Well, we just ordered all of our fixtures from lightingdirect.com a few days ago. I don't think we're at the decision making exhaustion phase yet, but I don't think we're far off! We have been researching light fixtures for months now, kind of here and there. However, the other day I went onto that website and just chose virtually everything for the entire house in about an hour!

I just decided not to get too worked up about it. So, here was my process. I found a dining room chandalier that I thought both of us would like. I then really liked the matching foyer pendant...so that was done. I then clicked on the rest of that line, and really liked the 3-light bathroom fixtures for the kids bath and half bath. I also really liked the 4-light fixture for each of our vanities in the master bath. All of them an ORB finish. So all of that done!

Our outdoor pendant just outside the front door, its still an ORB finish but doesn't exactly match the indoor foyer pendant (quite a bit darker). It does look similar to the outdoor sconces on either side of the garage door (but not the same family or even manufacturer). The two indoor fans (one in each kid's bedroom) and in the office are all the same. A type of bronze finish. And the fan in our master bedroom and the living room are the same, still an ORB finish but not exactly matching the other fans.

So basically, we do have some things matching, but not all. I think it will turn out fine, but we'll find out in a couple of weeks! This is our first build, and when we start to stress out about things like this...I just think, "Well I like it. You like it. Lets do it...who cares if someone else thinks it doesn't match well or go together?" Good luck!

We chose chrome and crystal fixtures throughout the public areas, so that doesn't really help you out.

If they are similar in color (a dark bronze), you can probably get away with it because they aren't going to be next to each other. It's not like you're trying to do ORB in the foyer, brass in the DR, and chrome in the LR. If you like it, go for it.

I remember our lighting person made a big deal about not mathcing in a bathroom. We had wanted to do a chrome vanity but then liked a ORB chandelier and surface light. Well - she told us it would look bad. She was wrong - we originally did the chrome thing on the chandelier to match. It turns out that chrome seems to look cheap on surface lights and chandeliers - at least to us. We did ORB in a J&J situation with chrome vanities and it looked fine.

Now we are switching the master bath chandelier and surface lights to ORB.

Matching is a bit overrated sometimes is my point. We have common area lights from multiple families.

I love antique brass and originally wanted to get all my lighting and plumbing fixtures in that finish. But then I simply could not find an antique brass kitchen faucet in a style I liked. (Well, I did find one I liked but at a price that would have eaten over 1/4th of my entire plumbing fixture budget leaving me nothing to buy the claw-foot tub I had my heart set on!!!)

So I wound up choosing a lovely ORB faucet for the kitchen at about 1/10th the price of the antique brass one. Then I found some gorgeous ORB/stained glass pendant lights that were regularly $79.99 on sale for just $16.99 each. All of a sudden, my kitchen was more ORB than antique brass so I decided to just go all ORB in there and stick with antique brass in the rest of the house.

I had forgotten though that I had already ordered a ceiling fan for my breakfast nook in antique brass. Didn't remember until the electrician started installing our lights. So I wound up with an ORB light fixture attached to an antique brass ceiling fan in the breakfast nook! And believe it or not, it actually looks fine.

I think the key is to stay within a general "style" and maybe to stick with either warm gold/brown finishes (like antique brass and ORB) or cool silvery finishes like chrome.

Forget about "matching" everything. If you have well-established tastes and you choose items you really truly love, it will all COORDINATE beautifully... and your house will look like a HOME instead of a salesfloor display.

Ditto to everyone that things do not need to match. And I completely agree with David, I love the look of chrome bath fixture but cannot stand chrome light fixtures. I'm ordering ORb fixtures for the baths. Everyone always looks at me like I have 3 heads when I say that.

Thanks for the replies! They were quite helpful--I only wish I were as organized as some of you.

I knew I wouldn't buy the same line for the entire house--I was just wondering about the front, public spaces. I guess I needed "permission" to have different shades of ORB within sight of each other ;-)

And like some of you--in the bathroom, I'll have a mixed bag of finishes. I don't want ORB faucets but will still do ORB lights and ceiling fan, except for maybe the chandelier over the tub--I'd like that to be somehow different. We'll see.

Gopintos--can I hire you to come organize me???

Matching all the same metal finishes is like wearing head-to-toe black, without punching it up, it is -dull-dull-dull. Contrast is a great design principle, use it for interest.