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Bathrooms
janealexa_gw

matching fixtures in the bathroom?? please help!!

14 years ago

OK...we have 2 bathrooms in our house that I am confused about:

1 bathroom is a guest bath. Because my mother visits us often, it has a pre-fab handicapped shower with chrome fixtures (chrome shower faucet/drain and grab rails). It will have a shower curtain. I already ordered an ORB bronze vanity light fixture - I forgot about the chrome in the shower.

The master bath has a pre-fab steam shower with clear doors and chrome fixtures inside the shower. There are can lights at the vanities. There will be 1 chandelier that I haven't picked out yet.

Here's my dilemma. Throughout the house I have ORB lighting and plumbing fixtures. I already picked out ORB sink fixtures and master tub fixtures for the above bath rooms...I forgot about the chrome in the showers. Do you think I should have chrome fixtures instead?? Should it all match?? Will the ORB vanity light in the guest bath still be ok?? HELP PLEASE! TIA!!

Featured Answer
  • 14 years ago

    It does not need to match. But that's my opinion.

    Some folk are more sensitive to matchy-match finishes than others. If you really feel compelled that you need to have it all match for your own satisfaction, then have at it. But if you're matching it because you think others may think your design choices odd...I encourage you to design for yourself. Not others.

    More opinion:

    Think of things being in groupings. The shower. The vanity above the countertop (faucet, etc). The vanity below the countertop (door/drawer knobs and pulls). And so on.

    Sometimes everything all matchy-match is just wonderful. Sometimes it's overwhelming or monotonous. Too much of the same.

    Too much variety can look haphazard and disconcerting to the eye. There's no flow.

    But there's a sweet spot in between, I think all can be well as long as things somehow relate to one another.

    I always go along the lines of style being one thing, color another, and finish a third. Again, it's usually good to keep them some of those three things related as you go from one grouping to the next.

    A contemporary "some thing" might not look right next to a traditional "other thing", especially if one was a patina'd ORB and the other was polished chrome. All three things are different.

    My master bathroom has to be the least matching of any I've seen. My wife picked out what she wanted, but we grouped things together. She chose ORB sconces, so I painted the mirror in between the sconces to match the color of the ORB. I felt having the mirror the same color as the sconces sort of added visual mass to that grouping. Without the ORB-colored mirror, the sconces might have looked lonely out there on their own. That's one grouping.

    We have a polished nickel faucet on top of the countertop.
    However, below the countertop, the knobs and hinges are brushed pewter. While different, they relate as they're in the same color family and similar in style.

    My wife's countertop make-up mirror? Polished chrome.

    In the shower? Polished Chrome. All by itself, its own grouping.

    All that non-matching stuff, it may sound absolutely gawd-awful, and some might think it is. But my wife is happy with how it looks, and if she's happy, I am too.

    One thing I will say is that in the design and construction phase, you fret over every detail. But after 6 months you'll probably grow blind to the things that kept you awake at night with worry.

    Comments (9)

    • 14 years ago

      Thank you so much for the great advice and for posting your pic. You have a beautiful bathroom!

      Your last sentence in your post is so right! I lose sleep over decisions like this and later I won't even notice!!

      I like your idea about groupings...leaning towards ORB. BUT I've always had chrome in all other places I've lived - seems classic and timeless to me. Not sure if ORB is timeless and does ORB hold up over time like chrome? OK, now I'm confused again:)

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    • 14 years ago

      I'm deliberately doing chrome faucets and orb lighting as I like the variety to give more interest to the room. I'm not a fan of matchy matchy. I'm doing the chrome as it never ages and the orb lighting because I love the look of the color against the SW tranquility. To add to the mix, I'm taking a custom made vanity which was finished in white and painting it aqua with an aged finish. I've picked up some salvage unusual containers etc. to make it even more eclectic so don't worry about having two different finishes. They'll look just fine.

    • 14 years ago

      "BUT I've always had chrome in all other places I've lived - seems classic and timeless to me. Not sure if ORB is timeless and does ORB hold up over time like chrome? "

      Chrome will be around forever. It's a very durable finish, and the nice thing is that one manufacturer's chrome will match another's. Pretty much the same with nickel.

      When you get away from chrome or nickel, things can get a little murky. Brass can differ in brightness. One ORB can be darker than another. One manufacturer's "brushed" might be subtle, another's stronger.

      Regarding chrome verus nickel, chrome reflects more of the blue light spectrum, so it looks "cold". Nickel reflects more of the red spectrum, so it looks "warmer".

      But back to your question, style-wise, or for design durability, or to appeal to the masses, you really can't go wrong with the "white shiny metals" like chrome and nickel.

      But again, don't be afraid to to design for your eye. If you were designing for the masses, every room would be painted beige, all fixtures chrome, and all floors oak.

      enjoy!

    • 14 years ago

      Thanks for the great advice mongoct! I think I get hung up on designing for the masses sometimes! Then I think things have to be the same throughout, varying things (within reason of course) adds interest. Thanks for reminding me to design for ourselves!

    • 14 years ago

      yayagal, that sounds beautiful! You should post a pic when you can!

    • 10 years ago

      We just put in cherry cabinets, ORB knobs and pulls, and ORB light fixtures, however; I purchased a brushed chrome motion sense faucet about two years ago. I'm afraid it will look odd but probably cannot exchange it now although it is still in the box. Would love your advice.

    • 10 years ago

      No need to fret, you're fine.

      ORB knobs/pulls below countertop level.

      ORB lights up high.

      In between you have a chrome faucet that'll be in the same color family as your stainless sink, etc.


    • 7 years ago
      last modified: 7 years ago

      Would like to add to this discussion. Just purchased a beautiful rustic vanity for the hall bath that comes with ORB hardware (or maybe it's another color?). The picture even shows the sink with a chrome faucet (not included) and it looks a little funny to me. But we just had ORB in our old home and it only took a few years for the finish to come off. Plus, ORB is more expensive (and the extra money for the faucet, shower fixtures, towel bars, etc. add up) and this is just the kids bathroom. If we end up going with brushed nickel for faucet, et al., we should be okay?

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