We have a 1993 Colonial style home in Connecticut. We’re currently redoing the 23 year old kitchen.
The previous kitchen was white Thermofoil cabinets, white appliances, brass faucets and lighting fixtures. Waverly wallpaper accent wall. Very 1993. My new look will be high end white with glaze wood cabinets, granite, wood floors, cream-to-tan painted walls.
There’s a three light hanging fixture over the island, a matching 4 light fixture over the eating table, plus a huge 3 tier chandelier in the front hall and a 2 tier chandelier in the dining room that matches the foyer. All brass. Plus a ceiling fan in the adjacent high ceiling family room, and sconces and faucets in the powder room. The metal components of all of these items are bright shiny brass. I was planning to change out all the light fixtures and kitchen faucets from bright shiny brass to darker metal – maybe an oil rubbed bronze look – when I started to look around and realized that all the door knobs and plates are brass, the plumbing lines under the pedestal sink are brass, plus the ceiling-flush light fixtures in the upstairs hall … and it goes on and on.
My question is – I am on board with changing the 4 major lighting fixtures. I would even do the powder room sconces and the faucets in the powder room, and the upstairs hall lights. I really don’t want to do the ceiling fan (the brass portion not all that visible) but if I start with door knobs and plates … where do I stop?
Is it going to look weird to have some dark metal and some bright metal within the whole house? (Yes there are door knobs/plates in the kitchen – 5 doors that can be seen from the kitchen, plus then the front door …)
Taking them off and painting or distressing in some way is not going to happen. If they can’t be left there, the trim guy will change them out.
I have the same vintage brassy house. I have to say, I have changed my kitchen hardware and many, but not all, light fixtures. Door knobs and hinges? Still all brass. I would say update the “big”, high impact things that you are inclined to change and then see what grates on your nerves after that. I am pretty picky, but honestly, door knobs of this era are background noise. Don’t really see them. I did change the knob in the master bath so it matched the new chrome fixtures in there, leaving the bedroom facing size gold so it would match the other 3 doors in the room. You may not have to take every door down and replace it all. Good luck and enjoy your new kitchen.
It’s still very common to have brass door hardware even when the faucets are something else.
Powder room? I’d lean to changing out the sconces in the bathroom, if you are doing faucet and spout too. I probably wouldn’t bother with the plumbing under the sink though. Or you could just leave it as an ode to the 90’s. I’ve kept my down stairs powder room with it’s 60’s fixtures because I actually liked the color scheme - grey and burgundy - unlike the bubblegum pink in the upstairs bath.
I wonder when all that shiny brass is going to come back in fashion?
I always get a kick when clients tell me they want white kitchens because they are timeless. Nope.
We just removed every bit of brass in the in laws home, every single thing, it was a huge job. But we also did popcorn ceilings etc and took of many thicknesses of wallpaper & still chose to leave the front door handle brass, it would have been very expensive to replace and just seemed not a problem in the big picture.
To tag along on this thread, which metal is the best option for timeless classic in a master bath now? Least chance of looking dated in 5-10 years?
We never had brass sink fixtures…but we do have brass trim lights. Luckily…they are brass trim…and not hugely so…I’m talking edges. Doorknobs are still brass.
@somemom nomway to predict. When we did brass,we thought it was timeless.
Sadly I think everything becomes dated so quickly. Right now there seems to be a lot of nickel, either satin or shiny. But that’s been around for a few years, so the trick is to figure out the Next Big Thing. I wish I had that kind of decorating insight!
I’m all in favor of changing out the knobs and everything if you can swing it financially. It has a lot of visual impact even though they are not large items.
I’d start by changing out the lights and faucet in the kitchen, then move to rooms that are visible from the kitchen. I wouldn’t bother with the door handles or plumbing unless they really bother you.
Personally, I like the warmth of brass for certain items. It seems to be making a resurgence after all those years of silver finishes. I’ve seen lots of photos lately on Houzz with mixed metals and I think it’s an interesting look. I’m not a designer so I’m not sure if I can pull it off in our remodel without it looking too disjointed, but I’m going to try.
My trim isn’t white either. It’s my house that was built for me. Don’t care much how “dated” it is unless it’s falling apart. New owners at some point can decide what they want.
But yeah, bright brass may look off next to other metals. It’ll be the rage next week. Maybe you should hang in there. I’d go with travelnut’s advice to change big things by the room and then see what really sticks out to you before changing everything.
It’s amazing what becomes “background noise” after you live with it awhile and what bothers you sometimes other people will never even notice.
I actually think chrome looks great. I fell in love with a tile border that was sea glass and chrome squares, so I used chrome fixtures in the bathroom with that border and I really love the way it looks. Mind you I’m fine with nickel too.
Thanks for all the input. I think I won’t even mention the door knobs and plates, or the plumbing behind the pedestal. It was when I wanted to do the sconces in the powder room and noticed the faucets that I started to panic about it all. I really want new lighting to go with the new cabinets and appliances … since I’m able to get it at a large discount I sort of have carte blanche to do whatever I think will make me happy!
The oil rubbed bronze look is out of style in my area. Even within a region preference for style and colors vary. We did a major remodel two years ago I visited showrooms in middle class suburbs, high end suburbs, and high end stores in the city. They sell what appeals to their clientele. All very different.
We swapped out our oil rubbed bronze for nickel. The exterior doors kept their hardware. Then they looked out of place with the new stuff so we replaced the doors and hardware with nickel the next year.
My designer recommended spending the most money in your entertaining areas.
Unless you plan to stay in the house long term I would look at similar houses on Zillow and their style of decorating and prices and price history. People may want to buy in your area because of great schools regardless of design. Do houses seem to languish on the market because of minimal cosmetic finishes that need to be updated? If you plan to stay in the house, do what you love.
We built 13.5 years ago and have all satin nickel.
I still think it looks great in a contemporary or modern home.
Brass in a traditional home seems like it is fine.
As far as mixing–that is the kind of thing that would bother me.
We never had brass faucets. I would swap those out for either chrome or a brushed nickel finish. If the light fixture in the bathroom is brass backed…I think I would replace that too.
We built our house in 1995. All the bathrooms have chrome faucets, and lights. They actually look fine.
It’s our breakfast room that has the brass. And we have a flyer light with brass trim.
We replaced the (ugly) DR light with an antique brass finish that looks really nice with our walnut furniture.
It used to be that chrome fixtures were ‘out’ and cheesy. Now they are making a comeback in bathrooms with certain design styles. Who would have guessed? Shiny brass still hasn’t made a comeback. Not sure it will. Solid brass/bronze that ages with a patina will be timeless in the right design style
I used all chrome fixtures for bathrooms and kitchen twenty years ago. Replaced one kitchen sink and faucet this year and was still happy with chrome. They have held up remarkably well, other than the one kitchen faucet that was replaced (pitting). I never realized chrome was cheesy!
I do, however, have that disconnect of everything in the bathroom, including the towel bar/hooks and TP holder, toilet lid hinges—everything— all being chrome, but the door knobs and hinges are all brass. I half-heartedly looked into replacing the door knobs inside the bathrooms, but abandoned that mini-project.
Not that you have asked, but I thought I would pass along my disappointment with my sink, so that someone else does not make the same mistake. Wonderful large stainless single bowl…but it was designed w/o any pitch. I am not sure if that is the correct word, but you know how your shower or the tiled area beneath an upstairs washer is slightly pitched to the center so that water drains…well, this relatively expensive Kohler sink is not pitched. The less expensive and smaller Elkay it replaced did not have this issue so I never gave it a thought. Tedious to rinse debris from sink after each meal.
While looking to replace the kitchen sink & faucet, I was amazed at how much kitchen and bath fixtures can cost. I returned to the store where I had purchased everything for four bathrooms and two kitchen sinks twenty years ago, mentioned the brand I had used to the young salesman, and he responded in a snooty tone that those were low-end brands. I tried not to laugh at him as I told him that I had purchased them in that same store twenty years ago.
Our kitchen is stainless steel, aluminum, and walnut. Drawers have no pulls. It never occurred to me to change at the doorknobs in the house to match, in fact, I am not even sure what color they are. They are either brass or chrome. Or maybe a mix. I’d have to look!
