Please help with bathroom finishes dilemma!

last month

last modified: last month

Ok, will set the scene first and then go to the dilemma.

The dominant finish throughout the bathroom is polished nickel (sink faucets, tub filler, shower fixtures). We will be mixing metals as we don't love polished nickel against our walnut vanity. The plan is to use a gold/bronze tone for the cabinet hardware and the lighting, with a bit of matte black in the mirror (may have some black in the chandelier over the tub and possible door hardware which is currently ORB like the rest of the house).

Inspiration photo:

This will be the color of our vanity and Honey Bronze hardware from Top Knobs (ignore that door panel)

For lighting and towel rings, we are going with Kohler Purist as I believe (from various Houzz discussions) Kohler's Brushed Moderne Brass is pretty close to the Tob Knob Honey Bronze. We are not sure yet whether to do the sconces in polished nickel or Moderne Brass.

Mood board with sconces in Moderne Brass (like the inspiration photo at the top):

Mood board with sconces in polished nickel (so only brass in the bathroom would be the vanity hardware and towel rings, maybe the chandelier that we haven't picked yet):

Aside from the sconce finish decision, my dilemma is the finish for the Amba Sirio 2142 towel warmer. They have only 4 finishes (brushed stainless, polished stainless, stain brass, oil rubbed bronze), none of which quite "match" and I really would like to avoid adding yet another metal to the mix.

Here is our layout (the tub will be kitty-cornered and not up against the window). The towel warmer is next to the shower door.

Amba brushed stainless against Brizo polished nickel (tone is close):

Amba polished stainless against Brizo polished nickel (much cooler in tone)

The next two photos are Amba satin brass against Kohler moderne brass:

Amba also has an ORB finish. This would basically match only the current door hardware that runs throughout our house. I imagine such a dark towel warmer would draw the eye more than we would like.

Any advice on which Amba finish to pick? Maybe there's another brand to consider that offers polished nickel or something closer to the moderne brass?

Thanks in advance!

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Patricia Colwell Consulting

last month

last modified: last month

IMO post picas of all the choices here like a mood board but just reading the info it makes my head spin I like simple in bathrooms with timeless fixture finish so that next year when the fad fades you do feel like you need to redo. I pick one finish for all the fixtures always the only thing i sometimes work around is the lighting

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Comments (7)

ngoc_out
Original Author
last month
last modified: last month
Thanks, Patricia. I've edited the post to add some mood boards. We have picked polished nickel for all of our plumbing fixtures. We're adding gold/brass vanity hardware as it looks better against the walnut finish. The Kohler Verdera mirrored medicine cabinets are black like the inspiration photo above. The medicine cabinet also comes in brushed nickel, brushed gold (not the same as the brushed brass) and polished chrome.
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Kate Cowers
last month
Keep all the finishes the same. The polished nickel will look fine against the vanity.
ngoc_out thanked Kate Cowers
ngoc_out
Original Author
last month
Thanks, but we can't do that. Even if we personally like PN against the walnut (which we don't), both the medicine cabinets and the towel warmer do not come in polished nickel.
bsgibbs
last month
Love the satin brass finish for your towel warmer! I personally do not care for chrome or polished chrome fixtures. We recently remodeled our guest bath and used Kohler moderne brass fixtures and grab bars. Our light fixture is wood and polished copper. The track the shower sits in is polished gold. None of these fight with each other, as there is space between each. They don’t sit so closely that it makes it obvious they aren’t perfect matches. At the same time, we replaced our main bath vanity top to walnut with copper sinks. There I had to go with oil rubbed bronze fixtures. All of the gold and brass fixtures did fight with the sinks because they were so close to each other. I think the first mood board you offered, and your primary choice, will look fine. Please don’t shy away from the brass tones simply because some people call it ‘trendy’. Some of us prefer those warm toned fixtures. I don’t ever want to see an all white kitchen or bath that people call ‘classic’ but has become yet another trend.
ngoc_out thanked bsgibbs
ngoc_out
Original Author
last month
Thanks, bsgibbs! I've been researching the Amba satin brass, and some people seem to like it while others have ended up with a weird greenish toned piece (that would be less than ideal - ha!).
chispa
last month
For me, you have one finish too many. All this is personal choice and something that the next owner can easily change.

I would not do mirrors in black or anything else in black. It doesn't matter that your door hardware is darker, that is part of the house and doesn't have to influence the bathroom.

I like having the towels bars/rings in the same finish as the faucet.

When you start doing too many mixes it ends up looking like you found good deals on individual items, but no deals on complete sets, so you just bought what you found.