Matching sink and tub faucets - necessary?

6 years ago

I am remodeling my bathroom and I am searching for faucets. The delimma I have it that when I find a sink faucet I like, I don't like the matching shower faucet very much. We're going for a retro black and white tile look in our bathroom, and the sink faucets I'm gravitating towards are retro early 20th century (Lefroy Brooks - that kind of thing), but the matching shower fixtures always seem too over the top (like something you'd find on a Hollywood set of a 1900 bathroom). Also, I just don't care as much about the shower faucets as the sink faucets, so I'd like to spend my money on getting a more expensive "design-y" sink faucet and then just get a simple Moen shower faucet that's somewhat sympathetic in style but doesn't necessarily match. Both fixtures would be chrome. Has anyone done something similar? Any regrets?

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palimpsest

6 years ago

Here is the issue I encountered when trying to match by a single manufacturer "set".

Here is the sink faucet style I am using in the bathrooms (one widespread, one center set)

The house is 1965 so for better or worse I wanted a faucet that was of the period:

Kohler Taboret:

This is now discontinued but the problem with the tub shower valve was that it was temperature only no volume control. So I found this set that went well with it because of the cylindrical handle, I thought.

So I thought maybe I should use the sink faucet as well: very plain and sleek, but clearly too 2000s for my vanities.

And what would you think the tub filler would look like for these?

1) there is no wall tub filler for the Kohler Taboret, it's a roman bath filler, and since the faucet already tends toward ungainly, the tub filler was awkward looking.

2) so what about this tub filler? It picks up the sweep of the Brizo handles and is very plain. Nice, right? Except that its not Brizo its a Hansgrohe filler

The "matching" Brizo tub filler is this, which is awkwark looking, to me, and too 2000s for the house. So I can see why the OP raised this question. And when I was searching pretty exhaustively for something where I liked every piece I saw it over and over. I liked the faucet, but the valve I didn't. I liked the valve but the tub filler was weird. And there are a lot of ugly shower heads out there. Who wants a trapezoidal shaped shower head with pointy corners? Not me. Theres another brand I picked, Speakman, for a nice solid plain shower head. So one bathroom has all Kohler except the tub filler. (But no volume control in shower) One bathroom has Brizo, Kohler, and Speakman. And the third bathroom has Brizo, Kohler, Speakman and Hansgrohe. And it all coordinates, but it isn't a matching set.

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Comments (8)

Angela Zuill
6 years ago
Ours don't match and I'm pretty sure no one would ever notice. They are both satin finish chrome but different brands. No regrets at all :)
lisadlu16
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Ours don't match either but same finish. Different manufacturer. Looks fine.
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Enduring, really like your setup! My new (1983) house is sort of a contemporary-ish, transitional eclectic something or another. I found a great deal on Hansgrohe lever sink faucets and want something that will jive. There is a Hansgrohe model similar to your tub filler but with levers that I need to stare at some more. Boy IÃ¢ÂÂm a dingbat; once I used your key words Ã¢ÂÂTub FillerÃ¢ÂÂ I got all kinds of hits. Just a little flip of the wordage and Presto! The good news is there are a lot more choices out there than I thought (although not huge). The bad news is that I have never heard of most of the brands. For example: La Torre has some real nice looking stuff at a reasonable price. The few reviews were all good on the product itself but bad that it doesnÃ¢ÂÂt come with some sort of rough-in valve thingy that is hard to find (I guess). Next, I came across this wall mount Baril from the fantasy collection that I really like. But who has heard of Baril? Not me! ItÃ¢ÂÂs only $380 and must be too good to be true. However, here is the site and IÃ¢ÂÂm almost convinced to give it a try. Now that I have the right search terms my problem is finding something nice that is not so traditional or overly modern. When I do find something I like it has a name I have never heard of or itÃ¢ÂÂs something wack from China. Here is a link that might be useful: Please look here and tell me what you think This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sun, Jul 13, 14 at 18:49
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palimpsest
6 years ago
My tub/shower fixtures don't match my faucets but they are similar styles and the same finish.

The tub filler in the bath with a tub is not the same manufacturer as either the faucet or the shower fixtures. I think it looks better than the one that actually matched the shower fixtures.
caligirl5
6 years ago
Mine aren't even the same finish, lol
Bunny
6 years ago
Mine match in both brand/model and finish and it really doesn't matter.
mrspete
6 years ago
I think yes, they should match.
Lisa Comeau Houle
6 years ago
I just purchased some for our new addition/bathroom. They don't match, I didn't like the shower controls, but liked the vanity faucet. Then I went home to actually look in my present bathroom (been in the house a year) to see if they match. They don't! So if I didn't even notice in my own bathroom, I don't think anyone will notice in someone else's......

Matching sink and tub faucets - necessary?

palimpsest

Comments (8)

Angela Zuill

lisadlu16

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