In my house, I have a door that leads to my bedroom. This may seem trivial, but I would like to open the door just by pulling the handle towards me, instead of having to pull down. That is just an inconvenience for me. My door has a strike plate. I think that may be causing it to latch. I'd like the door to stop just before the strike plate if possible so I can open the door easier.
Does anyone know any way to accomplish this?
You can replace the doorknob hardware with a ball latch/strike plate. These can be easily pushed open and are often used for places like pantries where you don't need privacy and may have your hands full when trying to open/close the door. You'll also want to replace the doorknobs with dummy versions that don't swivel.
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You need someting to help hold the door in a closed position. Otherwise it may swing open or stay a little bit ajar.
The simplest way to do this is either with a magnetic latch.
The magnet is attached to the frame and the strike plate to the face of the door.
You can remove the knob or lever and its mechanism, and replace it with a dummy level or knob (one that does not move) to pull the door. You also would need to fill the hole in the door where the old mechanism was.
As an alternative, you could simply replace the strike plate with a flat piece of metal or wood. The door plunger would then not catch and could be held in place with the magnetic latch descirbed above.
