A mixture of metals in kitchens- advice,thoughts?

[LazyD0g]

Upcycling our kitchen and follow a few who have done the same with results I like. I notice they seem to mix metals eg antique brass, stainless steel, black etc. Advice on line seems to be mixed with some saying it adds interest which I can see and others who say no. Is there a way of doing it? I have stainless steel cupboard handles, sink, tap, toaster, oven etc but was considering having antique brass hanging rails( although many items handing on them would be stainless steel), lamps with brass fixings etc.

Should add I’ve got a choice with hanging rails- brushed nickel, antique brass, black.

I tried to go for brushed stainless steel in my newish kitchen. But it's impossible to find everything you want in the same matching finish. I've ended up with a shiny chrome tap on a brushed stainless steel sink, which looks a bit odd. So on that basis I would suggest that as big a range if metals as possible might actually be a very good idea. Because you won't have one or two odd things standing out like a sore thumb.

We did the mixed metals thing, and I found it hard to get my head around while I was planning it! This blog helped www.ninahendrick.com/designing-with-mixed-metals/#google_vignette

We have predominately brushed antique brass as the base colour through the house. In the kitchen we continued with antique brass cabinet hardware, light switches and tap.Some accents of matte stainless steel in the coffee machine and range cooker. And then for the third small accent colour, we've some old iron pendant lights, as these are technically a neutral when mixing metals. So we followed the blog and did a base colour warm, an accent colour cool, and then threw in a neutral. I think it looks really nice. I was trying so hard originally to match the range to the hardware, but glad I didn't get one with brass or gold knobs and handles as I think it probably would have looked too matchy matchy and one toned

That blog is fantastic! Great advice thankyou.

Do you think steel utensils on antique brass hanging rails would work. Our key metal would be steel( handles, tap, sink, oven, dishwasher etc).

I think so, but you'd probably want to throw a few more bits of brass in also in the decor. Eg a brass framed picture or a brass and warm wood based hurricane etc.

It’s funny as just steel everywhere and steel on steel does seem flat now .

We did this more by accident than design, and carried it through the whole house. So in the bathroom we have a mixture of old brass fittings and really good quality stainless steel on the shower stall, iron blacksmith hooks and things on the door so that it is a vague kind of decorator's ratio. 60% brass, 20% different, 10% accent colour.

I agree with you, it looks better than matchy matchy, opens up buying vintage and second hand, and the quality of what you can then have is much higher.

I love that look. Vintage and new, it’s quite Dutch. It’s so much better aesthetically, financially, wastewise, quality too. So warm, natural, interesting and stylish. I’ve got hooked on upcycling accounts! There is one woman I follow who has transformed her rental doing just this and it looks amazing. There are some rules/ thoughts though I think which are good to follow.

I have mixed metals in my kitchen. Brushed stainless steel sink with a brushed brass tap. Cabinet knobs are brass, non integrated appliances (dishwasher and fridge freezer) are also stainless steel. Looks great! I hate matchy matchy.

We're doing up our bathroom in Jan and will be mixing metals again. Just need to decide on gr mix! I'm thinking brushed bronze and either black or nickel could be a vibe...