# satin nickel - the new <faux> gold?



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

As I'm sure most regular posters know, I've been completely renovating my new house and changing everything. Virtually every accent piece in this place was gold, and now I've changed out almost everything (mail slot, door knobs, hinges, door stops, faucets, cabinet hardware, etc) from gold to satin nickel.


As far as interior decorating trends, has the 'stainless steel and satin nickel combo' become the new <faux> gold?


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## scorrpio (Aug 14, 2006)

Steel/nickel are neutral, understated colors(as much as gray is a color) that blend well with about any palette and clash with almost noone's tastes. When you 'renovate with a view to sell', neutral-toned fixtures will appeal to a lot more buyers.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Yeah they are! I almost feel they look a little 'colder' than gold / chrome stuff, but after swapping a *ton* of faux gold stuff for satin nickel/brushed steel/stainless steel stuff, I loooove the difference!


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## fierysun (Aug 2, 2007)

I have a home from '79, and I'm slowly changing out the gold and brass to satin nickel.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

have you been changing as much of a variety as I described in my first post? If so, have you noticed that some things (faceplates for outlets/switches specifically, doorbells, etc) are insanely more expensive if a satin nickel finish, compared to comparable ones? For instance, my satin nickel faucet was priced with what the other ones were, as was a lot of the hardware I've installed. But for the faceplates, I paid $9 for a double decora plate! And they were $5.99 for standard outlet plates!!


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## fierysun (Aug 2, 2007)

I'm going with white for the outlets and switches. When we first got into the place, I changed all the almond outlets and switches. Outlet covers were cheap for me.

I'm ripping out most of the cabinetry so, that'll be nickel as well. Just haven't gotten there yet.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Yeah the white ones are insanely cheap ($0.49 I think?), I actually have boxes of them in the garage for the rooms, I'm only doing the satin nickel in the kitchen, bathroom, and living room, not the whole house.


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## shapeshifter (Jan 10, 2007)

I found some ceiling lights that I liked but could only find in bright and shiny brass.

A little 150 grit sandpaper, a can of aluminum colored paint, and a can of clearcoat can do wonders with brass, almond or just about any thing. :laughing:


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

shapeshifter said:


> I found some ceiling lights that I liked but could only find in bright and shiny brass.
> 
> A little 150 grit sandpaper, a can of aluminum colored paint, and a can of clearcoat can do wonders with brass, almond or just about any thing. :laughing:


sometimes yeah, sometimes no, at least as far as I've seen (perhaps there's better silver sprays I haven't tried). I've found that to work for tinier things (ceiling lamp finials, etc), but to look really fake on larger things (my small dorm refrigerator).


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

how big were the ceiling lights? What were ~ dimensions of the largest areas you painted?


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## send_it_all (Apr 30, 2007)

In my opinion, you are seeing the tail end of this trend. I think chrome will make a comeback in the next year or two. I have been using Nothing but satin/brushed nickle for about 4 years....(I'm a gen. contractor specializing in kitchens and bathrooms)...and I am just now seeing a trend toward chrome starting up.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Damn! Well not much I can do I guess, most of my stuff's already swapped out - plus I don't like chrome much now so I probably wouldn't have changed to chrome anyways (I'm sure if it becomes popular again I'll like it more, kinda funny how that works. I hate gold but if this was 20 years ago I'd probably love it lol).


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## funnyguy (Sep 24, 2007)

Those hammered metal spray paints can be an inexpensive fixer of things. I've sprayed some gold picture frames with it & they looked great, you can buff it with steel wool if you don't want the shine. You can use it on metal or wood. Been thinking about using it on some awful ceiling fan fixtures I have until I can change them out.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

funnyguy said:


> Those hammered metal spray paints can be an inexpensive fixer of things. I've sprayed some gold picture frames with it & they looked great, you can buff it with steel wool if you don't want the shine. You can use it on metal or wood. Been thinking about using it on some awful ceiling fan fixtures I have until I can change them out.


:laughing: I'm actually about to do the same, only not the hammered stuff. I just did my test ones yesterday, think I want a higher gloss but the ones I did came out good (they were extras, luckily I had a few around).


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