brass foyer (20’ up) and dining room chandeliers. Yuck. Dining room one on a chain. Double yuck.
We replaced our DR light a few years ago…and I love the replacement. Very simple.
I absolutely love my breakfast room light. It has brass fittings with a large white glass dome. Sort of a school house lamp look. It is the most expensive fixture in the house. Not getting replaced by me!
Flyer light is a huge white flat glass thing with a solid brass rim. I love it. Very plain and not chandelier like at all.
I have only two ceiling fans…one in our master and one in our family room. No lights on either…both plain white that sort of blend into the ceiling. It never dawned on me to replace them. I mean really…plain white needs to be replaced?
I’m in the camp of Yuck for honey oak trim. Just smacks out of date. And the same double Yuck for bright brass fixtures, door knobs, hinges and light fixtures. I do appreciate solid bronze but not shiny fake brass. Outdated.
Luckily, most people who like old houses aren’t as prone to fall for momentary trends.
I find it amusing that people are now talking about “mid century modern” as a hip design choice. Not too long ago THAT was “outdated.”
Maybe all you have to do is wait long enough. 