Oh, I forgot to mention that our trim and doors are white.

I love that ORB look but avoided it not because it was trendy but because I kept reading (in the kitchen forum) complaint after complaint that the ORB finish wears off. I ended up using brush nickel everywhere except our new master bath. I compromised with a worn nickle in there and guess what? Yup, the finish keeps wearing off! I had to buy back up handles to replace them as it happens. grrrr....So I say, go brush nickel, it's timeless and the finish won't wear. BTW, I love the way silvers look with your colors, much better actually than the ORB.

I think with your more springlike/cool colors, I'd use brushed nickle.

We have ORB faucet and "antique copper" hardware in our kitchen, which I love, but I have off-white cabinets and trim and medium grayed-green walls. My pulls are from Anne at Home, which has an interesting variety of metal finishes.

Not a very good pic of mine:

Not all ORB finishes wear off. Well, not all ORB-looking finishes wear off. I had the choice of two ORB door handles, for instance.... One was a true ORB that would wear off (which some people like.... the vintage/worn look of) .... and the other was a faux ORB finish that does not wear off.

So, I have ORB in my home. I have liked the look for many years. To me, ORB looks like old, used hardware. Since that is something I appreciate, I expect to like it for many more years. I surely hope it doesn't go out of style any time soon! :) It's hard to tell if the "trend" is temporary... It also depends regionally what color is popular. You might ask some realtors locally.

Why worry about it being trendy, if you like it that is what is important. Knobs are easily replaced.

Why worry about it being trendy, if you like it that is what is important. Knobs are easily replaced.

I research every project we do extensively. I can't tell you the countless times I read complaints in the kitchen forum about how the finish on the ORB fixtures and hardware wears off. Here are two newer threads that talk about the issues with ORB.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0518382018690.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen thread about ORB

Reading with interest as I'm about to make the same decision. I'm using similar paint colors as you and am leaning toward the brushed nickel. :)

Don't worry about ,what is most important is that you like them.

Here is a link that might be useful: venue

Our exterior door and window hardware is solid brass with an oil rubbed bronze finish. In 3.5 years time there is really only a blush of the underlying brass showing where the handle is touched repeatedly. That's as it should be.

We used Avante (solid brass) ORB hardware for the majority of the kitchen cabinets. After 3.5 years of use looks as good as the day installed.

Honestly, the most enduring finish is brass - not dated at all, not and"80's thing", but a classic. Probably the most classic hardware finish besides iron, which I am guessing has been around a bit longer.

So, given that, get what you like. Things go in cycles, and no matter what you pick, sometime in the next 20 years it will be 'dated'.

I selected ORB for my kitchen, and as it turned out I got a cheapy orb for the handles and they do not show ANY kind of wear at all. I have had them in place for about 2 years(or is it 3?( and I am still enjoying them. I should stress that we are not gentle people and we do not baby things in the house:)so that is saying that it is most durable.
I like the warmth of the look. I agree that the hardware is relatively inexpensive to replace - but I also don't see them looking dated anytime too soon. Things do definitely go in cycles as we have all noted that brass is kind of coming back in. I wholeheartedly encourage you to get what you like, and you will really enjoy it.

Between our house and office I have a combination of ORB, brass and brushed nickel. Of all, I prefer the brushed nickel. It has a clean, softer look. To me the ORB has a more masculine look whereas the brass and brushed nickel is more neutral. The ORB shows dust on light fixtures and "stuff" if used as a kitchen hardware. But go with what you like. You'll likely end up changing some of it over time anyway as styles and preferences change.

lolauren, where do you find the permanent ORB door levers? All ORB door levers I have found are living finish (rubs off), unless I cough up more than $200 per lever! I would have preferred to put ORB on my door levers, but for that reason alone I'm now considering either brushed nickel or matte black.

We used brushed nickel on all cabinet pulls and plumbing fixtures and replaced all of our shiny brass door hinges and knobs with ORB. Light fixtures are a mix of nickel and ORB. I like the combination, and the ORB makes our builder grade white interior doors look sharp....so much better than the brass. Trendy or not, I just think it looks much, much better, and you don't see dirt or fingerprints. We have cool colors throughout.

I am in the process of building a beach house and could use some advice on ORB vs Satin nickel. Everything will be white (doors, trim,walls) with medium red oak stained floors. ORB for the doors? and satin nickel fixtures? Using white on the Andersen windows. I am melting down over all the decisions to make.

It really depends on the look you like. I used satin nickel in a bath redo, but I would never do it again. Too hard to keep clean, water spots, you have to be careful of what cleaners to use and lots of the pieces (it's high end stuff) in the shower are plastic satin nickel look alike - impossible to remove stains from. I find orb too trendy (personally) and worry that it might soon be like the gold fixtures of yesteryear.

I'd stick with chrome. It's timeless, beautiful and pretty much bomb proof.

I like the orb we chose for our door hardware several years ago. I did use chrome for all bathroom fixtures except the powder room. It looks fine.

Oops, I was focused on fixtures not hardware. I do think orb looks good with white doors :-)

I posted a reply above in 2011---Since this thread has been resurrected, I can say that my orb hardware on my kitchen cabinets ( I used the term cheap because I had shopped around and they were really inexpensive) are still looking wonderful.

We just purchased a home with ORB hardware throughout entire house. I want to change all the hardware except leave the door levers & door hinges in the ORB. will this look OK? TIA.

Correction. I'm going to use Polished Chrome for all fixtures, Knobs, etc.