Now that we finally have an accepted offer on our house, we're allowing ourselves to think more about what we're going to do in our new home.
Currently, everything in our house is brushed nickel. Our preference is usually oil rubbed bronze. My H wants everything to match, and that's a battle I'm not going to win. Changing to oil rubbed bronze would be $$$...hinges, handles/door knobs, light fixtures, faucets, etc.
We're planning to live here at least 10-15 years, but hopefully much longer. What would you do? Do you think one has more lasting power/is less dated than the other?
Brushed nickel has far more lasting power. While ORB is still made, is started losing power in the trend department two or three years ago. Unless you live in the Midwest, then it's still going strong. Even with that, though, nickel will see you through.
Brushed nickel has far more lasting power. While ORB is still made, is started losing power in the trend department two or three years ago. Unless you live in the Midwest, then it's still going strong. Even with that, though, nickel will see you through.
We do live in the Midwest! LOL. But we've lived enough other places to realize that we're behind the curve on trends here! (Though the same was true, if not worse, where we were in Dallas!)
My H feels like the nickel is dated. I think he's distracted because the paint colors and stuff in the house are dated, as are many of the fixtures themselves. But my preference would be to just swap out what we don't like & stick with the nickel. I like the ORB now, but fear it'll be the next "80s brass."
Brushed nickel has far more lasting power. While ORB is still made, is started losing power in the trend department two or three years ago. Unless you live in the Midwest, then it's still going strong. Even with that, though, nickel will see you through.
I'm with your husband, I hate mixed finishes and I was probably a little nuts about making sure that they ALL matched.
We changed all doorknobs to handles in one house to ORB and loved it. But we replaced cheap brass, so anything was an upgrade. For some reason, he wasn't bothered by other things not matching at that house!
I prefer for things to match or flow, but can tolerate it for longer than he can. If we changed one thing, he'd want EVERYTHING replaced within months. That's $$$$!
I don't think we have the style of home that would make ORB more resistant to time. I do really like it, but for a long term change, I need to go with what will last longer. I'll stick to trendy paint colors! Those are easier and cheaper to change!
I just changed out all my door knobs this weekend from brass to ORB and had noted to a friend that the number of spots in Home Depot and Lowes for ORB was very small compared to brushed nickel and that it must be going out of style. She said brushed nickel is the new hot look.
I didn't care and stayed with the ORB for my older home. The brushed nickel wouldn't fit in with the direction my house is going. And if I will be out of style in a few years, oh well. I like it
Brass is going out. It became popular about 3 years ago. People picking up on it now will regret it in a year. Polished chrome is definitely something that one has to have a taste for. I like matte black (that's what my kitchen faucet is), but, again, you have to have a taste for it.
ORB is just nms at all. I see it in a lot of $$$ homes with more traditional/old-world decor though. I think you should pick what you like because design is subjective anyways. We do have some different finishes in our house and it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Nov 30, 2015 11:24:17 GMT -5
I'll second what @juno said - you really have to take the style of the house into account. My house has a mix of finishes, including actually aged brass, white porcelain, polished nickel/chrome, ORB, and pewter (which I love immensely, but is exceptionally hard to find.)
IMO, finishes should coordinate within a room (i.e. no shiny brass fixtures with ORB light fixture), but to have every fixture the exact same finish throughout a house takes a house from a homey, customized look to a generic, builder-basic look. Even if nothing else about the house screams builder basic.
Brass is going out. It became popular about 3 years ago. People picking up on it now will regret it in a year.
Eh, I disagree, but I guess we'll see.
I'm putting in plenty of brass lighting and accents in my house right now. Our house was built in 1927 and we have some original brass plumbing fixtures that are amazing. You may be right about brass in more modern, updated settings. But I think for older homes it has staying power.
Thanks for all of the input! I agree that almost all finishes can be perfect in a home, depending on the style of home. Our house was built in 2000. Unfortunately, there's no period or style...it's just a big, fairly boring house. :/ We bought it for the lot & are trying to make it our own.
These things are cyclical, so unless you need to be "on trend" pick what you like. Trends are about selling stuff to replace stuff that doesn't necessarily need to be replaced for any but aesthetic reasons. Or if you have a vintage house, follow the trends of that era.
I kind of feel like the brushed stainless appliance trend is a piece of this- it started with high-end professional ranges and refrigerators and trickled down to garden variety Kenmore. Because what used to be called "white goods" went metallic and the trend is "open floor plan" you can see where people feel brushed nickel is "classic".
There has been a real push to bring brass back, but it doesn't seem to be getting traction because memories are still fresh from the cheap brass sold in the 1990s. I have a few older brass Baldwin pieces that are beautiful candle sticks and a chandelier. It's funny, I almost feel like the anti-yellow fervor still exists in jewelry. I was talking to someone in the local jewelry shop and she was talking about how little yellow gold they sell and how designers keep bringing out fresh new looks that don't sell. She felt like rose-gold was going to be the trend that leads back to traditional 18K yellow gold.