I went with brushed nickel. I've had chrome in the past and it's a pain to keep clean, although the BN isn't foolproof either.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread with pics of my fixtures

I've only seen the brushed chrome in showrooms. It might be my first choice. I'm a fan of nickel, normally. Anything but a polished finish. Not only for cleaning, not only for looks, but also for a physical reason: in one of my bathrooms, someone dropped something like a pair of scissors and it left a mark very visible on the sculpted polished chrome surface. (That's because it's brass inside, a soft metal, and the plating is a few microns thickness only.)

I think a brushed finish has enough texture of its own that it can hide a few little things like this.

I assume you've been to showrooms that have Kohler faucets in brushed chrome. If not, contact Kohler, get a list of showrooms, and email or phone each one of them to find out if you will be able to see a real huge faucet with _that_ finish. Not a sample chip. An entire faucet. Ideally they won't make you wait an hour while they go hunt for one like it in their inventory in the back. That happened to me once even though I called ahead and spoke to someone in the showroom. (Faucet marketing is weird). Since brushed chrome is rare, that is also a reason for the upcharge.

hth

I guess I'm the oddball here ... I'm a fan of polished chrome. To me, it's a classic finish and much easier to keep clean (can't speak to the scratching thing as I've never had it happen). And there's another benefit too ... polished chrome is the least expensive and the most likely to match across multiple brands. I guess it just comes down to personal preference.

I'm into polished chrome too.
I learned my lesson when I picked ORB for one bath, and then could not get a toilet flush handle to fit in the OrB.

And the shower controls were not offered in ORB either. So I said what the heck, and now the sink, the sconces, the mirror, and the towel hook and toilet brush are ORB, but the flusher and the shower are not.

Nobody has said a word.

It depends on the BN. It looks different from one company to the next. I'm currently discussing this very issue with a friend. I've seen various shades of BN and I'm convinced that there are varying degrees of the quality of the finish too. I have a lighter, brighter shades brushed nickle finish from a high end company. It shows NOTHING! No water spots, finger prints or dust. Granted it's not quite 3 years old yet but it looks as good as the day it was installed. I LOVE (my) BN :)
Monica

I have two bathrooms with brushed nickel and I am changing to polished chrome in the master. It adds sparkle and interest to the bathroom, is classic, timeless, will never go out-of-style It is easy to keep clean. Using chrome has saved us over $1000.

Very interesting, thanks so much for your comments. Keep 'em coming! We're basically only talking Kohler here and I'm inclined downstairs to use the brushed chrome. The trim tile is a matte glass and I think the brushed might look better and more in line with the adjoining kitchen and laundry area where all the fixtures are satin nickel.

I think ORB would look awesome with the trim tile upstairs, but DH would never agree and I'll be darned if I want to challenge that one or pay an upcharge for that finish.

We do like the crispness of chrome or in the case of our master bath-- Rohl polished nickel. Frankly I love Restoration Hardware's polished nickel too, but those fixtures aren't in the budget.

Pam- I like the Kelston...a lot! That might be an option downstairs. Parallel worlds! LOL!

i agree that polished finishes add sparkle! and, to be honest, i have never found it to be too challenging to wipe down faucets! they're pretty simple to shine! i went with polished nickel for our master and love it! i love the warmth of the p. nickel...but it is more expensive.
in general, i think it depends on the tile you go with as to whether chrome or nickel looks best...if you're using white tile or more of a cool toned tile, i think chrome would look great. with warm yellow/tan/brown colors, i prefer nickel...the brushed nickel has a warmer tone than chrome. if there's a mix of tones, as there often is in a bathroom, either looks great!
i did not like the brushed chrome finishes that i saw in a showroom at all...

I agree with busybee3... but I prefer polished chrome, we were doing multiple rooms and besides saving alot of money by not paying for an "upgraded" finish it was so much more flexible to match different lines of products. we went all cool tones and the chrome looks fresh and so pretty... and really not hard at all to keep sparkling.
I have done ORB in our powder room and brushed nickel in our kitchen... I think of the 3 the nickel is the hardest to keep clean, but then again our kitchen probably takes the most abuse.
No matter what get the model numbers of what you need from the showrooms and then price online... I saved well over a thousand dollars online verses what our design center quoted us... spent a fortune there on cabinets and granite so didn't feel bad about using our designer's list to get my faucets online

I vote for chrome. It is pretty, easy to match and will always be manufactured for matching replacements down the line. I'd pay more to have it but luckily it is the budget friendly choice as well.