I would never suggest replacing all the brass doorknobs on a house. But if I were replacing the doors and buying new hardware, I might go for silver rather than brass colored. I too think that ORB is trendy.

I agree with Graywings completely.

Are you talking the builders brass or real brass?

I really like ORB too but agree with the trendy thing. We have builder brass in my house and I'd keep that over the silver/pewter because I don't care for it anywhere except faucets. Reads cold to me. Most people will probably say silver. Personal preference. I really like real brass.

According to some of the latest, antique brass is coming back as an option. I'd wait and see.

I'm glad to hear that Moccasinlanding! I have antique brass and I think it looks good. Not so in your face as shiny brass, they are a soft look.

When we put our house on the market, our realtor asked us to change the bright brass solid drawer pulls in the kitchen because he said they are so dated. I'm not a trend setter or follower. I replaced them with Home Depot dark knobs and kept all the pretty brass ones to use again for something. Sold the house and am sure it had nothing to do with the knobs! I decorate with what I like, not what everyone else likes!!!! It's MY house :)

I think the cheap builder's brass knobs are out, but interesting ones will never be.

Trends come and go but if you use quality time tested materials, then what is in or out does not matter.
What matters most is what will make you smile when you see it and be worth the time, effort and cash to do.

Like Shee, I would keep the brass over silver/nickel in MY HOME. I think the age or style of the home dictates this decorating issue.

I understand that most folks think ORB is just a trend, but it is my favorite metal for cabinets and accessories. Not because it is trendy, but because I love the color. I also love copper, old brass, or any aged metals. Perhaps all things classic started as a trend and fourty or fifty years from now, folks will be ooohing and aaahing over our "vintage" ORB.

Tuesday

ORB = ? Definition, please?

Canadian designer Brian Gluckstein says that good-quality brass is never out of style if it fits the style. He also says to mix metals, especially shiny brass with antique brass.

If it's real brass ... not plated ... I'd be recycling it. We have a combination of solid brass and ORB, but not in the same room.

I have a dilemma regarding door hardware, especially bifold closet door pulls. When we built 14 years ago the entire house had the brass-colored (certainly not real brass) door handles. It looked fine then cuz our foyer and dining room chandeliers were contemporary lucite with brass. Now we have little brass in updated bathrooms and want to switch over the hardware but I cannot afford new chandeliers. And, our master bath is very expensive polished brass plumbing.

Sooooo, my question is whether it would look awkward to have different finishes in different rooms. I am leaning toward ORB in the main part of the house (I have a lot of iron accents to balance with it). Then in the rooms with nickel or chrome I could do a silver-based finish. I'd leave the master bedroom with the brass for now.

But,I'm not sure how that would transition from room to room. I think ORB might be the better way to go for everything since it is a neutral finish and would go with every room.

Of course, my DH won't want anything changed at all. I can hear him now "You want to change out perfectly good hardware????"

Three cheers for Rafor. They wouldn't keep trying to tell us what's in and out (to increase sales) if we all just decorated with whatever we like. It's your house. Deck it out with things that make you smile, and you'll always have reason to smile.

I changed out the builder brass knobs in my kitchen several months ago, but only because it is an "Arts & Crafts / Mission" style kitchen... brass was just wrong for the style. I have only 3 more knobs in the balance of my downstairs, so I will probably change them out (they're also in bad shape), but the upstairs hardware will remain brass.

I agree with Tuesday ... it depends on the age/decorating of your home. I don't think silver/nickel would work well in a victorian home, but would work really well in a modern home.

Persoanlly, I have a mix in my house. Not something I particularly think about.