I don't know if there's really an "advantage," but to my eye, polished nickel has a slightly yellowish tint to it (at least when I was looking at faucets and knobs). Also, some might consider polished nickel as more classic than polished chrome.

I don't know if there's a difference between the two as to the finishes' durability -- I changed out brassy-looking fixtures and knobs just a few years ago (to a mix of polished and satin chrome), so it's too early for me to see any aging issues.

What finish are your towel bars or rings and your faucet? And your light fixture? (I also changed out the toilet handle.)

Polished nickle is "warmer" think yellow undertone and chrome is "cooler" with blue undertones. What are the other colors in the room.

Interesting as it used to be polished chrome was less expensive as it was a standard finish for decades...

I have both and find that the polished nickel has developed a patina and has dulled over time, but the polished chrome looks like it is brand new. Mine are from the same company so I would assume any protective coating is equivalent between the nickel and the chrome. I'm sorry, but I don't remember the manufacturer.

Thanks - that's helpful to know that the nickel is a warmer tone. You can kind of see that the tone is slightly different in the pictures. I wonder if the patina thing happens with all or if that's a brand specific situation. I don't really want to get a patina like the ORB stuff I bought years back.

My new faucet is chrome. I will never again buy any faucet that isn't classic chrome as I'm so tired of the trendy finishes that go out of style. I don't particularly like silver hardware on a medium/light cabinet but I also don't want trendy bronze that will also go out of style. So I will probably go with some combo of chrome/polished nickel and brushed nickel so at least it's all the same color.

This isn't a high end remodel, just a minor update of a small guest bathroom that isn't used that often. It all started with ancient wallpaper removal and then I decided to replace the cheap, ugly vanity and medicine cabinet and then the hanging brass light fixture had to go. On and the door that swings out into the hall will be changed to swing into the bathroom. What were they thinking......

I accidently bought a towel rod for my bathroom in polished nickel. Didn't know there was a difference) I really like it but it kid of makes my chrome faucets look whiter and cheaper looking. Kind of like silver against stainless. Just to say they look better if you don't mix them.

Fun2Bhere -- Can the patina be polished off or somehow removed?

Thanks musicteacher - that's a good point. I will stick with chrome then for anything I get that's not brushed finish.

Polished nickel can look quite different depending on the brand of the product. For my master bath remodel all the plumbing fixtures are chrome. The sconces I wanted only came in polished nickel, but the PN finish from Hudson Valley Lighting tends more in the direction of chrome. Nothing installed yet, but it should work fine ... if I really hate it after the fact, my local lighting store can chrome plate the sconces for me.

I had polished nickel drawer cup in pulls in my kitchen … Beautiful in the beginning but high maintenance and they became dull and couldn’t really be polished so they looked grungy.. I’m switching to polished chrome for my new remodeled custom kitchen…. Easy to keep it shiny always looks clean… p.s. polished nickel looks gorgeous in the showrooms. But for real life use … the look changes