How to be a pro at mixing hardware finishes

So, you’ve set your mind to give your kitchen a complete makeover and have been saving stunning kitchen ideas for months now. You’ve chosen your kitchen cupboard colours and the flooring but feel a bit stuck when it comes to the hardware finishes and end up asking yourself “should I stick to one-colour finish all around?” or “should I go out of my comfort zone and mix a few different finishes?”

Choosing a single finish does seem easier and everything will be coordinated. But what’s the fun in that? You’re giving your kitchen a complete makeover, you should have fun with it and make it something really special. After all, most of the images you’ve saved so far feature mix and match hardware finishes.

You’ve always been told that gold and silver are like oil and water, they simply don’t mix but you’ve seen decorators do it brilliantly and effortlessly. How could you pull it off? Let’s forget about gold and silver for a second, what about other finishes? Right now, you’re doubting your ability to be able to mix and match metals – don’t worry! There are various tips on how to mix and match hardware finishes like a pro and that’s what I’m going to share with you today!

Choose a dominant metal.

To get a more cohesive and balanced look, I’d recommend choosing a dominant metal tone and add a couple of other finishes as accent tones. Ironmongery Experts, an architectural ironmongery business, wrote an article about mixing finishes and advises to only choose around three metal tones to start with “as too many metals can create visual clutter.”

Think about undertones.

The idea of mixing metals used to be way too out there for many, but you shouldn’t be afraid of mixing warm and cool tones – they can all work together perfectly! As an article on The Kuotes mentions, “Warm metals (like gold, brass, and nickel) read as a rich pop of color and texture when placed with cool metals like silver and chrome.”

If you are looking for an easier combination of tones for your first time, neutral tones are the way to go! Neutral tones, such as iron and black, will complement both cool tones and warm tones, so you don’t have to worry much.

The only thing to be aware of when mixing metals is to not mix two very identical metals. For instance, if you mix satin chrome and polished chrome together it might seem that you bought them by mistake and didn’t see the difference when purchasing.

Separate by height.

As Studio McGee recommends, metals should be separated by height in order to get the best results. This means that all items on a similar plane are all the same. “We use one metal for lighting fixtures and another for cabinet hardware. Or we use the same metal for faucets and another for mirrors.”

Now, you’ve got this! Pick your metals and decorate away!