Thursday, October 15, 2009

Striking Back: Kiss My Brass

The mother has a penchant for gold. Gold accents. Gold leaf. Polished brass accessories and fixtures. For the most part, I think I must be genetically predisposed to liking them.

A major departure lies ahead in the kitchen though where brushed nickel will be replacing the brass. (The brass does look weird with all that stainless steel in there.) It’s definitely the right choice, too.

But, in the bathroom, we’re not losing our brass shower door enclosure nor the porcelain/brass fixtures on the pedestal sink.

In fact, the new shower fixtures are a nice complement to the new white tub surround. (The old one was an almond/beige color.) And, the handle matches the sink's.



So I get mighty tired of hearing the design “experts” *sarcasm* automatically decry anything gold as “outdated.” And I’ve seen this happen a lot lately. And it has annoyed the hell out of me. (Obviously.)

What they have to understand is that some people like brass finishes. I’m not a huge fan of rubbed bronze but I’ve seen some rooms with faucets in that finish that I thought were quite pretty. Just because it's not what I'd pick, doesn't make it outdated. It’s all a matter of personal taste.

And, there are people like me who loathe shower curtains. I think they are just drapes for germs to hang out on. Not just the ones to catch the water, but also the decorative ones these experts seem so fond of hanging around the tub and allowing to puddle onto the floor. (Do you really want MATERIAL draped day after day on the floor in a bathroom? Not me.)
I nearly blew a vein when the mother wanted to put a black drape up in there. During the bathroom wallpaper stripping, I managed to rid it of the black curtain bar that was in there so I certainly hope we’re past that phase!

I happen to like our "outdated" brass-edged doors and enclosure. And not just for its looks; I find it more sanitary. I can spray foam cleaner on it. I can take the steamer to it. I can spritz it with Lysol. No shower curtain could withstand that for long and still keep looking good. And I happen to like our new fixtures. (Though I’ll like them a lot better when we get whatever replacement parts we need to make them work properly.)

The historic look of brass and the combo of brass and porcelain on the handles will provide a perfect “pop” for the black and white contrast the bathroom will ultimately sport.

Go ahead and think it’s outdated if you want. I don’t care.

So there, HGTV/DIY designers. You can kiss my brass!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess that makes two of us who are outdated! I LOVE your brass bathroom fixtures! You could even say I lust after them, considering I'm stuck with those ugly silver ones in all of my bathrooms. Oh well, maybe someday... :)

sewwhat? said...

I love the look also, I had them in my very luxurious bathroom in my former home. The only problem is, they are tender--the drain covers in my former bathroom lost their luster way before they should have, but maybe it was due to hard water. Good luck with yours, it/they look very elegant.

Victoria said...

I am still toying with the idea of brass in the bathroom were renovating. It costs more... but its so antiqe-ey looking that I cant help but love it...

I always try to take what those designers say with a grain of salt, I mean ... that one female designer with the white strip in her hair makes me nuts. I try to keep things as simple as possible- I watch them install all of these SUPER modern bathrooms into these CB houses and Im thinking... arent these going to be outdated in the next ten years???

I never did get the whole Fad thing- and I guess I never will. Heres to outdated things- because I know it will just come back full circle in another ten years! :)

MonkeyGirl said...

I'm not a fan of brass for my house, but I think they make perfect sense in your environment! In your Victorian styled home they make sense, in a mid-century ranch, may be not so much!

Jayne said...

I'm a big believer in putting in your house what YOU want. It's your house; you should have what you want and like, regardless of what the "experts" say.

Debra said...

I love anything that looks antique. I don't know what kind of fixtures I'm buying for the house yet... decisions, decisions!

NV said...

Thanks for all the support. If I'm going to be outdated, I'm going to be in some fabulous company! :-)