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Friends of ours are looking at buying old houses, updating them, and reselling them. Naturally, my opinion of their “opportunities” are often sought. Many of these older homes have had work done over the years – likely by different DIY owners. The result of different people making changes, updates, and improvements over the years can be quite a hodgepodge of fixtures, finishes, and even door hardware.

Perhaps it starts with wanting to add a barn door. Then they fall in love with one with black hardware and handle.

Likely no thought was given to the existing hardware in the house – or even the room that the barn door is in.

If the barn door closes off a bathroom, one could take their design cues from the existing metal finish of the bathroom fixtures. What color and finish are the sink facets? In new construction, these faucets would likely match those in the shower (including the shower head), the towel bars, and toilet paper holder.

Meanwhile, in used homes, the old matching shower head was replaced long ago by a new rain shower head or an adjustable shower head. When that happens, there’s a good chance the new fixture doesn’t match the existing one. And over time, towel bars break and need replacing and new ones that are selected that are way cooler than what was there before…You get the picture.

Door hardware, like any design feature, becomes dated over time. Let’s start with the finished color. In the eighties and nineties, there were only 5 or 6 finishes available. They included:

1. Polished Brass

2. Antique Brass

3. Oil Rubbed Bronze

4. Polished Chrome

5. Brushed Chrome

6. Satin Nickel (just entering the marketplace)

Today there are as many as 16 different finishes. In addition to the ones above:

7. Unlacquered (Natural) Brass

8. Satin Brass/Satin Gold

9. Bright Brass/Gold

10. Matte Black

11. Flat Black

12. Polished Nickel

13. Matte White

14. Graphite or Dark Gray

15. Copper or weathered Copper

16. Blackened Steel or Iron

In the 80’s and 90’s, most residential doors had round doorknobs. Then around 2005, door levers (used primarily in commercial construction) became more popular in residential design – adopting a more universal design approach. Early residential levers tended to be more ornate with a swoop or curvature to their profile. Now, thanks to the popularity of the farmhouse style, hardware tends to be simpler and more modern.

Commercial construction for years only used one style and color of grab bars. You know the ones – I call them “brushed blah” because they are so awful and institutional looking.

Fast forward to today and it is refreshing that grab bars for both residential and commercial come in a variety of colors, styles, and finishes.

I once encountered bathroom hardware with a sense of humor. The buildings all had a rustic theme so the grab bars installed in the golf course restrooms were galvanized plumbing pipes. Even the toilet paper holder used the same pipes.

Was this a sense of humor or a protest over installing grab bars in a remote restroom in the middle of a golf course?

Often overlooked – especially in used homes – is the color of the door hinges. Let’s say you want to change out your exterior door handles to ones that have a smart lock. Make sure you take the hinges into account.

Perhaps the most overlooked plumbing fixture is the color of the toilet handle. My contractor told me this was his pet peeve and now I can’t help but notice it everywhere. I was in a brand-new coffee shop the other day using their cool toilet room complete with modern matte black facet, door hardware, hinges, and even matte black grab bars – and a bright chrome toilet handle. So close!