Hi all! Thanks for coming and checking out my new blog! I am excited to be able to share more in depth that one instagram post won't allow! If you have been following me on my instagram for some time, you all have seen how hard brass hardware has been for me to pick out! The problem is, I have satin warm brass pendants from Savoy House and a polished brass knobbed range! So which brass do you match? Here began my search! Here is a picture of my kitchen so you can get a better idea on what I am talking about!
WHEN ORDERING BRASS, YOU NEED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE DIFFERENT TERMINOLOGY!
-Satin Brass- this means the brass will not be shiny or dull but something in between! I did not order any satin brass! I do have Emtek's satin brass in my front door hardware and its beautiful! It is a lighter tone of brass though! Our whole house has a more warm toned brass.
-Brushed Brass- the brass will have brushed lines in the finish. See the Amazon hardware picture below!
-Antique Brass- This brass is like the Pottery Barn pieces! It has a coating over the top to make it look "aged"! So this will be a darker tone.
-Lacquered Brass- this does nothing but tell you that there is a top coat over the brass so it will not patina with time!
-Unlaquared Brass- this is the opposite. There is not coating and therefore will change with time. You can polish it to restore it back to its original brass color but most people who get unlaquared brass want the patina! We really considered it!
-Aged Brass- lacquered brass that has a tiny tiny bit of a darker tone to it! Just so it doesn't look so much like "polished brass".
-Polished Brass- this is what we all had in the 80s and 90s in our homes! A very shiny mirrored brass that does not change with time! My range has this on the knobs so it can be used in a more modern way! I remember reading Studio McGee advising against polished brass for cabinet hardware since it is not the most updated look!
These knobs are from:
-Amazon
-Pottery Barn
-Rejuvenation
-Top Knobs
-Restoration Hardware
I started out ordering from Franklin Brass from Amazon! They have amazing brass hardware at really affordable prices! I love this one! And they had so many more I loved! But the only problem I had with this particularly was the brass was just not the right color! It is brushed satin brass and feels like solid brass but I am not for sure! I really wanted solid brass. These were $4 / piece at 5 1/16" long.
Next, I ordered a few from Pottery Barn! I ordered the Classic Knob ($9.50), Classic Cup Pull ($14.50), and the Boulevard Knob ($9.50). I really wanted a Boulevard Cup Pull but they were back ordered! What is unique about these is that they are not super shiny and they have this dark rich almost antique tone to them! Which is what I wanted because my lights are almost this tone but we were concerned that the Classic Knob was almost brown. The Boulevard Knob wasn't as dark and if the Boulevard 6" Cup was in stock this might have been an option! In the end, I felt like these needed to be a little brighter to not clash with my brass knobs on my range! But if your looking for a darker tone or can wait for the Boulevard to come back in stock, these are great options!
After another strike out, I decided to look into Rejuvenation. I mean, how could I resist?? I didn't want to make this jump in price but I was finding there wasn't many other options for me. I needed a company where I could see their stock online easily! (The Corona Virus had me shopping online only!) So I ordered the Mission Bin Pull ($17), Mission Drawer Pull in 4" ($17), and Ball Knob (not pictured, backordered, $11). I chose the Laquared Aged Brass in these! It was a toss up and ALMOST did the unlaquared but I just don't have a lot of experience in knowing much about how brass patinas so I went with aged! The pieces are beautiful, of course! In the end, we did decide against them for a couple reasons... I was limited in what sizes I could order because apparently everyone during the virus wanted to renovate their hardware! So I had to order smaller sizes then what we planned and I couldn't afford to double up each drawer! haha! I already needed 70 pieces for my kitchen alone! So when the 4" pieces came, they were just too small. Cue the crying!!
I had Top Knobs in the back of my mind for awhile at this point! I was afraid the tone would be a bit too light. But the quality is top notch for the price! So I decided to give it a go after I saw it in one of the most beautiful kitchens! I ordered the Lynwood Mushroom 1 1/4" Knob ($7.65), 6" Barrington 5" Cup ($9.95), and the Transcend Ascendra 5 1/16" Pull ($12.51). It was an easy decision for me to make only because the color was just not right for my warm lights and they were more satin then I was envisioning. It was a shame because I thought the quality was so good and the color is absolutely beautiful! I would HIGHLY recommend these to anyone looking for brass hardware!
I have had my eye on Restoration Hardware pieces for along time! I remember seeing some at our outlet and holding them saying to my husband, "dang, these are like a piece of art!" They are heavy, shiny, and the tone of brass is just my vibe! But they are even more expensive and no coupon! Fortunately, I was able to get member pricing but still more expensive then my other contenders but I just had to see so I had no second thoughts! I ordered the Aubrey Knob in 1 1/2" ($15 or $11), Gilmore Pull 6" ($14 or $19), Asbury Pull 6" ($17 or $23), Lugarno Pull 6" ($20 or $27), Chatham Knob ($11 or $15), and Duluth Pull 6" ($14 or $19). So when I was opening the box... y'all I want dying! It was like love at first site! I knew when I saw them the tone of brass was perfect! They are not satin but they are not QUITE polished either! But definitely more polished then satin!
A note about a couple pieces: I ordered the large Aubrey knob just for another option. With our cabinets being so big I thought it could be unique to have a larger size knob but I didn't love it! It was too big in my kitchen! I feel like the Asbury pull was sent in the bronze maybe? It is suppose to be the same finish as the others but it certainly is not!
NOTES ON COMPARISON BETWEEN COMPANIES:
-Rejuvenation and RH have a close finish. RH has a bit more of an aged tone and a hair shinier!
-RH were by far the most heavy. Top knobs was number 2! Their pieces have more material per piece than the others. Which could be a pro or a con! Some people don't want super heavy hardware!
FAQ:
I put a question box in my stories last week for questions regarding brass hardware. Here are some of the questions!
-How do you decipher between brass hardware sheens? I found that the terminology from above was very accurate when ordering from these different companies. Even call their customer service lines and ask them if they can send you actual pictures of the hardware you are looking for! Several did for me!
-How to know which size is best for your cabinet? This one is tricky, y'all! One that is a trial and error and every kitchen is so different. I bought 4" hoping for the best and ended up with 6". I do believe a 5"-6" pull/ cup would be good for most average sized drawers. I found 4" to be the best size for average sized cabinet doors. The 6" was pretty tall. There are acceptions to all rules of course, though! Depending on style of hardware, size of door, etc. Something around a 1/ 1/4" knob is also the most standard size. I ordered a 1 1/2" from RH and although it was cool, for an average sized door it was a big large. I also ordered a 1" and it was too small! There are also options to double up on some drawers! We are doubling up on our office desk drawer that is really long! We are putting two knobs to help make the proportion more appropriate.
-Are you suppose to match all the brass in one room? This is the question of the hour! There are so many ways to go about this! This is how we approached the brass dilemma! We picked all of our lights from the same company! That way all the brass around the house was the same color and tone! From there I decided to go with chrome plumbing for a couple reasons. One, I love mixing chrome and brass! But two, it also relieved the amount of items I have to match the brass to! So for example, in our guest bath: We did brass sconces, chrome plumbing, chrome shower trim, brass bath accessories, and brass hardware! So we basically followed this rule for the kitchen, and master bath too! We also did chrome door handles throughout the house with all brass light fixtures!
So, even if you do some mixed metals you will have to still try and match some brass. So the best way to go about it is just look for those key terminology words that will help you understand what kind of brass you are looking at but also, order samples! The brass doesn't all have to be exact! You could even do a contrast of brass such as a polished brass faucet and more of an aged satin brass for your lights!
One last thing to keep in mind about matching brass is sometimes the brass has different tones. In my experience, if the brass item is real brass, the variability of brass coloring is more consistent! but if you order items that are meant to look like brass might have a bit different tone!
-How to decide where you put knobs, pulls, and cups? If you all have followed me for awhile I follow the beat to my own drum. I don't care what the traditional rules are! I think that's more common these days, you know? Like I am totally a wear a black shirt with a brown purse kind of girl if it looks cute! As long as it gooks good, who cares about rules! So same goes here! We actually had some fun and variability with our hardware in the kitchen! I will do another post when our hardware arrives and we get it installed and will go more in depth on options here!
Here are some more beautiful pieces of hardware I loved! Scroll through here or visit my LIKETOKNOWIT! I also have an AMAZON STOREFRONT where I picked more beautiful pieces there! Fell free so ask me anything!