Exploring Satin and Polished Sheen: Enhancing Kitchen and Bath Hardware
In recent articles here in our blog, we’ve looked at kitchen and bath fixtures and faucet and sink options. Most of the things we’ve looked at have been specific to kitchens, but when it comes to some of the options regarding finishes and colors of these items, both including the fixtures themselves in the countertops, the same options apply almost equivalently both to kitchens and bathrooms.
Today we’re going to look at the finishes of both those items, the faucets, sinks, and similar type design details and how they also can pair and coordinate with the other hardware details used in the design of a kitchen and bathroom. Particularly, we’re going to show several photographs from the showroom of kitchen and bathroom hardware such as door and drawer pulls.
Here we show four examples below, almost all of these examples, although different types of metals and finish colors, have a matte, brushed or stainless type finish. These types of finishes are relatively dull and do not have a high degree of reflectivity or sheen. In other words they’re not particularly shiny. Clearly, Some people prefer shiny metals, but a shiny polish doesn’t always look better. Sometimes, metals with a very high sheen, luster, or reflectivity look a bit reflective like a mirror.
When you think about Trump Tower and the gaudy overuse of fake gold or gold leaf, you think that it might look a little bit fake. In modern times, we generally associate gold-plated type stuff or fake gold type hardware to look a little bit like artificial or like fake jewelry or fake metal products or materials. Sometimes though, if thoughtfully paired and used in a balanced type of design, shiny metals can actually look good.
In some cases, high sheen hardware with a gloss or shine, also possibly referred to as a high degree of reflectivity, often is a little bit more difficult to keep clean and sometimes look a little bit gaudy. As the common parlance may say today, they have a ‘bling’ type of look. The bling might look particularly good in certain types of designs. In terms of keeping shiny hardware and metals clean, they happen to take and show fingerprints and water spots more than dull materials.
Kitchen and bathroom cabinet door and drawer pulls are like small door knobs, except a door pull is static and stationary and does not have a functional operation to lock, intrinsically. Instead, these types of hardware items are merely elements installed into the doors and cabinet drawers to grab a hold of to open and close the doors and drawers of the bathroom and kitchen vanity and cabinets.
The image below shows a display panel set up with many different types of door pulls. Here you can see some are shiny and some are dull, some are relatively simple and minimalist designed while others are ornate and detailed.
One element that all of the pulls above and the one zoomed-in below have in common is that the all have an integral base plate. The base plate for cabinet doors and drawer pulls are similar to doodle locks in that this base plate is often referred to as a rosette.
Sometimes the dull, non-shiny, non-polished finish is made by taking a fine metal brush over the metal hardware to give it a dull look. The picture below shows a light dull brass finish that is actually called a brushed nickel. Nickel, like the coin, can look a bit like silver, but when polished it can look very bright and shiny whereas when a brush finish is applied, it can look dull and neutral, almost like a matte finish.
The next hardware example below is similar in color but has a little bit more yellow, like gold, but a bit lighter. This particular piece of hardware also has a brushed finish and if you look closely, you can see very tiny brush marks in the surface. Bear in mind that this is a relatively small piece of hardware, only 7/8 of an inch diameter overall. The picture already has a relatively close view, and you have to look even closer to see these marks clearly.
The next piece of hardware is satin chrome, similar to the others, but this has a light silver color as well and in this case, the satin sheen is similar to the brushed hardware, but the brush marks in this case are even harder to see because they’re even smaller.
Dupont Kitchen & Bath Can Help
As dedicated and local DC metropolitan kitchen and bath builders and installers, we pride ourselves on turning your visions into reality. Your kitchen can reflect your unique style and be designed with personalized aesthetics. It can be a process from creative designs to the realization of your dream space. Specializing in kitchen and bath construction, we bring expertise and skills to every project. If you’re contemplating a renovation, upgrade, or modernization in the local market, we’re happy to be your team. Consult with us, and we can start together on a path to redefine and elevate your DC living experience.
You can visit our company website at https://dupontkitchenbathdc.com/
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