Polished Brass vs. Unlacquered Brass: Which One Are You?
There are two kinds of people in front of a Residence Supply brass light switch.
There's the person who notices the fingerprint and immediately thinks of it as a smudge that needs to be wiped away.
Then there's the other person who notices the fingerprint and leaves it there, almost proud to finally see evidence of interaction show up.
The distinction isn't too crazy unless both people occupy the same space. In which case, may I recommend our Stone Switch Plates to keep the peace? However, if you are down for a little identity war on your home turf, consider these distinctions as more foundational to the kind of person you are and a lot less like a surface-level argument about your sense of taste, or lack thereof. With the latest release of our polished brass and unlacquered brass dimmers and switches, each variation happens to complement one of two arrangements over time: one that asks to be kept as it was, and the other that asks your help in changing.
Polished brass is definitely for a certain personality type. They probably steam their sheets after making their bed. Their skincare routine is exactly 6.5 steps. They rarely deviate from their schedule. If you don't grab a coaster for your glass, they'll lift your drink off the table and put one underneath for you, don't worry. There's a little Patrick Bateman energy here. Everything has its place; there's no sign of aging, and the spaces are immaculately composed. It's picking at low hanging fruit to just caricature this kind of perfection as sterile; for some people, they truly enjoy the challenge of preservation. Control can be beautiful. There is something affirming about resetting the home back to zero after a long day and in preparation for the day to come.
Polished brass is like a reward for this person. There's a freshly poured martini feel to it. It's bright, cold at first touch, and slightly vain. It can capture the light from the lamp across the room or the shimmer of your necklace and reflect it back to you. The polished brass turns your standard toggle switch or dimmer into a pair of Harry Winston's to adorn the walls of your home. Why would you not keep it polished?
Unlacquered brass is on the other side of the spectrum. It's a lot more like the home Marge and Dickey stayed in from The Talented Mr. Ripley. There's natural wood furniture that's been weathered from use. The stones looked like they were there for generations. The place felt seductive because it refused to hide the lives that lived there or the ones that lived there before them. It's the same appeal of a good vintage leather jacket, or a good cast-iron skillet. Unlacquered brass is in that same category of objects that look better as it ages and transforms with repeated use. It'll react to air, moisture, oils from our hands, even the temperature of a space. And that's either a wonderful thing or its appalling to you.
The beauty of brass hardware is in its ability to trigger our honest selves because we can't avoid engaging with it. Most of an interior remains at a polite distance. We look at plaster, stone, art, and lighting. Hardware is different. The hand meets it constantly, and the things we use the most end up becoming the things most altered. There's a beautiful kind of intimacy in that. Maybe that's why unlacquered brass inspires language that's more in line with agape love and devotion among people who have an affinity for it. They look forward to the patina. The new brass is just the beginning of a decade-long adventure to never look the same again.
The polished-brass person probably reads that and wants to gag. Which is fair.
Perfection has its own kind of romance. There's beauty in diligent maintenance, paying attention to the details, restoring something to brilliance; the repetition of care. Care can be repetitive and still feel luxurious. It all comes down to how you want your home to remember you and how you want your personality reflected in your home.
In ten years, the polished brass fixtures may still look exactly the way you bought them.
In ten years, the unlacquered brass fixtures definitely won't.
Whichever of the two outcomes makes you the least anxious tells you which finish to choose.
The materials and architectural details featured throughout this piece reflect the beauty of surfaces that change with time and use, or resist that change from occurring. Residence Supply’s polished brass and unlacquered brass switches and dimmers are now available for preorder. This story is part of Residence Supply’s Power of Imagination campaign
