Home Improvement Tips: Bright and Shiny Baths Return

Bright is back. After years of matte bathroom fixture finishes, the bright and shiny bathroom fixture has returned in all its gleaming glory. No longer passé, polished chrome denotes a definitive turn for bathrooms -- and using chrome in the bathroom again can create just the right statement for your bath retreat.

Selecting finishes

Choosing the right fixture for your bathroom usually starts with finding the finish that's right for your home. The starting point at selecting a finish is with the style of the fixture, whether that's contemporary or traditional. If you have an old-fashioned claw foot tub, you'd want to select a finish that looks appropriate for a vintage style bath. Accessories are another guiding element in selecting finish. If the lighting and towel bars are brushed nickel, then brushed nickel fixtures make sense. But when it comes to plated chrome finishes, some bathroom styles are natural choices for shiny fixtures.

Design drivers

Bright and shiny finishes are becoming the finish of choice since the introduction of the spa bath. These bathrooms have the feel and appeal of a spa and brightly polished fixtures look terrific here. Likewise, polished fixtures look beautiful in vintage bathrooms and art deco baths. Contemporary bathrooms also are complemented by polished fixtures.

Shiny chrome fixtures have an ageless appeal and this could be the driving factor in its resurgence in popularity. It's also less expensive than bronze, brass, or nickel fixtures. I think there might be another reason, too: it's clean-looking. More and more people are looking for that clean feeling in their baths. What's the drawback to gleaming chrome fixtures? The reason for the appeal - cleaning.