Well I guess I'll be out of style in my new home because we installed ORB in all faucets, cabinet pulls, and doorknobs. It's not out of style. Really what's in style anymore and does it matter if it's just you in the home?

Still used in new builds

You don't need to stick with the ORB in the bath. Tastefully mixing metals is stylish! If you just need shower fixtures, I would use polished chrome. Polished chrome looks great forever (my opinion) and has been around a looooong time.

Back when brass was king, I used a polished brass faucet for the vanity.... everything else in the bath was chrome. It looked great. No, not just in my opinion ;)

I, too love ORB. Kitchen, doors (knobs and hinges) are ORB. But I did not use it in my bathrooms. One is satin nickel the other chrome

ORB out of style? Umm, no. If you don't personally like it, then there is no reason not to change the hardware out to something you like. My house has a mix of metals, including ORB, but I have chrome in one bath and satin nickel in the other 2 baths. I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Thanks everyone! Glad it’s still in style, since I don’t have to worry about resale. I personally have never liked it, so when I saw more people getting chrome or black, I thought orb was going out. No offense whatsoever to anyone who likes it, I know it was (and obviously still is) a very popular finish. My husband loves it. I think my hesitancy with it is that I’ve often decorated with cooler colors and just have no clue what to do with warmer fixtures. Any tips for what colors will look nice with the orb? I was thinking of sticking with mostly more neutral colors, like off-whites, beiges, etc. Maybe blue, green, turquoise, and yellow would work with this color scheme? Thank you for any help!

I think an ORB finish pretty much goes with everything. I suppose how well it goes might depend on the style of the hardware, lights, etc. Are the ORB pieces more traditional, or transitional, or contemporary? Sometimes it's more the style, rather than the metal finish, that can feel dated.

I guess then my green walls with my ORB fixtures would be a no go for you? It actually is good to mix warm and cool. All cool or all warm feels one note.

@amylynn I’m definitely not an expert, but I’d say everything is a traditional style. They're all newer, because I think the previous owner did all the updates ~7 years ago. But I think the style itself is a bit traditional.

Do what you like in your house.

I went with ORB when building, though towards the end of the lengthy process, some folks were saying ORB is Going OUTTA Style. I simply looked at them (sometimes just virtually) and said to myself - I;ve never had this pleasure to date in my life to ENJOY ORB fixtures and such. Don't care if I'm late to that sort of "party". I like it... it is a prominent feature in my home. I see no reason to get rid of something over a trend. (Which may well return, anyway.)

@cpartist, no, I like your green, and I like the gold as well :) In my comment above I was asking if green is one of the colors that would go. I was hoping greens, blues, yellows would work, and neutral off whites. The only colors I am not enthusiastic about using are reds, oranges, and browns. I decorated one of my previous houses with a lot of orange, yellow, and red in the early 2000s and want something different than that.

I was hesitant to open this post for fear that ORB would be shot down. 🙍‍♀️ I am pleasantly surprised!!!

My husband and I are building a new home to look old. We too struggled with what finish of hardware to use. The house is a traditional home that we want to fit into our 1930's neighborhood. I thought that black hardware was too harsh for some of our more traditional elements. I really wanted to use an old world champagne brass for all door hardware. Too expensive to do the whole house!

I finally settled on ORB from Schlage, the same finish that we had in our previous home...just a different style... an oval rosette with an egg knob. In addition to the ORB, we will have chrome and glass knobs in 3 of the bathrooms, including the main bathroom (near to our ORB closet doors). We will have polished chrome bath fixtures, but also touches of champagne gold in sconces, a chandelier, and mirrors.

ORB on all of the bedroom doors with the polished chrome & glass bathroom knobs. Our guest powder room will have an Emtek champagne gold door knob set, champagne sconces, an ORB faucet and dark glass sink over a stained antique piece, and ORB shower fixtures. It's a mixture that I really didn't think about until it was done. I wish I could have splurged and used the champagne gold in the shower and the sink.

Our kitchen cabinet hardware and faucets are also champagne gold. Island lights are an ORB/linen mix. Lighting throughout the house is a mixture of finishes. We shall see how the house turns out.

@nhb22 i think that sounds perfect, and not dated in the least. I think in my house it may look a bit dated because it‘s all orb everything, and also i think the fixtures themselves are traditional so the look just lends itself to being very traditional which may not be my personal style? I think if I could move towards something like what you are doing though, I’d be very happy to have orb in the mix. I need to figure out how to tastefully incorporate some other finishes in. I love chrome, glass, and the champagne gold...and I think together with the orb it makes a very nice mix. Having some dark fixtures mixed in with the light adds depth.

I think maybe you're struggling more with the style of the fixtures than the color. It sounds like you favor a more contemporary look. All of the traditional hardware in your home will set a certain look that can be harder to work around if you like more sleek, chrome, glass look. If it were me, I'd start by ordering the new shower items that you want, in the look you want.

Hopefully, in time you will be able to replace most of the more traditional, ORB items with something that is more you. In the meantime, pretty much any color scheme will work with ORB. Greens, blues, yellows would work fine. My home is predominantly greige and navy with touches of bottle green. My hardware and lights in the main rooms of my home are more of a transitional style in brass and ORB. It all works together nicely.

Good luck on finding what makes you happy and works for your life!

I hope not! It is stunning and needs to keep its place to give different tastes another choice besides brushed nickel. : > }

So much depends on the architectural style of your home and the design of the hardware. I like using oil-rubbed bronze in Craftsman style homes; it suits the look very well.

I remodeled relatively recently and went with ORB with lots of copper mixed.

The bathrooms where the use of ORB is most extensive have a teal blue tile that has lots of color variations in it. Kitchen has a similar bluish tile with an iridescent hue to it.

I don't know if it is warm or cool. The majority of my walls are a fairly warm innocuous cream/off white.

I don't particularly care whether ORB is "in" or "out" because I liked it and it suited my rather eclectic decor.

FWIW, I would think that matte black would have less longevity as I think it is trendier than ORB. Nothing wrong with matte black at all as a choice but I do think in a decade it will define a certain period of design more than ORB will since - at least in my opinion - ORB is more of a neutral choice.