I like continuity, but ours aren't all exactly the same. I stuck with a pallete of silvers/grays/blacks throughout. The light fixtures for most of the house are black, but in the kitchen we used Satin nickel, and most of the bathrooms have chrome. The main floor bathroom, that guests use, has a unique fixture my dd fell in love with and she chose. It's not a big deal to me that it doesn't go with other fixtures in other rooms, but it still fits the overall character and style of our home...It's just a little more fun. I think bathrooms are a good place to go a little wilder, more whimsical, or more dramatic if you want.

Our interior door hardware is antique pewter, as is most of the cabinet hardware throughout the house. The laundry, one bathroom, and part of the kitchen have satin nickel.

All of our faucets are chrome, because to me that's classic and I didn't want to spend more for special finishes we'd have to baby.

If you want to match everything, there is nothing wrong with that.

Our house has lots of different finishes (door hardware, cabinet pulls, lighting, switchplates, hinges, etc...) - we have PN, SN, ORB, wrought iron, flat black, brass, antique brass...

You can match if that's what you like, but don't force yourself. It can be crazy making and there's something to be said for letting your place look grown in place rather than all done at once (which matching tends to do).

Although of course, there's nothing wrong with a house that looks put together, right? Put together doesn't always mean matching from room to room. Each room can have individual character, which different finishes will help do. For example, the finishes I've picked out (all at once) for my house do not match. There is a theme but honestly, the individual fixtures have matching finishes to the room they're in. it's more important that the room itself matches than the whole house matches. It really does depend on the house though.

No, because I do think long term you will want each room to develop it's own individuality. BUT- if you're overwhelmed with all the other decisions on your plate buy those items reasonably, knowing later you will change them out OR mix it up with a couple of your favorite choices and get EVERYTHING you want!!!

You do need continuity, but that doesn't necessarily mean matching everything.

Our first floor is all hand-rubbed brass from Visual Comfort. Those rooms all flow together, and using the same metal finish makes everything seem more spacious.

Upstairs, brass continues into the hallway and MBR. But two rooms--my office and the guest room--have ORB. You see both at once when you look right at the top of the stairs, so I didn't want them to clash with each other. Plus, the metals give the rooms a different feeling. My office is very vintage in style. We had a hammered wrought iron bed and bookcase for the guest room to start with, so I went with a concept that combines dark metals with a crystal and ORB mini-chandelier.

The bathrooms are different metals entirely. Upstairs is nickel, which I will never do again, and downstairs is chrome. I think it's pretty traditional to use different metals in bathrooms.

My point is, you can certainly match everything if you feel like it. Nothing wrong with it at all. You can also mix it up. What I wouldn't do is ignore which rooms flow into each other, use a different finish in every room, or overlook the type of mood you want to set in each room.

Your lighting choices in a new build are one of the first decisions you'll make that cross the line from architecture into decorating, and each of those decisions closes the door to other options. For instance, you can't do an ORB chandelier in a dining room and then later decide you want a full-on traditional George III look.

Whew! So glad to hear this. I am having a bit of sticker shock as some finishes are more expensive than others. I just wasn't prepared for this. I am going to need to rethink my plans.

Thanks you'll!

To me (I will now offend....but it's just my opinion ok) nothing screams builder basic more than one finish throughout a house. We have had it...and gotten rid of it thank god. I am a firm believer in each space having it's own identity, but tat identity needs to flow to the next space in a small way so as not to be shocking. I prefer to get that flow with variations on wall color or accent pieces I can change out, but for lfixtures...I really do like to see variations that fit the use and style of the room.

Kind of like...you wouldn't wear the same jewelry with every single outfit you wear right? The jewels in your house need to compliment the area that wears them :).

I think it also depends on the house. Ours is little, and most of the rooms can be seen from one another. We have what probably amounts to "builders' grade" from 100 years ago---unlacquered brass knobs and plates on every door---except our bathroom, which has chrome plates but the same knobs (dunno if that's original or a later addition). So we're putting back brass plates and a brass knob on the back door so that all the door finishes match. I put ORB on the back door when we first moved in to match the cabinet hardware at the time, and it just didn't work with the space, so I'm glad for the excuse to change it with the new door!

But for lights and hardware---it's all room by room, and even within a room I don't worry about matching as long as it looks unified. Our kitchen will have several different finishes going on----nickel pulls, brass on the windows and doors, chrome faucet, black finish on the lights. We have a similar mix in other rooms that seems to blend. I started swapping out bathroom hardware for nickel a few years ago and never finished, so it's a mix of nickel and chrome right now, and it's nowhere near as noticeable as I thought it would be---only other old house people who pay attention to nickel versus chrome know the difference.

I agree with Igloo. Builder homes have all one finish, but many homes are put together, over time. Do you buy all matching furniture in your rooms, or mix in some antiques or other pieces?

If I ever get around to my remodel, I'll probably do antique brass in the kitchen, probably the same thing in the hall/vintage bath, but some kind of silver or black finishes in the master bath and upstairs bath (more contemporary and masculine) and probably pewter in the laundry room...more rustic.

Giving each space it's own personality makes the home more you. Same thing with cabinets, countertops and backsplashes. Fine to have them match, but I like to mix things up a bit :)

Nothing matches in our house. [grin]

Or rather I should say that you can tell in which decade each room was finished. The original part of the house has mostly that old-brass look, the MBR/BA addition from the late '90's has shiny brass knobs and hinges but chrome bathroom fixtures; and when we had to replace the kitchen light fixture and cab hardware recently, we used satin nickel. Honestly, I never think about it. We do have the same flooring (oak) throughout, which ties it all together. We have the same paint color everywhere too -- boring, I know, but I didn't feel like making decisions at the time and it's a color that matches everything and suits our house.