Different Whites in the Bathroom?

August 1, 2008 7:04 PM

I want to buy a sink for my bathroom. The sink I want is an American Standard. The toilet I already bought is a Kohler. Both are listed as white, but I can't tell if the whites match. Any one know a good resource for checking this out? I could go to the Depot, but they don't have exactly the sink I'm looking for, so I will probably have to do a internet faith order.
posted by Davidissimo to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

OK, I know I'm not going to be of much help here, but having recently gone through a bathroom remodel I know that Lowe's Web site let's you check whether a given model is in stock at a given store. So if there are Lowe's stores in your area, it might be worth checking their Web site. You might just get lucky and find a neraby store with both the sink and the toilet.

Barring that, you might call customer service for both Kohler and American Standard and ask them. I can't imagine you'd be the first person who's needed to do this.

Good luck!
posted by tomwheeler at 7:33 PM on August 1, 2008

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/bath/

Ask your question here -- someone will have quick answer...
posted by mmf at 9:39 PM on August 1, 2008

I'd guess (without data) that American Standard uses the same white glaze on all its sinks, and the Depot or any big bathroom showroom would have both AS and Kohler in stock for a side by side look.

But in the end, you're going to have to put your toilet next to the sink you buy and decide if you're happy. Order from a place with a good return policy.
posted by Marky at 10:26 PM on August 1, 2008

as long as the sink is not sitting directly on the toilet, it will take a ridiculously discerning eye to see a difference in the whites. I wouldn't sweat it.
posted by killy willy at 10:38 PM on August 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

seconding killy willy -- chances are they will be pretty close in the first place. i just went into my bathroom to see if i could tell a difference between my sink and toilet (AS toilet, unknown sink brand), but i couldn't. there are a lot of lighting variables that might affect how "white" things appear -- lights (natural/incandescent/flourescent) shining directly on the object, how shadows are cast on the object, reflections of different paint colors on the object, etc -- any of these things may change cause slight variations in the appearance of each object no matter how close they match. unless they are indeed on top of one another, these variables are going to, um, vary for each object and they will end up looking slightly different anyways.
posted by puritycontrol at 7:06 AM on August 2, 2008

I remodeled my bathroom all in white last year, with fixtures and tile sourced from multiple manufacturers. Tub is American Standard, sink and toilet are Toto, wall tile is Dal, the floor and chair rail are some French import.

I worried in advance that the whites wouldn't match, but in the end the effect is fine. Yeah, they don't match exactly but it's not something most people would notice.

What bothers me much, much more is that all the metals in the room don't match! The hardware on the toilet is chrome because that's the only option from Toto, the sink set and towel bars are nickel, the tub hardware is brushed nickel, and the shower set is chrome. After a year, this still drives me nuts.

So I suggest you spend more energy on matching your hardware!
posted by Squeak Attack at 7:39 AM on August 2, 2008