Tips and Help

Our Brass Hardware Finishes

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To complement our reproduction lighting, many of our exclusive House Parts hardware items come in your choice of up to seven brass finishes. Some products have more limited finish choices.

Click for descriptions, maintenance, and other comments:

• Unlacquered Polished Brass
• Lacquered Polished Brass
• Burnished Antique Brass
• Oil-Rubbed Bronze
• Polished Nickel
• Brushed Nickel
• Polished Chrome

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Which finishes are right for my home?

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Most antique lighting and hardware, regardless of era, was built in a choice of finishes, as our exclusive products are today. The "right" finish suits your decor and taste, and the product's location.

See which finishes apply to lighting, and which apply to hardware, and read on for selection tips.

• Look at the vintage hardware in your home. Antique door hardware, switchplates and coverplates give clues to which original finishes or patinas you can match.

• Polished and Brushed Nickel were used in virtually all kitchens and bathrooms until the mid 1930s when Polished Chrome became popular.

• Polished Brass was the Victorian era favorite. It suited the fastidiousness of a time when the middle class was defined as "households with 1-2 servants" who polished the brass, among other things. If fastidiousness and servants don't describe your household, know that Lacquered Polished Brass needs no further polishing.

• Brushed Brass, the standard of the Craftsman era, Old Brass, Burnished Antique Brass, and Oil-Rubbed Bronze resemble the natural patina unlacquered brass acquires over time, as does Antique Copper for old copper-plated brass lighting.

• Bronze Gilt, alone or combined with Polished Nickel, was a popular mid-century lighting finish, as seen in our Mid-Century Modern collection.

• Because of their durability, Nickel, Chrome, and painted finishes like Black Enamel remain traditional outdoor lighting finishes.

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