HOW TO MIX METALS - THE BATHROOM

I get asked quite a bit about mixing metals in a home, whether it is the hardware, light fixtures, faucets, or whatever. If you look at photos of our work you see that we mix metals fearlessly. However, this is a somewhat sophisticated process that deserves a lot of thought - we understand why this is one of the hardest dilemmas you encounter when remodeling/building your bathroom.

First it is important to understand why we mix metal finishes.
1. To give the room balance  2. To create a more "collected" look  3. For a unique and personalized feel (so your bathroom doesn't look like you chose everything from one collection in a hardware store)

For my first "how-to mix metals in your home" I am going to focus on the bathroom...

1st STEP: YOUR FAVORITE - Pick your favorite fixture/faucet/hardware in whatever finish you love.

With this project we were loving the aged brass from Amerock for our hardware. We knew we wanted some brass (not shiny) in the bathroom so we started with the hardware.

2nd STEP: MATCH - Find another element in the room you would like to match or coordinate with what you have already picked.

We chose 3 brass sconces from Pottery Barn that almost matched the hardware. I was glad it wasn't an exact match as the brass sconces were a little more gold than the hardware, but it's important that they are close so when the room is done it doesn't look like you have 4 or 5 metal finishes making the room look chaotic.

3rd STEP: A DIFFERENT FINISH - Pick another finish that compliments (not matches) what you have already chosen. If you have chosen a satin or aged finish then go with a polished - mix finishes as well as metals.

In these two pictures you can see we chose polished chrome for the shower door handle, shower head, and tub filler. We chose polished chrome for 2 reasons - 1) it was the cheapest option 2) it doesn't match brass at all and it was shiny.

When mixing metals and finishes here are some great combos:

Aged Brass + Polished Chrome + Lucite

Oil Rubbed Bronze + Polished Nickel + Aged Brass

Black + Aged Brass + Satin Nickel

Polished Nickel + Aged Brass

Brass + Satin Nickel + Oil Rubbed Bronze

Brass + Satin Nickel + Polished Chrome

Black + Polished Chrome + Lucite

There are so many great combinations! Study pictures of bathrooms you like to get more of a feeling of how you would like to mix metals and finishes.

4th STEP: FINISHING TOUCH - Add at least one more metal/element to tie it all together - preferably a light fixture that will add another dimension to the room, such as crystals, lucite, a linen shade, and a metal.

We added this crystal (lucite) chandelier that has an Oil Rubbed/Aged Brass finish on the metal. This fixture tied it all together perfectly. If we had done an all brass fixture here it would have made the bathroom look too gaudy and gold; if we had done a black fixture it would have been heavy and too much of a focal point and stolen the show (which is not what we wanted). A glass fixture was what we needed.

5th STEP: NO MORE THAN 4 FINISHES, NO LESS THAN 2 -  If you introduce too many finishes it will look too eclectic (think bag lady eclectic) or chaotic. A tailored collected look is what you are going for. 

W+G TIP: When picking out all of your elements of your bathroom think of it like an outfit.

It's not a good idea to wear all gold jewelry or all silver jewelry. It would look cheesy and/or boring. Like this picture, you should mix elements - lucite, ribbon, rose gold, metallic glitter.

DO NOT OVERDO IT or your bathroom will look like this (keeping with the outfit analogy)...

Keep it classy and interesting. You are going for the cool, collected look when mixing metals, so the finished product looks like this...

Mix the warm and cool tones of the bathroom to give the room some balance. All silvers and marbles will feel icy and cold. All golds and travertines or granites will look overdone and gaudy.

And that's "HOW TO" mix your metal finishes in your bathroom!