When we were choosing the metal finishes for the room—faucets, lighting, towel rings and bars, toilet paper holders, mirrors and frames—I was all over the map. I knew I wanted to mix a few different metals, but I also wanted to make sure it didn’t look crazy. There were a lot of choices to make, and I learned it’s definitely a delicate balance to achieving the mixed metal look. I’m excited to share a few things I learned along the way.
1. Pick a dominant metal for your space
This will be the finish that is used for the majority of accessories in the room. For us, this was chrome. We worked with Delta Faucet to outfit the bathroom with faucets for the sink and shower, but we also brought in chrome with the towel rings and bars, the shower curtain rod and the toilet paper stand. Chrome is an easy dominant metal because even across different brands, it generally looks the same. Unlike brass, which seems to look different depending on where you get it–this is why we chose it for our supporting metal.
2. Choose a supporting metal
We chose aged brass for our bathroom and brought it in through the hardware on the vanity and the lighting. I love the mix of the shiny chrome and the more aged brass and we used the same combination (with unlaquered brass as our dominant) in our kitchen so it felt natural to bring it in here, too. Like I mentioned above, aged brass is going to look different across different brands (we got our hardware from Rejuvenation and our lighting from Schoolhouse Electric) so it’s best to not put them on the same sight lines in the room. Separated by our dominant metal, chrome, the difference is less detectable.
3. Black always works as an accent
Our mirrors and art frame, and even the knob on our linen cabinet are all black, and it’s the perfect accent. You can absolutely use a matte black as your dominant color. But even if you don’t, I firmly believe every space could use a touch of black. It mixes well with just about every metal finish out there. However, if it isn’t your dominant or supporting metal, it shouldn’t appear as much.
4. Make a mood board or inspiration doc
It helps to gather all your metal finishes in one document, so you can better see what your dominant, supporting and accent metals are. Below, you can clearly see we have the most chrome with brass as our accent (there’s one more wall sconce, too!), and a touch of black as an accent.
1. Wall Sconce | 2. Mirrors | 3. Mask Picture | 4. Sink Faucet | 5. Faucet Handles | 6. Towel Bar | 7. Shower Head | 8. Towel Ring | 9. Toilet Paper Stand | 10. Drawer Knobs | 11. Tub Spout | 12. Shower Valve | 13. Cabinet Pulls
We’re putting the final touches on the bathroom and can’t wait to share the full reveal with you next week!
In the meantime, I gathered a few other excellent examples of mixing metals in the bathroom:
- I love this aged brass, chrome and black bathroom from Amber Interiors.
- This polished nickel and brass combination from Studio McGee is beautifully classic!
- Christina’s Adventures did this farmhouse bathroom in matte black and aged brass.
- Lastly, this bathroom by Mindy Gayer with brass as the dominant, nickel as the supporting and black accents.
Which is your favorite? Do you like to mix metals in your home, too?
Special thanks to Delta Faucet for providing the beautiful faucets for the sink and shower in our bathroom.
Would love to see the bathrooms but could not see pictures on either hp laptop or iphone
You can click on the links to see the bathroom inspiration!
Love the bathroom and mix of metals. I have settled on Calamine to paint the walls and would like to know what sheen you used.
I’m planning on painting our bathroom in a lush dark emerald green because I love the look of lush green with gold. However, our existing fixtures are, silver faucet on the sink and silver shower head. Brushed aluminium light fixture and glass shower door fixtures. We have a white upright washer and dryer. Cream/taupe tiles in the shower. Espresso bathroom cabinets, with a cream & taupe tiled vanity. Our toilet and sink are both white. I can buy a new mirror with a gold frame and even spray paint the light fixture. Buying new a faucet and counter top is too expensive since we plan on moving within the year. Should I stay away from a bold color like dark green?
What was the paint color in the bathroom?
Farrow And Ball Calamine
We are mixing metals in our Cottage Cabin and using antiqued brass and black (and also a little stainless steal in the appliances and, by default, the handle of the SMEG fridge). Fingers crossed but I think it’s going to turn out great!
Sounds beautiful! And we’re getting a Smeg for our cabin too!