Because my original message isn't long enough ;-) I'll post a follow-up - any opinions on the idea of getting Grohe for the sink faucet and shower system, but some other brand for the accessories? Do I really need the towel bars & tp holder to be in the same matching family as the faucets?

The glass shelf is really throwing me because I want one between the wall-mount sink and the medicine cabinet, and if I go Grohe, they don't making glass shelves. But if I buy another brand shelf, it'll be right on top of the Grohe faucet.

Much angst here. :-)

Thanks again for all advice, opinions, and emotional support!

I fully intend to mix brands in my bathroom. In fact, it never occurred to me that the sink faucet/shower faucet/TP holder should be the same brand. I think that as long as you get the same finish (chrome, satin nickel, whatever), everything you choose will be just fine. Although I do wonder about mixing things like valves and shower heads. Plumbers - any insight?

I agree with rmiriam-- as long as you keep a consistent finish and general style (ie contemporary vs. traditional), I think it's absolutely fine not to match brands and lines across fixtures.

Disclaimer: so keep in mind I am not an expert, and am only going on what I've seen as I've put my shower together the last few weeks.... I am just about to start embarking on my Kerdi adventure, so I can't even attest that everything I've put together will actually allow me to shower! That said...

My experience in buying the shower system has been that the only things function wise that need to be compatible are the valves and the valve trims. But once you connect the device 1/2" or 3/4" pipe, anything goes (the copper is the great equalizer! ie all of them are made to connect to those size pipes). You could use a Grohe rainhead with a Jado thermostatic valve/trim with a Kohler volume control with a Graff handheld.

I don't think it's a big deal to mix, as long as you make sure they look ok together. We're using Grohe faucets and shower hardware. Restoration Hardware accessories (towel bars, tp holders, etc.). Toto toilet. Kohler tub and sinks (had to make sure to get the right "white" in the toilet to match the Kohler stuff).

Agree with the others, mostly. As long as the same finish is used at more or less the same price point (hence likely quality of finish) and the design harmonizes for you, then to heck with brands. I went with Jaclo for shower valves and and accessories, but Hansgrohe for the sink, Danze for some other acessories (ie glass shelves and soap dish), and brasstech for others. All in satin nickel. Happy as a clam in sand.

The only bathrooms that I've ever installed that have been all one line are those designed by a designer.

Every bath where a homeowner got involved in the design, either from the start, or after looking at the practicality of what the designer designed, became "a little of this and a little of that."

Finish-wise, not everything has to match. But in general it helps visually to clump logical things together in like finishes.

And the finishes should relate together to a certain extent, as well as work with what is immediately around them.

The one thing that drives me buggers is when any "yellow" metal is thrown into the mix. My personal aesthetic makes it difficult for me to mix yellow metal with any other family of finish.

Mongo

Agree with the mixers.... I am using Grohe sink faucet, Kohler toilet, Restoration Hardware mirror, glass shelf and sconces.... Go for it. Also using both polished nickel and chrome (Grohe only comes in Chrome).

Mongo my house would give you a headache :oP I have the yellows and the silvers in the same room.

I don't have any families of anything that are all the same family :) I do have similar finishes for similar items, and I did keep style flowing, (ie no victorian with modern etc) but I do have some mixed finishes as well as similars. For instance, in my kitchen, I have stainless and chrome for the faucets. The knobs are antique pewter and the stove knobs are chrome with a brass accent (Lacanche). Because I have the brass accent on the stove, I also carried it to the lighting which is aluminum and brass in color (yup yellow and silver). It's antique and the color mix flows well in the room.

My powder room sink is not the same brand as the toilet, and the faucets are brass. I did go with brass in the lighting as well since there's not a silver accent to pull in like in the kitchen.

My master is Oil Rubbed Bronze, but the knobs are antique gold (with a black antiquing rubbed over them) so I guess i have bronze and gold in there :) The shower is a different brand than the waterfall faucet for the tub and the faucets on the sinks are also a different brand. The toilet is toto and the tub amarich...the sinks...mexican copper.

In the family bath the faucet/shower is chrome as well as the sink faucet (though I'm thinking of changing that to a fabulous turtle faucet I just saw in a design magazine). The knobs are antique pewter and the towel bars, etc are all brushed silver. So like items are like finishes if that makes sense? The systems are not necessarily the same (most from Pottery Barn, but some from other places).

I see it as having like with like. Don't have a brown toilet with a white tub, etc. And honestly...any contractor who can't handle that isn't worth employing! I fired any plumber who whined about the unusual faucets, vessel sinks, etc. I don't want a putz trying to install a vessel sink of mine if such simple plumbing confuses them.

This "rule" that all the fixtures must utterly match sounds like something from the same etiquette books that think tissue paper belongs in wedding invitations. Buy whatever you want, sweetie. It will look fabulous.

And it will look like you bought the best thing for each situation, instead of some pre-assembled Bath-in-a-box that's ubiquitous this year and oh-so-passe the next.

As I understand it, a motley assortment of silver in one's dining room (inherited from all sides and with mismatched monograms to prove it) used to be considered far classier than a unifed set, which any nouveau riche upstart could assemble merely by spending enough money.

Aunt Kate, I love your post! Yes, the all-matching set does seem very "matchy-matchy" to me - like matching your shoes to your handbag. Something I would *never* do.

So far it's looking like Toto for the cast iron tub, wall-mount sink, and toilet (UltraMax). They just happen to have the tub I want, the sink I want, and the toilet I want - pure coincidence !

As for the fixtures - I really want that Grohe Movario hand shower, which is a generic enough style that I think I can mix it with anything - it doesn't even *have* a family of other fixtures (and I'm sure I wouldn't like them - I want a little more traditional look overall - I'm choosing the Movario for function more than form).

If I make the rest of the shower fixtures Grohe (Seabury or Geneva), then I can be sure the brushed nickel finish will match. So then it's a question of whether I also get the Grohe sink faucet or something else. And at that point the towel bar, tp holder, etc. will *have* to be something else since I don't like the Grohe ones (and also think they're vastly overpriced).

Alternative would be Kohler Bancroft for the shower fixtures and faucet. Again, would want different accessories since I don't like the Bancroft style ones.

Sorry for the stream-of-consciousness... :-)

I wouldn't mix the shower valve (the part that goes behind the wall) with another manufacturer's trim, otherwise I have no problem with mixing manufacturers or even styles within a manufacturer. I picked first on function, then on looks. While I picked Grohe for the faucets, shower heads and valve trims, I didn't match the shower trims to the faucets. I picked Newport Brass towel bars, robe hooks and TP holder, in a style that blends well with the Ginger light fixtures. I didn't like the Ginger towel bars, etc. that went with the Ginger fixtures. Oh, and I selected Ginger shower baskets.
What ties everything together, and what makes it work, is that the lines are simple and everything is polished chrome, even the cabinet knobs and drawer pulls.
Also, the soap dish is something at least 50 years old that I inherited and the toothbrush holder is a $2.99 Martha Stewart everyday from K-Mart.