BKO was a typo I made in a thread that seems to have caught on. I meant to say TBO (totally bathroom obsessed) but there was a two year old pulling on me, and I hadn't slept, and BKO came out instead. For some reason freaks who are TKO seem to understand that BKO (which makes no sense) means Bath LOL I have mixed finishes in all of my rooms (because I'm BKO AND TKO LOL) In my master bath I have antique gold knobs and gold tone lighting (antique stuff from the 1920's that I restored). The lighting also has browns involved in the design and the faucets are all ORB. The towel bars, hooks etc are all ORB as well. All of the finishes are what I would call "warm" in nature and the colors flow. Chrome would look terrible in that room. In the kitchen I have a SS countertop, fridge, DW and TC. My sinks are SS and the faucets (bar, main and pot filler) are all chrome. My lighting is a mix of antique pieces which have both aluminum (or antique pewter color) and a soft gold highlight on them with amber shades. My stove has both silver and gold on the handles (Lacanche) and my knobs are antique pewter. My other counters are granite with amber running through it prominently and the backsplash is amber as well as the glass in the cabinets. So in that room, I am mixing both gold and silver (warm and cool) tones. In the family bath I have a mix of chrome and brushed nickle. The faucets are chrome, as is the toilet handle and then the other pieces are brushed as are the knobs. The powder room has gold or brass fixtures and knobs. I hate having everything exactly the same except for the most modern of rooms (where that uniformity becomes important in taking individual elements out of the design). So the answer is....LOL you can probably do anything. :oP Does that help???

I have a vessel sink bathroom with orb faucet, antique chrome tp holder, chrome trim on the toilet, and then an old toilet tank with verdigris and brass. So maybe I am not the person to ask! I think if you are going at all rustic, and the rest of the palette is muted, mixing is fine. You need to be more careful in a modern space or a very formal space or with "near misses", ie things that look like you tried to match but failed.

IMO it really depends upon individual situations. Proximity weighs in, too. Of course, all the same finishes is fine; but that does not mean mixing isn't to be done, just that it needs to be done thoughtfully. A mix can draw attention to what you want to be focal points and can make a room be more interesting visually. In our guest bath, all of the finishes are brushed nickel, except the TP holder. But the TP holder is attached to the side of a dark wood vanity, and I did not want to draw attention to it. The antique bronze blended in perfectly, yet does not look out of place because it is visually an extension of the vanity. Along those lines, shower curtain rods, shower door handles and toilet levers are often not a design feature you want to accent, so I would use what would make them visually less noticeable. Ceiling lighting and sconces generally are the same finish, but I believe you can successful pull off an outstanding antique bronze chandelier, for example, by having utilitarian sconces and faucet fixtures in a nickel finish. Items on the same impact level, such as faucets and towel bars, I would usually try to keep the same finish. If the faucets are the focal, they could be one finish and the balance of the other items in the room be something else. As for proximity, I believe all the finishes inside the shower can match, but be different than the finishes in other areas of the room, IF there is a reason/point of doing so. A shower head in one finish and the shower knobs in another would be trickier to pull off but may work if the finish of the knobs blended with the tile so the shower head becomes a focal point. Some finishes mix better than others. And the design style of the features in the mix matter. As does the backdrop, as mentioned above.

As with all good design, matching everything exactly isn’t the right call. You want your space to be curated and custom, and if you choose the same hardware throughout the house (especially in different rooms), your home will feel builder-grade and boring. Your hardware should be sisters, not twins—meaning sharing some similar elements but not the exact same. For example, if you have a more modern aesthetic, pick 2-3 hardware colors and choose all modern hardware. That way, the space will feel cohesive and custom without feeling boring. We have some ideas about hardware, fromour favorites to everything you need to know about hardware to what paint colors go best with what hardware. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!