ps - forgot to add: do you have shiny hardware and/or faucets? do you love or regret?

I have the Waterstone in polished chrome. I love it. No maintenance and it always shines. I think satin shows just as much dirt and fingerprints.

hm, interesting. thanks for replying!!

I get the appeal of wanting brushed metals to "hide" the dirt, but I personally don't care for brushed hardware or faucets. I've always had polished chrome faucets. I used two polished chrome faucets and polished nickel hardware in my new kitchen{{gwi:9241}}.

I'm not a sparkle girl, but I appreciate the bit of shine they provide. Waterspots and such do show, but are very easily wiped or buffed off. I have never seen a fingerprint in a polished chrome faucet. With brushed finishes, every bit of gunk is still there. I'd rather see it and clean it then live with it knowing the faucet was still dirty. Same goes for white cabinets vs wood.

The only regret I have about my choices might be the nickel pulls vs choosing chrome. I'd never had nickel anything before and didn't know how the finish can change slightly. It is a bit of work to buff polish each of the 40+ pulls in the kitchen (not to mention all those in the DR) to get them shining again. They don't look bad when I don't do it, but they look amazing when I do buff them. Polished chrome would be have easier. At ordering time, I liked the slightly warmer nickel undertone better than the harsher chrome.

As far as the faucets, I usually give it a quick wipe with a very well wrung out cloth of sponge when I'm wiping down counters and spraying gunk out of the sink at the end of the day. It's easy{{gwi:9241}}. To get them really sparkly, I buff them for a couple of seconds with a used kitchen towel on its way to the laundry. Easy!

Faucet brands: I haven't see anyone who splurged on a Waterstone here regret it. I don't have much faith in Delta faucets anymore. The quality isn't the same as the Waterstone.

Yes, you can use shinier hardware with duller faucet.

Can you mock up the appliance pull sizes to see what looks best? Mocking things up always helps me. You might find the 12" is fine. If it helps, I can show you a photo of my 8" nickel pull I used on my 26" wide single-panel pantry door. I think 12" would be fine. The pulls you like are visually a little hefty anyway.

And you don't have to get knobs that match. You could choose a different knob. :)

This post was edited by breezygirl on Sun, Nov 16, 14 at 15:05

thank you, thank you, Breezy!! I, like you, prefer the nickel b/c the chrome feels harsh. too white-bright for me. but I will take your feedback into consideration because I hadn't realized it would be easier to clean. re: mockups, I can try - i would need to get to a showroom to try and see a panel-ready fridge that I can hold my mockup to. i'm trying to get things done in advance, I don't have the fridge here to try it out with.

I think this is the type of thing over which home owners obsess . . . but once the house is finished, and the room is filled with all the objects that surround us in our lives . . . the small difference between these silvers won't be significant.

I really liked the knobs I have, but the pulls that matched were very flat, not enough room for your hands. I chose a pull from the same manufacturer with the same finish as the knobs in a similar style. I'm sure that nobody notices. I don't think the cabinet hardware needs to match the faucet exactly.

The trevi and tower collections are close enough that you could use the round knobs from the first collection with the pulls from the second collection.

I would do them in chrome or brushed, the reason being that the polished nickel would be hard to clean on such intricate hardware.

An 18" handle would look nicer than the 12" on a big fridge, imo.

For the faucet, I think you should do a polished chrome or nickel, because you're choosing quite non-modern pulls, and I think these traditional finishes would look better. (Brushed looks more modern to me.)

Those are some non-designer opinions :-)

I have the same dilemma⦠just bought a chrome Grohe Bridgeton faucet and am choosing between the Polished Nickel and Polished Chrome Top Knobs Shrewsbury pulls/knobs. Is polished nickel really more difficult to maintain. Does it turn yellow? Thanks! Did you decide?

I have the same dilemma⦠just bought a chrome Grohe Bridgeton faucet and am choosing between the Polished Nickel and Polished Chrome Top Knobs Shrewsbury pulls/knobs. Is polished nickel really more difficult to maintain. Does it turn yellow? Thanks! Did you decide?