How much do your light fixtures match throughout the house

[Anonymous]

My DH is insisting we need to match every ceiling light fixture in the house. Our bedrooms have brushed nickel ceiling fans and I want to buy gold/brass fixtures for the hallways. He’s saying it all needs to be one tone. What say you?

[Anonymous]

They definitely don’t need to “match” in my opinion but it’s good to be thoughtful and intentional about contrasts. Like if your house has beautiful old moldings and old brass door hardware, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a modern light fixture, but it probably needs to be sort of fabulous and to have something that is vibing with the rest of the house, either color or shape or material or the intentional contrast of all of those things. A “transitional” “Nickel” light from Home Depot would be horrible in that scenario.

[Anonymous]

Ask your husband whether the light fixtures matched in the last 5 friends’/neighbors’ houses he was in. Pretty sure he won’t be able to. Sink fixtures finishes are most noticeable than light fixture finishes and even those don’t need to match.

[Anonymous]

In all my renovation projects rooms that can be seen together should flow. So, you should have all the same door knobs and plates. Which means that if you have brass knobs everywhere, then you can't really do brushed nickel with it.

In bathrooms, you can do it. Bathroom door that is seen from bedroom or hallway has brass on the outside, then, say chrome or brushed nickel or whatever you are using in the bathroom, on the inside. You get the same knob in the different finish.

It's easy to mix black with brass or brushed nickel.

As to your ceiling fan, is the whole thing brushed nickel? Or just some of it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In all my renovation projects rooms that can be seen together should flow. So, you should have all the same door knobs and plates. Which means that if you have brass knobs everywhere, then you can't really do brushed nickel with it.

In bathrooms, you can do it. Bathroom door that is seen from bedroom or hallway has brass on the outside, then, say chrome or brushed nickel or whatever you are using in the bathroom, on the inside. You get the same knob in the different finish.

It's easy to mix black with brass or brushed nickel.

As to your ceiling fan, is the whole thing brushed nickel? Or just some of it?

Just the metal portion is brushed nickel. The blades are brown.

[Anonymous]

This isn’t to say your DH is “right,” but our house has ceiling fans like that and I wanted to do a more traditional, brass vibe throughout and I did change the fans when I changed all the hardware and light fixtures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In all my renovation projects rooms that can be seen together should flow. So, you should have all the same door knobs and plates. Which means that if you have brass knobs everywhere, then you can't really do brushed nickel with it.

In bathrooms, you can do it. Bathroom door that is seen from bedroom or hallway has brass on the outside, then, say chrome or brushed nickel or whatever you are using in the bathroom, on the inside. You get the same knob in the different finish.

It's easy to mix black with brass or brushed nickel.

As to your ceiling fan, is the whole thing brushed nickel? Or just some of it?

Just the metal portion is brushed nickel. The blades are brown.

Just coming back. Since there is so little brushed nickel, I would paint it. Use blue tape to cover the non-nickel edges, then get Buff n Rub in whatever color (they are all metallic tones) you want to do the rest of the house. The only Buff n Rub I haven't had good luck with is the black. It's very grainy until all the other colors. It will end up looking sort of antique since it is hard to completely cover metal without a lot of sanding. I literally have painted entire chandeliers with BnR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t to say your DH is “right,” but our house has ceiling fans like that and I wanted to do a more traditional, brass vibe throughout and I did change the fans when I changed all the hardware and light fixtures.

If you don't want to paint the metal, then yes, you can change them out.

[Anonymous]

You don’t have to be matchy matchup. Just thoughtful.

[Anonymous]

I have an open-plan house with kitchen, dining and living room all in one space. Kitchen has white cabinets with nickel hardware, faucet etc. LR fan is white/gray to echo the walls and floors. However, the light fixtures over the island and DR table are dark bronze. They are pulled together with furniture and other decor being more or less in one style.
Like PPs said, you can combine finishes, but you need to think it through. I think light/dark (gold/aged bronze, gold/black, chrome/black) contrast is easier to look as intentional in most situations. However, silver/gold and black/dark brown finishes together will be much harder to pull off.

I don't think you should paint the ceiling fan. I bought perfectly nice ceiling fans for under $200. Easier to change it out.

[Anonymous]

Mine don't match and it's fine. We also have a mix of door knobs, depending on date of installation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have to be matchy matchup. Just thoughtful.

+1 You can mix it up, just be thoughtful about it. We just redid the lighting for a second home with a mix of brushed gold, matte black, chrome, and natural materials like rattan. Just don't mix things that don't go together within the same room.

So one room has finishes with chrome and matte black. Another brushed gold and rattan. Another brushed gold and matte black. I wouldn't mix say brushed nickel and brushed gold together in the same room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask your husband whether the light fixtures matched in the last 5 friends’/neighbors’ houses he was in. Pretty sure he won’t be able to. Sink fixtures finishes are most noticeable than light fixture finishes and even those don’t need to match.

The memory of 5 friends or neighbors houses are irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Don’t need to match, just compliment.

[Anonymous]

I prefer the same colors or complement. I would not do that.