How does this faucet look with these cabinet pulls?

Pulls:

it has become pretty common to mix metals, but usually no more than two. you should be able to find examples on this site to see if you like the effect.

I love mixing metals. I think it adds a ton of interest and keeps things interesting. As long as it’s done artfully and not haphazardly. You can definitely mix more than two metals in one room. You just need to bring in other accents with the same finish to tie it all together.

Take a look at my build ideabook and see how I mixed metals all throughout the house. All my door hardware and hinges are matte black, but I have polished nickel plumbing fixtures and cabinet hardware in some bathrooms and gunmental cabinet hardware in the kitchen along with a mix of polished nickel and copper faucets and black lighting fixtures. Ha....not for the faint of heart! But it all flows together and feels very comfortable.

Your faucet and hardware selections will go together perfectly fine. What color are your cabinets, appliances, and sink/sinks?

We don't know yet what our other colors will be yet. Today was a tour and browse of the design center. Tomorrow is our first one on one meeting with a designer. I just like to be as prepared as possible. Our current house feels a little haphazard in how and when metals are used: all door handles are silver-ish, but almost all hinges are painted, with the front door and office french doors black. The cabinets are a french country look, but have no hardware at all except the trash can drawer which is stainless, along with the kitchen faucet. The guest bath has ORB faucet, but chrome shower fixtures. Master bath is all ORB. Upstairs bath is all stainless. Stair balusters are dark metal. It was built in 2007, and was mostly a spec build, with lots of "builder grade" or minimally upgraded materials.

The new house we want to be nicer, but it's still not a high-end house. We're going for primarily mid-range materials with maybe a couple of splurges here and there. Gotta pay that Davidson tuition bill for the next four years! And then somewhere else the four years after that!

It’s important to keep your plumbing fixtures consistent within each bathroom (so no ORB faucet with chrome shower fixtures in the same bathroom).

All my bathroom plumbing fixtures are polished nickel except for the powder room (which is a great place to have a little decorating fun and branch out a bit).

When you go to the design center they will help you with all your choices and can guide you in tying it all together. You first have to see what’s available. Then if you dare, you can come back here and post your potential choices and we’ll all drive you crazy with our opinions :)

Oh, I'll definitely be back! It's balancing what we love with the budget that I'm sure is always the hardest part.

I had a great time mixing up handles. I had to, have 37 drawers and cabinets. People always seem to enjoy walking around the kitchen looking at different knobs. There’s fish, frogs, snails, dragonfly’s, lizards, leaves and a few normal pulls that people have in there kitchens. It’s your kitchen enjoy it. Best of luck to you.

I forgot, but do you actually live close to Davidson? I think I mentioned this before but Davidson is such a pretty area.

Enjoy yourself tomorrow. Let us know how it goes.

I did ORB cabinet pulls & pendants in Kitchen with |Brushed nickle facet, all door & window hardware is also ORB, lights in Great room & stairwel are black, along with black stems on our 2 ceiling fans, main bath is brushed nickle, lights, taps & shower. Master ensuite is also brushed nickle for lights, & cabinet pulls, but bath for free standing ( for now) is chrome) as we live on an island off another island, we werent able to find a BNickle roman tub filler b4 plumber was here, so will change that out at a later date. You can go check out my page, under idea books, New build Gabe>>>> https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/107080130/list/new-build-gabe

Mixing metals is fine as long as you repeat each of the metal finishes in the same space at least twice. This means that the color can also be counted as a repetition in the accessories.

It can be very costly to change out all the metals in your home. I find it unnecessary unless you have the budget.

I think kitchens are the best place to mix metals, with perhaps the DR 2nd. I like consistent door knobs throughout the house, and since my own house is 71 years old and quite traditional, it has always had polished solid brass knobs And plated hinges. Many of the hinges had been painted over the years so I’ve replaced them all with new ones, and had all the knobs polished and re-lacquere.

My kitchen has stainless appliances with the exception of the 71 yr old white enamel stove. My faucet is satin nickel/polished brass, cabinet pulls are polished brass, And there is are polished antique copper pots. It works as everything else is pretty neutral.

I have 3 1/2 baths. One has chrome faucets (original door knob is polished brass on hall side, chrome inside), two are polished brass, and the master is polished nickel. I varied the metals in these as they each looked better with a particular finish. I would have replaced the chrome with polished nickel but I did not want to rip out old tile over wire and lathe and replacing in the shower/tub was impossible without doing this,

Mix metals: No.

It's one of the quickest ways to date a house with overkill.

Yes! I love mixing metals, it provides interest!

nidnay... I don't agree with this: It’s important to keep your plumbing fixtures consistent within each bathroom (so no ORB faucet with chrome shower fixtures in the same bathroom).

We had a different shower fixture than faucet in our last bathroom we renovated, it worked because every one thing tied into something else.

Virgil.....

“Mixed metals: no”

That is way too general for my brain. Do you actually mean that every single metal finish in a home (door hardware, cabinet hardware, plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures) should all be the same? And if they are not, that is overkill?

Casamacho......hmmm.....I think then we disagree with one another :)

Pretty bathroom, but I do think it looks disjointed with the different finishes in the shower and the sink. But then, I’m sure some would not like the way I mixed the metals in my kitchen either!

nidnay... totally, different strokes, but there are no rules to it.

IMO the fewer metals you mix the easier it is to get right. I think the choices for the kitchen are great so stick with stainless appliances , and sinks then the black handles will work just fine . As for the door knobs and hinges that will depend on your style so hopefully the designer has some good ideas for that. If you can it might be a good idea to hire your own designer to help with these choices since in my experience the designers in the design centers for new homes have no real interest in anything except getting you to make up your mind. Coming back here to ask more questions is also a good idea. This can really be overwhelming even for someone good at it so that is why I mention getting your own designer.

There comes a point in which there may be a few too many colors in a given space...

Mix metals: No.

It's one of the quickest ways to date a house with overkill.

Sorry Virgil in this case your dating yourself in that it's done all the time. Most of us disagree with you.

Ok Virgil....your pic is an exaggerated example. Without being silly, I would really like you to explain exactly where you draw the line with mixed metals and how that specifically ties in with dating a house.

As far as decor goes, I’d be hard pressed to find a house that had only one metal finish in the entire structure.

When you go to the design center they will help you with all your choices and can guide you in tying it all together.

I truly hope this is the case with the OP....

However, in my experience (I've only built 2 tract houses, so it's possible I had bad luck twice, lol), the design representative was only good at saying, "This looks great! Your home will be beautiful!"

My husband and I were not permitted to see any of the samples in natural light, and of course, with the designer's guidance, we unknowingly selected clashing neutrals. Not cool. :-(

Edited to add:

Sorry Virgil in this case your dating yourself in that it's done all the time.

It's done all the time *now.* Was it done, historically? Are there certain styles that mixed metals? (I'm honestly asking; I have no idea.)

Most of us disagree with you.

Which has nothing to do with whether something is right, wrong, or indifferent. The OP is concerned about cohesiveness. With a tract builder. Mixing metals should be done with care, and most folks probably shouldn't.

That said, I do love your house, CP, with all of its color and mixing of metals. :-) You have an eye for it. It appears OP may not, and if she is relying on some random chick at the design center of a tract builder, she may end up with a mess.

I’ve built a couple of tract homes and one of them was actually a very good experience. It can go either way. There ARE some gifted individuals who work in some of these design centers....it’s not always all bad. The op is cautious enough, and the fact that she is dissatisfied with her current home (which is a bit of a hodgepodge in the metals department) is a safeguard I believe.

One Devoted Dame......I don’t see that whether or not mixing metals was done historically has any bearing on whether the ops home will look cohesive (or dated) if she chooses to tastefully mix things up a bit. I do not believe we have to religiously bind ourselves to historical architectural purity in order to have a cohesive, tasteful and beautiful home. Historical homes (and historically correct homes) are wonderful, but not everyone has the luxury of owning one or has the finances to custom build the home of their choosing. And MANY live in areas where all that is available (and affordable) are your everyday tract homes. I have lived in those places where it’s completely cost prohibitive to custom build and the only other options were production homes.

One Devoted Dame......I don’t see that whether or not mixing metals was done historically has any bearing on whether the ops home will look cohesive (or dated) if she chooses to tastefully mix things up a bit.

I understand that a lot of folks feel that way, but I can't reconcile the generally accepted notion (here on the forums, anyway), that "timeless = architecturally appropriate" with "today, people mix metals all the time, it's no big deal."

Generally speaking, we look back to architectural styles/norms throughout history, to determine if something is trendy or appropriate for any given house. History can give us important clues.

If cohesiveness is important to someone, then yes, mixing metals certainly can be problematic. It doesn't *have* to be, but the likelihood is higher.

If being "dated" is a concern to someone, then yes, ensuring that the home respectfully nods to historic precedent should be a priority.

In the OP's examples above, of the faucet and pulls, I think the *lines* of each piece are similar, but the finishes are too different (on my screen, the pulls look matte-black rustic; the faucet looks shiny-polished silver) to look "cohesive." Whether they look "good" together is a different question, in my opinion.

Well...we see example after example of postings of architectural facades on this forum where the posters are asking for help. In a great many of these the elevations are a mish-mash of shapes, materials and details.

The sound advice, more often than not, is to simplify: reduce the number of shapes, materials and details to a more harmonius design.

I hope there's some agreement that the greater the number of design elements, the greater the challenge for a strong and enduring design.

This is especially true for first timers as the OP stated. For first timers the number of choices, the interrelationship of the choices, and the pressure and sequence of choices can be overwhelming.

So...simplify and reduce the choices. Less is more.

As for this view being unpopular in this thread, and the thought that mixing lots of design choices is being done frequently today...that's never been a concern of mine.

I offer my design experience and recommendations for whatever value they may have. If it doesn't fit the approaches of some, that's OK.

Others milage may vary. And that's OK.

Less is more. Inside and out.

Follow

following

A couple of original interiors by some guy called LeCorbusier.

La Roche House, Paris (1923-1925) (co-designer Pierre Jeanneret)

Clients I built a custom house for some years ago asked my opinion on their bathroom designs. They wanted identical fixtures and fittings in every one. I said it reminded me of freeway rest stops. My remarks were not appreciated. Best to agree with those paying the bills!

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Just working on the plumbing list for our latest with eight baths. Sure would be easy to keep 'em all the same!

OMG! The mix vs match thread is still alive and it's back...

All you mixers line up over there !

Thanks Worthy for the pics of Mr. Corbusier's work. Must have been before The White Period.

Sometimes the choices are limited and you have to improvise. I am using polished chrome Hansgrohe plumbing fixtures in a bathroom remodel. I like the product and used it in the master bath remodel. In the master bath, I added polished chrome grab bars by Moen for safety. I didn't really notice until much later that the Hansgrohe chrome and the Moen chrome are different. Moen's chrome is warmer than Hansgrohe's "starlight" chrome. My family was OK with it, but I don't want to do that again; and if I was a professional designer, I definitely would not do that to a client. Problem is Hansgrohe does not have grab bars available in the US. My solution is to switch metals. I am planning on going black on grab bars, towel racks, drawer pulls and vanity light fixture. It will work and the black will make grab bars look a little less institutional.

The thing about the art of design is it's always pushing the envelope, as it should.