I don't like shiny brass unless it's on a musical instrument. My circa 1990's house has it EVERYWHERE. Imagine my husband's surprise when I bought a bunch of shiny brass knobs and cup pulls from my local hardware store. They had filled a huge bathtub with all their discontinued knobs. This thing was almost overflowing. But the price was 2 knobs/pulls for a buck. So I did it. I was searching for a looooong time. I didn't dare check the clock, but several people came by and offered to help, So, my plan was to get solid brass, remove the lacquer and age/darken them. I've found the instructions online. Admittedly, I don't know if all the pieces I bought are solid. So, it's one great big experiment, we'll see how it turns out. I told my husband, if the color doesn't quite turn out, I'll just spray paint them with ORB spray paint and save up for the really good stuff. carrie_eileen I'm so disappointed to hear about Restoration Hardware and their lack of hardware. The store near me closed a little over a year ago. When I got their re-vamped catalog, I assumed it was the furniture and decor style they were changing and nothing else. I didn't realize they were changing everything.

You can definitely mix finishes and I agree that the antique brass would go with your granite, floors and sink. Go for it. Your kitchen will be unique. I like the look of antique brass and have seen some pretty faucets that come with that finish also. My only question is does antique brass have to be polished like regular brass?

Sorry for the late response - emails don't get sent to me for some reason when there are new replied. I had completely forgotten about this post! klcharles Your kitchen is exactly what I needed to see! Not only is it beautiful, but exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. My light fixture is a very hard color to explain. It's kind of gold but has silvery undertones? I feel like antique brass may actually end up being close but not close enough and stick out worse than using polished nickel. I really, really love how warm your kitchen feels. Since my island is a warm wood I'm going to go for the PN.. Though I still love antique brass and it's in a few other light fixtures throughout the house. Springoz WOW!! Everything in your kitchen just works so well, I love it. What kind of wood is your island? That light fixture is amazing!!!! Lathyrus One regret I have is that my door knobs are just the cheapest ORB we could find. My hope is to slowly replace them with antique brass knobs. Yours are absolutely beautiful. I did find ONE cabinet knob that looks like true antique brass, unfortunately I felt like some of the other options just didn't match it well. They were more.. Yellow?

I ended up going with Emtek American Classic Mushroom Knobs in French Antique. They are solid brass and have a patina to them. They are well priced and I think will be a good match! All of the Emtek American Classic line comes in French Antique. There is not a ton of choices but enough to pick something. I did not find a pull I loved and did two knobs on the larger draws for a clean look.