Trying to choose between satin nickel and oil rubbed bronze? Here are some pros and cons of both!
OK folks.
I need your input here. We’re in the process of making some pretty important decisions about the new home we’re about to build.
For me one of the biggest that will change the entire flow of the house is satin nickel vs oil rubbed bronze.
There are a couple different areas where this decision will come into play. Door hardware, cabinet hardware, lighting.
So would you mix and match the metals throughout the home? Stick completely to one metal throughout? This satin nickel vs oil rubbed bronze thing seriously has my head spinning.
Oil Rubbed Bronze
Oil rubbed bronze seems to look great with traditional furnishings: dark toned woods, neutral wall colors, rich accent colors. But is it too trendy?
Satin Nickel
Satin nickel looks great with more modern finishes or subdued looks: cool tones, lighter color schemes since it seems to blend in more with whites, grays and pastels.
Let’s first discuss door hardware. Our current home has the old brass doorknobs, yack. I knew right off the bat that in the new home I either wanted satin nickel or oil rubbed bronze instead. But then I started thinking about the colors throughout the rest of our home.
In the kitchen we plan on having white cabinets with creamy gray countertops. Both oil rubbed bronze or satin nickel would go really well with the color scheme. The lighting and cabinet hardware is satin nickel, plus we will have stainless appliances. OK, so satin nickel door hardware, right? Well, maybe…
Because then I start to think about the rest of the house, like our foyer. From that space you can see our living room, dining room, and the great room which all have traditional dark wood furniture. So I guess I should consider lighting in those 3 different rooms, and door hardware throughout?
Do I have to worry about our kitchen and bathroom fixtures as well? Oh, and to throw another wrench in the toolbox we’ll have dark hardwood flooring. Yep, my head is spinning again.
So what would you do?
Mix and match the metals throughout the home?
Stick completely to one metal throughout?
Kim says
We used oil rubbed bronze on our hickory cabinets and brushed nickel on our doors. We’ve been happy with the mix and match. Good luck with your building. Very exciting.
howtonestforless says
Thanks Kim! What did you use for your lighting?
Kristina says
We used satin nickel hardware on all cabinets in our house, both kitchen and baths. My cabinets are all maple. We also used satin nickel for all light fixtures. My kitchen faucet is also satin nickel, but we opted for chrome bathroom fixtures. After ten years, I still think it all looks great and isn’t “trendy” per say. The beauty of nickel is it goes well with light colors as well as dark if you ever change up your style…but I also like the idea of mixing…for instance, we’ve used various colors of wood throughout our house, which I love…so why would fixtures and hardware be any different….good luck! Building and decorating a new house is overwhelming, but fun and in the end so very worth it!
Jess says
We have oil rubbed bronzed everywhere in our house expect our guest bath and I HATE it. Sure it looks really nice and we get tons of compliments but it is a PAIN to keep clean. It shows every. single. molecule. of dust. In the bathroom it is in the worst because I use mineral makeup and we use soft toilet paper. The combination of the toilet paper dust and my make up those things are never clean. I guess I don’t mind it so much in the kitchen but I definitely don’t like it in the bathroom!
Good luck! So exciting!
Jessica L says
I don’t think there is an issue with mixing and matching – I would just consistent between rooms… 🙂 Good luck!
Tara Cashion says
Our house is oil-rubbed bronze throughout. It looks beautiful but I am afraid that it will be out of style in a few years. I don’t think satin nickle will ever be out of style. I am using either satin nickle or plain old chrome in my next house because they seem to be timeless.
Catherine says
Mix and match-that way if you chage colors or styles in rooms over the course of the years you live in your new home, you can swap hardware and fixtures from various rooms without spending a dime. All uniform hardware is super boring anyway. Your beautiful style will show through anyway- even if everything doesn’t match. I just built a house a few years ago and if I had to do it again, I’d change a lot of the decisions we made. For instance, I spent $15,000 having a rough plumb set up for a “one day” bathroom for the basement. Quite frankly, I’d much rather be enjoying hardwood floors right now throughout my house. You live and learn, but try to take some of the things that you loved about your old home and incoporate them into your new one. Think of your clothing style. You may wear some trendy pieces, but overall, I bet you have your own “style” that your friends and family easily recognize. The same goes for your house. Take the fundamentals with you and try not to be seduced or overwhelmed with all of the design choices you have. Make a list of things you love. Try out the various hardware choices with “your style” and see if it flows. Bring you into the process and you can’t go wrong. Congrats on your new house!!!
Diane says
This is a great solution to a dilemma I’m currently facing. Thank you very much for you input Catherine. Best wishes to the new home owner.
Melissa Duncan says
Wow, same dilemma for me. Great advise. I’m thinking more about resale than “my style” which makes me unique!
Lita says
We are also shopping for hardware for our new home remodel. Yours was excellent advice!
Jessi says
We are going with oil rubbed bronze. We wanted to go with something different…satin nickel is just so much more common now. Our floors will be dark, hand scraped wide planks. And dark kitchen cabinets. We’re doing the white/gray counters similar to your pics! Eventually, I’ll paint the cabinets. Since we’ll have so many dark elements, walls, furniture and rugs will be light and colorful.
It was a hard decision for us, too!
Ceci Bean says
Don’t be afraid to mix ’em!
Dan says
Literally yesterday, I just finished 2 years planning our new house build and the’ ORB issue’ was a MAJOR one. If there are any Australians (like myself) reading this I would certainly say forget Oil Rubbed Bronze unless you plan have time and money up your sleeve.
I fell in love with copper sinks with ORB tapware on houzz.com and that they would be perfect for 2 Moroccan-style bathrooms. When I initially couldn’t find many ORB taps in Australian bathware stores, I researched ORB tapware on the internet which is cheap and comes in a great variety of styles.
This search turned out to be fruitless however, as due to major drought/environmental issues, Australian taps and shower roses now have to be WELS rated or a plumber will not be able to install them and give you a rating required for your building permit. 100% of the US/Asian taps I was looking at online were not WELS rated.
In Australia ORB is a special finish and costs 30% times more than chrome and most tapware companies don’t offer it. You can get your taps stripped & electroplated if they are made of certain metals ($$$) but warranty on them could be voided. I found Schots Home Emporium had ORB taps & showers at reasonable prices and I bought them. Schots said they are planning to expand their ORB range, but they (and most Aust. retailers) currently don’t have suppliers of ORB towel rails, toilet roll holders, hooks, guest towel holder so I had to get these from the US.
I thought I was sorted, but then I realised after all my efforts I also needed to get ORB shower screen door hardware & shower grates because the standard shiny chrome versions of this hardware in a Moroccan bathoom would look out of place with everything else.
I found ‘Designer Drains’ in the US who even had ‘Moresque style’ ORB drain covers, but I discovered shower drains also have to meet Australian Standards and these beautiful drains did not. They could not be converted either as the imperial /metric dimensions and thread systems are too disparate!
Darn it!
I finally found an Australian company ‘Wasteline’ who do ORB drains and a glazier who can import American ORB shower screen door fittings from ‘CR Laurence’
I was only using ORB in two rooms but it was a very long process to source things and even working out which door handle colour to have on the outside of the bathroom door was a challenge as all the door hardware in the rest of the house will be chrome. (We are still deciding about whether we will get a chrome and ORB set and split them so there is chrome on the outside and ORB inside)
In terms of ORB going out of style-Firstly that won’t happen in Australia for a very long time as it isn’t even in fashion yet, and at this rate, maybe it never will be. Secondly, I am not really worried about my ORB dating because Moroccan style is what I consider to be an ageless historic style outside the current fashions anyway.
In terms of cleaning, Jess, I have yet to find out, but after all the work I have put into these bathrooms, my mission is complete and I am not backing out now.
In closing If I had known that it would be so difficult to source things and that ORB comes in such a spectrum of brown-black anyway, it would have been more logical to go with a mix and match style from the start, but at the end of the day I’m a card-carrying MATCHER and something inside me lights up when things well…..…MATCH!
Toni Dawson says
Omg excellent reply. And now you have me so curious about ORB. I’m in America building a home and I’ve never heard of it. And I’m a card carrying marcher as well. Lol good luck w your Moroccan rooms I’d love to see pics when your done.
Jenny says
I like the brushed nickel look. The oil rubbed bronze is too dark for me. Right now, we have brass and I wish it was GONE!
Laurie says
I love that you are asking this question! I was just asking my friends and family the same question on fb a couple of weeks ago. I’m getting ready to sell my current home and I have all brass handles and fixtures. I decided to spray paint them but want to make it appealing to the majority of people. It seems like most people only like one or the other and most seemed to prefer the satin nickel. I personally like the ORB but I’m finding it doesn’t work in every room. I plan to do a little of both but more of the satin nickel. I will probably mix and match in our new home as well. I will vary the different finishes based on the decor but the hardest rooms are the ones that are open to other rooms. I can’t wait to read what everyone else has to say about it! Good luck with your decision!
Jill says
We moved into our “new” house – built in 1962 – last year. The house has a mix of brass/gold, satin nickel, and ORB for lighting,hardware, and interior/exterior doors. All of the interior (room and closet) doors and cabinet hardware are satin nickel. The lighting (several wall sconces and one pendant) are ORB. The 6 doors to outside were a mix of ORB and brass. We spray-painted all of the brass to ORB on the doors to outside for consistency. We had the oak kitchen cabinets painted white and decided to keep the satin nickel door pulls, and I’m glad we did. We have stainless appliances and the silver really pops. Everyone I have showed pictures to asks if they are new…I think the satin used to disappear into the oak. Anyway, for my taste I think the ORB would have been too bold on the white cabinets, but I did consider it at the beginning. I think that the blend of metals works totally fine, as another commenter said, as long as you have some consistency. Our is consistent by item, like all doors, all hardware. I imagine it would work if you did it by room too. Like all ORB in kitchen/dining, but SN in bedrooms/baths. Just my 2cents!
Beverly says
Personally, I would opt for mix-n-match, but as others have mentioned, I also believe it depends on the style you want to evoke in each room and where you want to draw the eye. In that one kitchen picture with the dark pendant lighting, my eye immediately went there before noticing any other details of the room. I think the size and space flow of each room also can play into the decision. We just finished a master w/ensuite renovation and for our bathroom we mixed brushed nickel and polished chrome. Our shower fixtures, towel bars, toilet paper, robe hooks and cabinet hardware are all polished (and spot proof). The double sink faucets are the same model/brand but in the shiny. The shine just makes our blue pearl granite top POP. So, I’m more than pleased with the mix-n-match decision and look. Happy choosing. I can’t wait to see/hear more about what you eventually went with. Your style will definitely shine through.
Crystal says
When we just redid all our hardware and lighting, we chose nickel except in the kitchen were the hardware is black to go with all our black appliances. I love all our nickel!! But, I do think it is okay to mix and match.
Kelly miller says
We used oil rubbed bronze on all of our hardware on the first floor with an all white color pallet. Satin nickel on vanity s on drawers upstairs but stayed with the rubbed oil bronze door hardware. This gave our brans new house a collected over time look we were going for. I also feel the rubbed oil bronze gives it a contemporary cottage/ coastal feel. If there is such a thing! Good luck but the one thing to remember is no one is going to walk in your brand new home and start checking knob,hardware and fixture finishes to see if they match . They will be too busy oohing and aching over everything else ! Have fun !
krista says
We have ORB in the majority of our home….we are redoing things and have it all almost done–and I love ORB (our style is very “pottery barn”).
The one exception is the kid’s main bath–went w/ satin nickel finish in there. It blends w/ that décor–and I think that’s the key! Don’t make it stand out…and then no one will notice!
Also, if you find a style you like, it has the different finishes…..so conceivably, you could have the ‘same’ fixtures in different finishes. Same goes for lights….
Bottom line~it’s your house, make it yours!! =D
{ps–do have to agree w/ the potty paper lent in the bathroom on the ORB…who’da thought!??! it does drive me nutsO!! oh the little things!}
Kenna Rogers says
We did a mixture of the oil rubbed bronze and the satin nickel. I just found what I liked and thought would look best in each room and went from there. Love it!!
andrea says
I think you are fine to mix and match – use your best judgement. for example, if you picked orb for all your door handles, I still think it could look beautiful to have a satin nickel light fixture. personally, I love both finishes, and I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use both throughout the house!
Alexandra says
I personally think it depends on the style and feel of the house. In our house by the beach we mixed everything from bright polished chrome to modern brushed nickel and oil rubbed bronze for some traditional. I think it all can work very well IF done right.
Kim Glasgow says
I have a mix and match and I love it!!! My kitchen has all satin nickel fixtures, cabinet hardware and light fixtures, but my door knobs are oil rubbed bronze (I orbed all of my brass door knobs throughout my house to oil rubbed bronze). The mix and match seems to work with my decor! 🙂
Ruth M says
I just want to throw out another option – polished nickel. It has a warmer tone than chrome, but a richer look than satin nickel. I used it in a half bath and I will admit it can be hard to find all the items you want in that finish. But I love it. You could probably mix oil rubbed bronze or satin nickel with it as well. Allen+Roth from Lowes is the brand I found.
Laurie says
I’m just curious if you have been gaining any new followers lately? I pinned this blog post and it has gone positively viral!
howtonestforless says
I have been getting some new readership recently. Wow, thanks Laurie!!
Melissa says
Oh my… We are building a home and keep going back and forth. We love the faucets and kitchen hardware in brushed nickel, but every lighting fixture we like is orb….what to do????
Susan says
I’d love to know what to do! We’re building and picking our fixtures too. I LOVE ORB for doors/knobs and light fixtures but am afraid of doing all the bath/kitchen fixtures in ORB in case it goes in and out. Our decor is Pottery Barn-ish and I lean toward “match-matchy”. Help!
Cheri says
I’ve been talking to my sister about this for the last month! We are moving and renovating a house and I’ve purchased all ORB light fixtures and I’m thinking ORB or satin nickel for the door knobs. I want to do satin nickel in the baths as well and white kitchen cabinets with SN….so what do you think? ALL ORB light fixtures and door knobs and SN baths and kitchen cabinet hardware? I love matchy matchy too, but don’t like any SN light fixtures…or should I do ORB door hardware?
howtonestforless says
Cheri, I think you can mix and match the lighting in each room. If the bathrooms will have white cabinets and satin nickel plumbing fixtures, you might wand to stick with SN lighting. We mixed the lighting in our house, sticking mostly with SN but using ORB in places like the dining room for a high end, luxurious effect.
Val says
Wow, I’m having the exact same issue. Can’t stand SN light fixtures (or the current brass), so remodeling it all to ORB. However, I put SN in all bathrooms and now I’m torturing myself whether to put ORB, SN, or even matte black on door levers.
I’ve checked ‘higher end’ houses and usually if they have wood trim, door handles are ORB, and if white trim, it’s SN (of course you don’t have to follow that rule, one can do whatever and still look good as other have pointed out). So I was going with ORB, but the problem with ORB on door levers is that they are all living finish and will rub off to brass – yeck (IMO), unless you get venetian bronze which I don’t like as much.
Would love to see more answers to your question!
Michele says
I have the old Victorian glass door handles ….love them and so i decorate each room according to the room ….knobs and handles are the jewelry to the room so I mix and match rooms BUT if a room is open concept all visible fixtures I think should be the same metal …
Debbie Cordes says
THANK YOU everyone! We are building a new home and struggling with the same dilemma so I googled my question and found this forum. After reading all replies, I will confidently mix both, brushed satin nickel door handles throughout, whatever looks best for bathrooms and kitchen, and ORB light fixtures! I love the brave new world that doesn’t have to have everything match! It is eclectic, shows personality and looks great in all pictures I have seen!
howtonestforless says
Glad you could find some help Debbie! I mixed in my house (even within the same room of satin nickel lighting and gold plated end tables) and LOVE it! Good luck to you!
camillemiller says
I recently purchased two upholstered counter stools with brushed nickel nailhead trim for seating at our kitchen island. They look great; I love them. They are a cognac color and the trim just pops on them. But now it makes me want to replace the cabinet hardware to brushed nickel. My cabinets are a medium to light cognac color with bronze hardware and it all blends. I would be replacing about 50 knobs and pulls (found for reasonable prices at Amazon). But my faucet, ceiling fan (with light), and both lighting fixtures over the kitchen table and sink are all ORB. My appliances and sink are white. I’m considering changing out the faucet to brushed nickel and leaving the lighting all ORB. They look nice, and I hate to splurge for all brushed nickel when there is nothing wrong with them. The kitchen was completely remodeled on six years ago, so everything’s pretty new. Any thoughts?
howtonestforless says
I wouldn’t worry one bit about the lighting! That’s something I noticed in our new home. The cabinet knobs and pulls I could see replacing so they pop a little off the doors, but no need to replace the lighting just yet. It’s definitely ok to mix and match!
Blondie says
I am so glad I found this post. As I read it was almost like reading exactly what I’m doing. My last house was custom built and very French country with all ORB fixtures and lighting. The kitchen cabinets were creamy bisque with a cognac glaze and the subzero was cabinet covered as was the dishwasher. It was absolutely magnificent. Now I am building another house. So naturally I though I wanted ORB again. However after choosing the kitchen in which we decided on white cabinets with Ceasarstone Atlantic Salt countertops I am unsure. The floors will be wide plank hand scraped dark hardwood. I’ve always liked things to blend so the satin nickel seems logical. But my furniture is oversized warm brown hues which looks amazing with ORB. The kitchen will be open to the great room so dilemma. For the bathrooms and kitchens I may go with the satin nickel. (The bathrooms are also going to be primarily white as I want them light for the kids.) The master will have the same counters as in the kitchen with white cabinets so again, the satin nickel makes sense. Mixing goes completely against my OCD tendencies so I’m hoping satin nickel hardware on doors will be ok with the rest of the house.
howtonestforless says
I’m completely happy with my satin nickel choice. It’s timeless and goes beautifully with white (in my kitchen) and dark cabinets (in my bathrooms).
Brenda McCormick says
I had no idea so many people had the same dilemma with deciding between ORB vs satin nickel. I have earth tone walls, alot of mission style furniture and most of the lighting is ORB. However, the kitchen is stainless steel appliances and taps and I picked a brushed stainless island light. Cabinet handles are ORB. So after reading all of this, I’m thinking ORB door handles are the right choice for main floor. My bathrooms on the second floor are all chrome. I might put brushed nickel upstairs. So I guess I have been mixing all along. I consider myself and OCD matchy person too.
Eva Fadel says
We live in a 80 year old house. Original fixtures are mainly brass/glass knobs which we likes so much that when it was time to finish the addition we purchased vintage ones so that all the doors had the same hardware. The original bath’s doorknob was brass on the outside and chrome on the inside to presumably match the chrome in the bathroom fixtures. Homes evolve but we have kept that aesthetic. We added two baths but similar black and white tile & chrome/nickle fixtures – the variation doesn’t bother me. I’m pretty matchy but I also love contrasts. In the new kitchen the white wall cabinets (kraftmaid ‘canvas’ color) have brushed nickle handles and knobs. I really wanted the island to stand out and look like a piece of furniture even though it is new. It is a dark stained wood, different door style and oiled bronze knobs/handles. The only sink is in the island with oiled bronze faucet. The sink itself is stainless as are the appliances except the d/w we kept our old black one for now but since it is in the dark island I like the way it blends in & I would probably replace it with the same. The school house lights over the island are oiled bronze as are the new kitchen window/ door hardware. I have seen new build where is ORB or nickel etc, it looks beautiful but our house is not all new and it has evolved and I wanted it to feel like changes that took place over time – we wanted the kitchen to feel a bit older than the original house and I think it has that feel.
Janet M. says
We are considering purchasing a new home with all brushed nickel door hardware and lighting. Our furniture is mostly dark wood and we have a gold upholstered sofa in our family room. Just wondering how this will work. Could I add some nickel accessories or should we ask the builder to change some of the lighting? Just want it to pop and not have the lighting just blend into the ceiling. Another dilemma!!
Vivien says
It’s absolutely ok to mix…I have exactly what you are describing…dark floors throughout the house, and ORB door hardware throughout the house. My kitchen has white cabinets, hardware there is more rustic pewter, and my faucet is a polished nickel. It’s more important that the style and feel of the metals go together. For the light fixture, I contemplated polished nickel, brushed or unpolished silver finish (my appliances are brushed stainless steal), or ORB. Pendants I chose is a simple ORB, which I just ordered. I was more worried about the style of the fixture. Master bath hardware and faucets are ORB, my daughter’s bathroom is brushed nickel hardware with dark light fixture, and my son’s bath room is all polished nickel…but all the door knobs into the bathroom have ORB. Again it’s more important that the styles work together. Personally, I don’t care for brushed nickel door hardware….I think the feel is more more on the modern side. For me, the ORB is a warmer feel. Be happy to share pictures!
KH says
That sounds beautiful. Any chance you can share the pictures? I am in the same situation and need to order my doors and windows for the remodel. Thanks!!
Janai Maughan says
We are planning a new house and I have the exact same dilemma. I love ORB for doors and cabinet hardware but not so much for faucets and am ambivalent on the lighting. After much debating I’m going to do satin nickel for the plumbing fixtures, cabinet hardware and lights with ORB door handles and iron spindles on the open staircases to go with the dark wood floors. I think it’ll give a good balance of light and dark and hopefully not look too trendy.
Tom says
Amazing that this topic started around 4 years ago and it is still going. Funny, I have spent more time on this than I did on buying my last new car. I called an interior decorator friend of mine and asked her. Although my main concern is that one or the other would go out of style. It happens and I sure wanted to be “in style”. She told me it was an individual choice. Tough decision. I looked at houses, online sites, current movies, etc.,etc. I actually bought three of the lever handles in satin nickel to see how it looked in one room. It was just too plain. I wanted more of a contrast. Also, the floor tiles in our three bathrooms had brown accent lines through it. So, I returned the nickel and bought ORB handles. However, as mentioned in the previous entry , we stuck with the original nickel faucets. We had painted three large light fixtures in the kitchen, dinning room and stairway a hammered finish black around ten years ago. BTW I did not like the OBR hinges, so I just painted all the hinges white, the same as the doors. had a bit of a shock yesterday as I went through Target, I saw clearance prices on the OBR hardware. It just about spoiled my day since I thought, well OBR is becoming obsolete. But wait, they also had the same style brushed nickel hardware on clearance at the same price. So, maybe it is just a style change.. Anyway, I am very pleased with my OBR handles and how they contrast with the white doors. All the bright brass is gone.
ellen says
Love this kitchen wall color, do you know the name of it?
howtonestforless says
Sorry, I don’t. If you click on the Source link you might be able to find it!
John says
I had a similar feeling as Tom when I see all the ORB and SN door hardware on sale. Are ORB and SN going out of style? I’m considering SN or chrome door levers on antique white doors.
Kitchen has brushed nickel faucet and stainless appliances. Satin Nickel door hardware looks best here and chrome feels like one too many types of finishes.
Bath has chrome faucets and hardware. Chrome door hardware works best here. SN door hardware stand out in the bath with so much of the bath being chrome.
What I’m finding out is 3 things.
1. Mixing finishes is okay as long as there aren’t more than 2 finishes within view. Three finishes starts to look piecemeal and unplanned.
2. Mixing is best when finishes compliment each other.
3. Mixing works when there is balance. Too much of one finish makes the other finish feel out of place.
Still torn on whether to chose Chrome or SN door hardware. SN on sale everywhere doesn’t help the decision. I don’t want to replace one out of style knob with a soon to be out of style lever. They both look good.
Deb says
Going through this question right now. Doing a new build with SN door handles standard. Great room concept with a white on white kitchen. Stainless appliances and faucet, but doing ORB cabinet hardware and pendants in kitchen. Still not sure what we will do for open DR chandelier or the family room portion of great room. Thinking maybe pewter? Bathrooms will be espresso cabinets with cream tiles, so we are keeping all hardware/fixtures as SN. Hope this all works!
Mary says
I’m going crazy trying to decide between pewter, ORB and some of the new brass and bronze finishes. I am trying to choose what I like the best and what goes with my house but I also don’t want my choice to go out of style too quickly. So far I’ve ordered 5 samples from Top Knobs and have 3 more coming. It took me one second to choose the cabinet door style and this has me up at night!
Ironmongery Experts says
Mix and match definitely! Personality, I think it’s fun to mix metals throughout the home. In my kitchen, I have chrome faucets, pewter cabinet handles and iron light fixtures. I believe that a big part of interior decor is having fun and trying new things. But then again, it’s okay to choose one metal throughout your home if that’s your thing. No matter what you’ll pick, I’m sure it will look great! Carolina at Ironmongery Experts.