Does bathroom hardware have to match?

[lolc]

Specifically, does the sink and the cabinet hardware have to match? (in your opinion,of course)

The sink in my kids bathroom has a chrome faucet. I plan to replace it eventually (it's a pretty basic fixture) but it works and there's nothing wrong with it. The previous owners have chrome hardware on the drawers and cabinets. I'm not a big fan of the handle, and they are chrome (the style of the handles remind me of what should be in a 1950's old fashioned kitchen or something... maybe because they are chrome? I don't know)



A friend of mine said that the hardware "must match." That I can't have a chrome sink and brushed nickel handles, it wouldn't look right. Now, I'd agree if I wanted ORB handles (that the faucet would need to match) but brushed nickel and chrome, I'm not sure. Of course, now that he said that, it's always going to stick with me  (because he is amazing at home decorating in general and I'll openly admit I'm not!) so naturally I wonder what you ladies think.

What say you, H&G?

[heygrey]

i have a mixture of chrome and brushed nickel. granted it wasn't my choice since it's a rental, but i don't think it looks awful. i think having coordinating styles is more important.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't worry about chrome and brushed nickel as I would like you said ORB and chrome.

To most random people in and out of your bathroom, they'd never really notice.

And in some cases I think it's okay to match. My my mom has ORB and shiny brass and it actually looks quite good.

[lys]

Your house - you get to do it your way.
My house has matching chrome fixture and hardware.

[niknik]

When we partially redid our old guest bath, I didn't have the money to get rid of the brass shower enclosure so I replaces all the faucets and towel bars with ORB. It actually looked ok and made it look fairly updated.

[Susie]

I think the faucet and cabinet pulls in a single room should match.

But I am also pretty tolerant of mismatch in the short term if the long term plan is to replace, e.g., the faucet.

ETA:  it bothers me that in our newly redone half bath, everything is brushed nickel except the lever on the new toilet is chrome.  I plan to buy a brushed nickel toilet lever to match when I find a spare 30 seconds in my life.

[ohjessica]

I'm not a matchy person so I would have no problem if the two didn't match.

[magdala]

I bought a house where all the fixtures (door handles, hinges, drawer handles, closet door handles) are satin nickel. I like the matching look.

[TBM]

I think for me it is more about getting the right feel in a space, rather than being obsessed with matching, symmetry, and 'perfection'.  Individual details do make a difference to the big picture, but sometimes the attention to detail means matching and sometimes it doesn't.  In my world, very little 'has to' match. ;p

Our master bath fixtures are brushed nickel and everything else in there is orb, not super dark though.  The orb looked better on the dark cabinets.  It looks like it belongs there, and doesn't stand out.

[Deleted]

I'm team TBM. I think combos can be nice, and I actually think I'd more likely go with a purposeful ORB and nickel combo than a nickel/chrome. Nickel and chrome are so close, but so far apart (warm yellow undertones versus cool blue). Sort of like white and off-white. I have some chome exposed plumbing in our polished nickel bathroom, and it drives me nuts. I plan to fix it as soon as I can get up to Sacramento while the antique plumbing store is open. But I also can't fault anyone else for doing exactly what I've done (live with an interim solution for years) We have ORB/brass mixtures throughout the house, and I like it. I'm planning to do an ORB light fixture in our kitchen, which will have polished nickel hardware.