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Lighting Design Dilemma Kitchens

Mixing Metal fixtures in Kitchen/Dining Area

Steele Construction

4 years ago

I'm building a new mountain contemporary style house and want to do chrome for all the plumbing fixtures, and have found some light fixtures (island, dining) that I like but are polished nickel. The floor plan is very open so the living room chandelier and the entry/foyer lighting will also be visible from certain points. The kitchen sink is built into the island (stainless steel double basin sink), and I want to do a linear chandelier over the island. Will the polished nickel lighting clash with the chrome kitchen faucet? Also, for reference all the door hardware will be matte black, and the cabinet hardware will probably be too (or chrome). Thanks!

Featured Answer

PRO

JAN MOYER

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Chrome and polished nickel are not good friends in a kitchen. Not at all. Satin nickel/stainless is much BETTER friends with both matte black, and the other stainless in the kitchen appliances.

Polished nickel and chrome are simultaneously too close and a "mountain mile" apart. The polished nickel will look green by comparison. I don't see either of the shiny finishes in a mountain contemporary , frankly. Plenty of modern styling exists in both matte black, and stainless faucets and lighting.Count the stainless of your appliances as one finish, add ONE more. It's plenty I assure you.

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Comments (6)

PRO
Sativa McGee Designs
4 years ago
3 metals per space is my max
PRO
Sativa McGee Designs
4 years ago
also stainless and nickel are very close so I would count that as 1 metal.
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I LOVE mixing metals, but when I do, I like to assign "a language" to it. That means: all hardware are one metal, all faucets are another, all lighting is another, etc. I love the pendant you chose, but think it would work much better with mercury glass than brass.
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Btw, the link to the chandelier in your original post does work. If you want to add photos to your comment, follow these steps : -copy the link -start a new comment (or edit an old one) -choose Houzz Photo -choose Houzz url. Paste the link in. You want to be sure you have the complete link; if you do the picture will show in the bottom box. Or if you've saved the picture to an Ideabook you can skip the copy and paste and choose the photo from Ideabooks -click Insert I don't know if it's a Houzz glitch or slight user error but I'm seeing a lot of boxes with links in comments lately. The links don't always work but we can get to it by following the More Info tab. Hope this helps :)
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The large stainless won’t produce much light. The teal glass fixture will distort the colors in the room. Return them both. The first of the two lights you are considering is best. It is visually unobtrusive, does not distort the colors in the room, and is a clean simple style that will stand the test of time. The small amount of brass will not clash with other metals in your room. Alternately, if you want to match your metals, here is a suggestion:
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The two of them are in the same open space. quite close together. The (black one) up above the top of the staircase but before the landing, is the only different one. They can all be seen at once together. It just made more sense to keep the fixtures that are metal in a similar colour. One could use other kinds or colours in the kitchen or family room etc. I maybe wrong but that was my thought process. Thank you..
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
I agree stainless or satin nickel are better choices and I would never do chrome faucets in a kitchen unless you don’t cook or just love polishing chrome. IMO the lighting over a DR table can be the show stopper and then the rest more simple but all in the same metal to keep it simple .
cpartist
4 years ago
I would never do chrome faucets in a kitchen unless you don’t cook or just love polishing chrome.

You really should know what you're talking about before making comments. I have chrome in my kitchen and I never have to polish it. I had chrome in my last kitchen and never had to polish it.

I have chrome faucets in my upstairs bathroom and a polished nickel shower head. Not one person realized the two don't match. In fact my upstairs bath has the chrome, polished nickel and matte black just like you're thinking of doing!
PRO
Steele Construction
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Just to add, the kitchen appliances will be stainless steel gourmet, with a 48" range. I've decided on chrome for the plumbing fixtures since it is less expensive then the other finishes (and we need to reduce costs where ever we can since prices have gone up in just a year's time). I can change the kitchen faucet to a "spot resist stainless" finish (which is what I put in the last house we built, and the kitchen island lighting was 3 pendants in a brushed nickel finish, and that looked fine with the stainless steel appliances and black cabinet pulls). The only place I'm having the dilemma in finishes is the kitchen since the lights I like don't come in a chrome finish. The bathrooms will have chrome plumbing fixtures with vanity lights in chrome, and black cabinet pulls. Also, the door handles/pulls will be black as well. We are also selling this house, and it will most likely be a second home for the buyers.

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