Brushed Nickel or Bronze - A decorating question....

[Brigitte]

I need to replace some light fixtures, bathroom fixtures, etc. in our house. Currently, most are shiny brass (think early/mid 90's decor), and I will only be replacing things a bit at a time or room by room. I have noticed that almost everything is brushed nickel or bronze now. Which do you think is more timeless? I don't want to replace everything with bronze only to have it look dated 2 years from now.

 

Or, if you have another suggestion, I am open to it.

[KIN]

I wondered the same thing for the same reason! I chose to go with brushed bronze simply because my door knobs and hardware on most of my furniture is brushed bronze. We put up the first light Sunday evening and I love it. I did wonder if I made the right decision! I'll be curious to read the response!

[wapiti]

Some of the darker bronze "rubs off" over time, on things like door and faucet handles, though maybe that depends on the quality?

[Brigitte]

Some of the darker bronze "rubs off" over time, on things like door and faucet handles, though maybe that depends on the quality?

 

That is good to know. I am leaning towards the nickel, since our house can be kind of dark and if shiny stainless comes back, it will blend in. :tongue_smilie:

[bamagirl]

I vote for the bronze...when we bought our current house the brushed nickel fixtures had already been ordered, but I would much prefer the bronze. I just think it would look better with our paint choices (earthtones) and cabinets. I've always said if I get some a money surprise I would redo! It's much more visually appealing to me and looks more expensive.

[KIN]

Some of the darker bronze "rubs off" over time, on things like door and faucet handles, though maybe that depends on the quality?

 

I don't have bronze faucet handles, I have seen that rub off in people's homes. Our door knobs, kitchen hardware, and furniture hardware have not rubbed off at all.

Edited October 20, 2010 by KIN

[Veritaserum]

We have all oil-rubbed bronze. I think it is more classic than brushed nickel. :) ETA: We've been in this home for over four years and nothing has rubbed off. I've never heard of that happenig and I'm not at all worried about it.

[mcconnellboys]

I can't answer this for you, but in looking through my all shiny brass handles, hinges, etc. I keep thinking that changing the handles will still leave all the hinges that don't match.

 

When we changed our bathrooms, we went with stainless fixtures that had just a little shiny brass trim on them to tie them in with all the other brass in the house (while attempting to look more updated with the silver color of stainless being the predominate color).

 

Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. have many styles of fixtures in their catalogs that can be ordered. I don't think you have to go with what you see on the shelf (at least, that's how it worked for us when we needed to change our fixtures).

 

Now, we just changed the hardware on our two outside doors and we went with rubbed bronze. I don't think that it looks too bad for these two doors to have different fixtures when everything inside the house still matches, otherwise. These doors are really removed from most of the other internal fixtures.

 

I tend to think that such things are going to continue to change on a regular basis, so unless you're updating about every 5-7 years, you're not going to be trendy for long....

[Susie in SWVA]

Hi Brigitte - yes, I'm still around and coming back to life!

We went with brushed nickel in our new house and we really like it. I think it has a very classic look to it. Come and see.

 

Susie in SWVA

[mom2a&z]

When we built our house I had purchased stainless for the bath faucets and brass hardware for everything else. Before we installed it, I changed my mind and decided on brushed nickel instead.

 

That was the one time I was glad we were doing all the work on the house ourselves. It was much easier telling my husband that I changed my mind than it would have been to tell a contractor. It was no fun returning all that stuff. :tongue_smilie:

[Penny_P]

Brushed nickel. I think the oil-rubbed bronze, which I love, btw, will be the brass of the future. In other words, I think it will look dated in about 10 years.

[mommyofthree]

Some of the darker bronze "rubs off" over time, on things like door and faucet handles, though maybe that depends on the quality?

 

I have both in my home and the brush nickel still looks great; not so the venetian bronze.

[GWOB]

We live in an old farmhouse. Most of our hinges, door handles, etc. are in an antiqued bronze-like color. We decided to change the light fixture in our dining room. While the old light was a unique fixture, it had brass chains and hardware. We were thinking of purchasing a black iron fixture, but the bronze actually matched. We then replaced the fixture in our living room with a bronze one. Lovely. We recently "freshened" our kitchen. We have the original, way-old-school cabinets, complete with bronze hinges and knobs. We needed to replace the faucet. At first, we considered a brushed nickel faucet (brush is easier to clean), but instead found a lovely bronze faucet. We had a light bulb moment. It has been lovely! No rubbing off at all.

 

So, I think you have to decide which one will fit in with the rest of your decor. The bronze was an easy choice for us because it has an antique look, which goes with our ancient house. The brushed nickel is a little more modern. Is the rest of your house modern, or at least not 100 years old?

[Brilliant]

I can't answer this for you, but in looking through my all shiny brass handles, hinges, etc. I keep thinking that changing the handles will still leave all the hinges that don't match.

 

Yes, this is such a pain! We once had to replace a faucet in a bathroom that had lots of shiny brass in it, not realizing that to match, it needed: faucets, doorknobs, light fixtures, towel racks, tp holder...and maybe other stuff I'm forgetting. It was going to be so expensive that we gave up and decided to buy a two-tone faucet to blend in the new faucet with the old brass fixtures. BUT the sink needed a widespread faucet, and the only two-tone one we could find was almost $300. Needless to say - the sink eventually got a shiny nickel faucet.

[Teachin'Mine]

Styles always change. Go with what you like. :)

 

Generally I like bronze with lighter wood, and the brushed nickle seems to work well with most woods. Buy one item in each finish, and hold it up in the rooms you'll be changing and see which you like best.

[Ellie]

We replaced our brass stuff with brushed nickle for all doorknobs, oiled bronze for light fixtures (ceiling fans w/light, sconces over fireplace, chandeliers in kitchen, dining room, and foyer), and polished nickle (or whatever it is, lol) in the bathrooms. IOW, we have a mixture.

[Brigitte]

So, I think you have to decide which one will fit in with the rest of your decor. The bronze was an easy choice for us because it has an antique look, which goes with our ancient house. The brushed nickel is a little more modern. Is the rest of your house modern, or at least not 100 years old?

 

Our house is definitely NOT a classic farmhouse - it is a contemporary, early 90's duplex in the 'burbs. I am thinking the nickel is the way to go.

[Corraleno]

Brushed nickel. I think the oil-rubbed bronze, which I love, btw, will be the brass of the future. In other words, I think it will look dated in about 10 years.

:iagree:

I think brushed nickel or brushed stainless will last longer and goes with more paint and woodwork colors. Bronze looks great with earth tones, which are the trendy paint colors at the moment, but those things go in cycles and if you change color schemes in the future, a brushed nickel or stainless finish will match everything.

 

When we built our house 6 years ago, I went with travertine floors, light woodwork, painted cabinetry, and brushed nickel or stainless for everything except for the tiny (and easily remodelable) guest bathroom, where I have cherry cabinets & oiled bronze fixtures. I like the look of bronze, but I was worried about having to replace everything once it's no longer the "in" look. I also avoided the acres of dark cherry cabinetry that every show home seemed to have at the time, and now most of the higher-end show homes I see have lighter or painted cabinetry instead of all that dark woodwork.

 

Jackie

[BeckyFL]

I opted for the brushed nickel. This would make a good poll!

[Nestof3]

I only like silver-colored things -- in jewelry and in hinges and door knobs.

[fairytalemama]

So, I think you have to decide which one will fit in with the rest of your decor. The bronze was an easy choice for us because it has an antique look, which goes with our ancient house. The brushed nickel is a little more modern. Is the rest of your house modern, or at least not 100 years old?

 

:iagree: Go bronze if you're have a historic home or are going for a more traditional look. Go nickel if you lean more modern.

[Brigitte]

Hi Brigitte - yes, I'm still around and coming back to life!

We went with brushed nickel in our new house and we really like it. I think it has a very classic look to it. Come and see.

 

Susie in SWVA

 

Susie! I have looked for you at the Farmer's Market, but I haven't seen you. How is the new place?

[Brigitte]

I can't answer this for you, but in looking through my all shiny brass handles, hinges, etc. I keep thinking that changing the handles will still leave all the hinges that don't match.

 

 

 

I hadn't even really thought about door knobs and hinges!:tongue_smilie: All this stems from the fact that we need a new light fixture in our living room and from where is hangs, you can see our dining room chandelier, our foyer light fixture and the ceiling fan that hangs from the loft. And, if you change the foyer and the loft fixtures, you will also have to change the second floor hall fixtures. So, changing one light fixture leads to changing 7! :willy_nilly: And now you tell me we have to change the door knobs and hinges...:svengo:

 

Of course, the kitchen cabinet pulls will need changing since they are brass too and we have an open floor plan. Good thing I don't plan on selling the house anytime soon, so I can take this project piece by piece.