Hardware is the finishing touch to your bathroom—it gives the space extra glamour and functionality. Investing in the right pieces is essential if you want your bathroom to look amazing and work as it should. In this guide, we’ll go over how to choose the best bathroom hardware for your home. Ask yourself the following questions before and during your search to ensure you pick out products that suit your style, needs, and budget.
What Is Bathroom Hardware?
Hardware is a broad term that refers to items like faucets, knobs and pulls, shelves, hooks, rings, and more. Essentially, it’s the small touches you add to spruce up or accompany big-ticket items like showers and sinks.
What Kind Do You Need?
First off, what kind of hardware do you need? Are you looking for new knobs for your bathroom cabinets? Or do you need a shelf to house your towels, soap, medicine, and other essentials? If you’re doing a full-blown reno, you’ll need both of those and more. Start your bathroom rehaul journey by creating a list of what you need and where these items will go.
What’s Your Budget?
Naturally, your budget plays a huge role in your search. Bathroom hardware can vary in price from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. Understanding what you can afford is crucial for setting realistic expectations when searching for items. By setting a total price you’re comfortable with, you can narrow down your options and make finding the ideal hardware easier.
What Style Are You Going For?
Bathroom hardware comes in all sorts of styles, from traditional to modern to minimalist. Which style appeals to you? When choosing a style for your hardware, there are a few factors to consider: your bathroom’s style, your overall home’s style, and your personal preferences.
Modern hardware will look out of place in a home with a classic vibe, and vice versa. Whatever you choose should complement elements already present in your home. That said, you should also like what you buy. The best hardware for your bathroom will be in a style that matches both your personal aesthetic and the aesthetic of your abode.
Do You Need To Adjust the Plumbing?
Fortunately, this is only something you need to consider if you’re installing a faucet. When installing a faucet, you first need to disconnect the supply lines, then reconnect them once you’re completely done. To simplify the process and reduce the risk of leaking, most DIYers will measure the length of their current supply lines and buy brand-new ones to go with their hardware.
What Material Would You Like?
Our next tip for choosing the best bathroom hardware for your home is to consider the material. Most hardware is metal, but you can find wood and even crystal hardware as well. If you’re not sure which material is best for your home, check out the pros and cons of each:
Metal
Metal has a sleek, clean look ideal for modern homes; you can also get warmer, weathered metals like wrought iron and brass, which give off rustic appeal. Metal is also extremely durable. Moisture-resistant metals like brass and iron are ideal as they can withstand the damp conditions of your average bathroom and won’t easily rust or corrode. Additionally, metal is typically easy to clean—with how quickly bathrooms get messy, this is a fantastic quality for your hardware to have!
Wood
Wood has a natural, traditional appearance that works great for rustic or craftsman styles. That said, wood hardware isn’t the best choice for bathrooms. Wood absorbs moisture and is an ideal breeding ground for mildew and rot, so wood hardware is unlikely to last long in wet environments like a bathroom.
Crystal
Crystal or glass knobs are shiny and glamorous—perfect if you want a regal feel for your bathroom. Relatively affordable, durable, and easy to clean, they’re a solid choice for bathrooms. They have the added benefit of reflecting light, which can make your bathroom feel bigger and brighter.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to stick to just one material. If you want, you can mix and match! It’s not uncommon for homeowners to use metal pulls for cabinets but wood shelves and hooks, or a mix of different metals, woods, and glass types.
What About Size & Placement?
If you want your hardware to fit properly, this is another factor to consider before you buy. Where do you plan to place your hardware? What size do you need to ensure a proper fit? Many assume that things like knobs, pulls, and shelves are one-size-fits-all, but this isn’t the case.
For knobs and pulls, you need to measure the length of your cabinets and—if replacing old hardware—the distance between drill holes. Measuring the distance between drill holes is also essential for shelves, hooks, and holders unless you want to punch new holes in your wall. If installation is taking place in a newly built room, you should still measure to ensure the hardware you buy is proportional and won’t bump into walls or fixtures.
Is It Functional?
Finally, you’ll want to consider the functionality of the hardware. What are your needs, and does the hardware you’re considering meet them? When it comes to cabinet hardware, pulls tend to be the more ergonomic option, especially for big and heavy doors. However, knobs can be practical for drawers and smaller cabinets. If you’re getting a shelf, how much do you need it to hold? Is the shelf you’re looking at big and sturdy enough to accommodate all your items? For towel bars and hooks, how many towels can they hold? And are they for small hand towels or full body towels?
Always double-check that a piece of hardware will meet your needs so you don’t end up with nonfunctional decor.
If you’re looking for wrought iron bathroom fixtures, you’re in the right place—Paso Robles Ironworks is a blacksmith shop located in Paso Robles, California. We make all our bathroom hardware and other iron accessories from scratch using high-quality materials. You can trust us for durable, functional, and beautiful hardware that will make your bathroom stand out. Shop our cabinet pulls and knobs, holders, bars, hooks, and rings today and customize them with various patinas to suit your style.
