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How to Mix Metal Finishes in the Kitchen

Leave matchy-matchy to the catalogs and let your kitchen's personality shine with a mix of metals for hardware and fixtures

Rachel Grace July 19, 2012

Houzz Contributor

Comment85

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A friend recently came to me heartsick with a design dilemma. She's redoing her kitchen and has fallen in love with oil-rubbed bronze bin pulls; however, she isn't keen on bronze faucets and pendants. Whatever is she supposed to do? I'm here to say that they don't have to match! People tend to get all matchy-matchy when it comes to specifying the appliances, decorative hardware, range hoods, plumbing fixtures and lighting in their kitchens. I believe that variety is the spice of life, and there's nowhere better to get a little spicy than in the kitchen.

A beautiful mixed-metal kitchen could feature copper sconces and pendants, oil-rubbed bronze pulls and hinges, and a faucet and pot filler in polished nickel (nickel is always my go-to finish for plumbing fixtures). What metals would you mix?

O’Hara Interiors

This polished-nickel faucet sparkles next to the oil-rubbed-bronze cabinet hardware.

Witt Construction

I spy three distinct metal finishes in this traditional New York kitchen: copper pendant lights, stainless steel appliances and oil-rubbed-bronze cabinet hardware.

Steven Miller Design Studio, Inc.

Filling a kitchen with contrasting cabinetry finishes is also in vogue. If you like the idea of mixing metals but aren’t sure where to start, consider selecting a different metal to complement each cabinet type. For example, in this kitchen oil-rubbed-bronze knobs and hinges pop against the white cabinetry, while brushed-nickel pulls outfit the walnut island.

Michael Knowles, Architect

In this Seattle kitchen, brushed plumbing fixtures and appliances work superbly with oil-rubbed-bronze decorative hardware and pendants.

Find a kitchen designer who isn’t afraid of mixing metals

Tenney Construction

Combining a warm yellow brass with nickel is one of the bravest metal combinations you can make. Tenney Construction fearlessly and seamlessly combined brass drawer pulls with nickel plumbing and lighting fixtures in this Texas kitchen.

Shannon Ggem Design

The light from the kitchen sink window and bronze sconces is beautifully reflected off polished nickel fixtures here.

It's "opposites" day: Nickel hardware graces the black painted island, while oil-rubbed-bronze drawer pulls stand out on the white cabinetry.

Natalie DiSalvo

Copper and stainless steel can go together like peanut butter and jelly. As you can see, you can pair stainless steel appliances with a copper range hood and countertops.

Do you mix metals? Tell us how (or why not) below!

Comment85

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Comments (85)

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nithya014

I did it!! It looks great and goes do well with the floor too. Plan to change the island lights to copper pendant. So that would make it 3 elements in one metal color.

1 Like November 1, 2018 at 7:15PM

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prismshines

what about the doors in and around the kitchen with the builder grade gold/brass knobs and hinges? Can I leave those and still use my ORB cabinet hardware and pendants and stainless appliances?

1 Like December 5, 2018 at 7:42PM

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