This is a longish post about Matching, so feel free to skip it.

For a male I score very high on those discernment tests where you have to put the swatches in order. I don't know if it's because I can pick them up relatively easily, but subtle mismatches don't bother me all that much.

I am doing a series of rooms that are completely monochromatic except for the floors, which are wood and the ceilings which are white. This is to create "background" because there will be a lot of stuff on the walls and books, but even the drapes and bedding match the walls. (And they are honest to god drapes, too).

Anyway, the bathroom is the same. Kohler Ice Grey fixtures, Kohler Ice Grey tile of two different dimensions, with a darker grey floor and a white ceiling. This room will get wallpaper.

But here are the things that "match"

Kohler cast iron bathtub

Kohler vitreous china toilet, with plastic seat

Konler cast iron undermount sink

Daltile Semi-gloss 4x4 tile in Kohler Ice Grey

Daltile Modern Dimensions 2x4 tile in Kohler Ice Grey

Corian Pearl Gray solid surface vanity top, shelves, custom inset toilet paper holder, custom wastebasket. (This technically is not a "match" but it is very close.

Robert Allen Ultima fabric for shower curtain

Here is the thing about things that match, is that sometimes they don't match, and sometimes they do.

The Kohler Tub and sink are black cast iron underneath. The clay body of the Daltile Semi Gloss and the toilet are white underneath, the clay body of the Daltile Modern Dimensions is brown underneath, and the acrylic toilet seat and the Corian are a solid color all the way through.

The tub and tile seem to match on the surface but it looks darker in place compared to the semigloss tile. But in some lighting it looks lighter because the surface of the tub is more reflective than the tile. The tub and the toilet and the toilet seat seem to match on the surface but sometimes they don't exactly because they are different materials.

The two Daltile lines of tile do not match exactly because one is brown underneath and one is white underneath.

The Corian is not a "match" it is a nice blend, but the recessed toilet paper holder and the shelves appear to match the tile completely. But the sink looks definitely darker directly against the Corian, even though the sink seems to match the tile.

The fabric matches the tile when it is held up vertically but not laid on it horizontally. The fabric matches the grey color in the wallpaper, but when you look at them together from a distance it matches the ground of the wallpaper which is more of a champagne color with a little brown in it.

So you can drive yourself crazy if you want it all to match all the time.

I think it is Mariette Himes Gomez who has actually worked out how to use up to four or five different shades of white on the four walls and ceiling of a white room to make all the walls "match" and present a flat white room instead of one that is slightly different on each surface.

I also remember my mother buying suit separates and the sales person saying that they were having trouble because some of the skirts and pants were not great matches with the jackets and they picked out something that looked like a great match in the store and when she took it to her tailor and saw it in the natural light, they had matched a black jacket to a dark blue skirt. (But it looked better than some of the two blues together in the store lighting).

I guess it's what people are sensitive to. I had a friend who was upset because of tile and tub not "matching" but the obvious (to me) seams in the drywall and the uneven eggshell paint application was something she didn't notice at all.

I also worked with a client who was sensitive to things like that but never noticed that one of the windows in her new build was 4-6 inches off, and then in the next house I did she never noticed that every single window in her house was 8 over 8 except one was 6 over 6. Even though the odd one was not far from two of the correct windows.