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.

Antss, thanks for the info. I found a good price on the In-Sink-Erator wave model. The whole thing (tank and faucet) is about the same price as just a new Franke tank. The first time the Franke tank was replaced, the repair guy said they were prone to leaking and to be sure to have a drip pan under the unit. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and our water is really good quality, low in minerals so it doesn't tend to clog things up. Part of the reason I am switching to the In-Sink-Erator is that the tank has a 3 year warranty, while the Franke's is for 1 year. Katy

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!

To me, chrome has a bluish tint to it, and so I avoid it. It would be glaringly obvious to me that the faucet and sink do not match, but I was a professional designer (now retired), and we had extremely picky clients. I would rather see a contrasting color, such as black or gold, but that would depend on what other hardware you have. Right now I have a black faucet in my kitchen in Cathedral (with a black sink), but I am replacing that with a white sink and optic steel faucet. The new air gap will also be optic steel. If you have a lot of color in your kitchen (i.e., not white), then the difference between the sink and faucet will be less obvious, as the chrome will reflect the colors around it. If you have dark countertops, I would not worry about it.