The Three Dominant Finishes
Walk into any bathroom showroom and you will encounter three finishes above all others: chrome, brushed nickel, and brass (in its various forms). Each has genuine strengths, and each has limitations that are worth understanding before you commit to a finish that will define your bathroom for the next decade or more.
Chrome: The Default Choice
Chrome became the dominant bathroom finish in the twentieth century for practical reasons: it is highly resistant to corrosion, easy to clean, and relatively inexpensive to produce. A chrome-plated fixture is made by electroplating a thin layer of chromium over a base metal (usually zinc or brass), which creates a hard, mirror-bright surface that repels water and resists tarnishing.
The limitations of chrome are primarily aesthetic. Its cool, blue-white tone can feel clinical in spaces that are trying to achieve warmth. It shows fingerprints and water spots immediately and conspicuously. And because it is a plating rather than a solid material, it can eventually chip or pit — particularly in areas with aggressive water chemistry or heavy use. When chrome fails, it fails visibly and unattractively.
Brushed Nickel: The Compromise
Brushed nickel emerged as a response to chrome's coldness — it offers a warmer, more muted tone and a textured surface that hides fingerprints and water spots more effectively. Like chrome, it is typically a plating over a base metal, though some higher-end fixtures use solid nickel or nickel alloys.
Brushed nickel is a safe, versatile choice that works well in contemporary and transitional spaces. Its limitation is that it occupies a somewhat neutral aesthetic territory — it is neither as bold as brass nor as crisp as chrome. In spaces that are trying to make a strong design statement, brushed nickel can feel like a missed opportunity.
Brass: The Living Choice
Brass is the oldest of the three finishes and, in many ways, the most complex. Unlike chrome and nickel, which are primarily defined by their surface coating, brass is a material in its own right — an alloy with its own chemistry, its own response to the environment, its own aesthetic trajectory over time.
Polished brass, which was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s, is typically lacquered to maintain its bright gold tone. This version of brass has fallen out of favour because the lacquer eventually fails, leaving an uneven, peeling surface. Unlacquered brass — the version we work with at Northgrove — is a fundamentally different proposition. It develops a natural patina that deepens and enriches over time, creating a finish that becomes more beautiful with age rather than less.
The warmth of brass pairs exceptionally well with natural materials: stone, wood, plaster, linen. It reads as luxurious without being ostentatious. And because it is a solid material rather than a coating, it does not fail in the way that plated finishes do — a scratch is simply a scratch in the metal, which will patina over time and become part of the piece's character.
Making the Decision
The right finish depends on the specific character of your space and your tolerance for maintenance. Chrome is the right choice if you want a finish that requires minimal thought and maintenance, and if the cool, precise aesthetic of chrome suits your design direction. Brushed nickel is the right choice if you want something warmer and more forgiving than chrome but are not ready to commit to the living quality of brass. Unlacquered brass is the right choice if you want hardware that will become a defining feature of your space — something that tells a story and improves with age.
One practical consideration: if you are mixing metals in a space (which is increasingly common in contemporary design), brass pairs beautifully with matte black and with natural stone. It is more challenging to mix with chrome, as the two finishes occupy very different temperature registers on the colour spectrum.