Stainless or Chrome Faucet

14 years ago

I'm in the midst of giving my kitchen a facelift. Painted honey cabinets BM Dove White, replacing a white fireclay self-rimming sink with a stainless undermount, and replacing polished granite (not sure what color - was here when we bought the house) with honed jet mist.

My question is about the faucet -

I'm totally torn between stainless and chrome. Hardware on cabinets is satin nickel, appliances are stainless.

Any advice would be appreciated! Love this forum.

thanks!!

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Comments (8)

pattyk_64
14 years ago
I have brushed nickel hardware but went with a chrome faucet. One of the reasons was price, I really like the Grohe Bridgeford pull down, but the stainless version was out of reach financially. After looking around for a while, I decided I like the chrome better anyways, it's like a bright jewel at my sink. I had decided that if I was going to go with my back up choice, Delta Victorian pulldown, I was going to get it in chrome anyways, even though the SS was more affordable. It just came down to personal preference.
ebse
14 years ago
My color scheme is very similar to yours (our cabinets will be brookhaven alpine white, which is close to BM dove white). Also planning jet mist counters. Am wondering same question! But I agree with patty, I kind of like how the chrome seems to sparkle. I guess if you want your faucet to be a focal point, go with chrome. If you want it to fade away a bit more, go with stainless. Both will be great!

What faucet did you choose?
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I persobally love ORB as well as white cabinets. I have painted white cabinets with ORB knobs, pulls, lights and faucet. Stainless/nickel also looks great on white but it's a different look. There's not as much contrast between the two but it has a fresh light feel to it. I have brushed stainless bar pulls on my outdoor kitchen which has dark wood cabinets. As for the finish on the ORB, if it's what they call a "living finish" it will wear with age to a nice patina on the areas that get handled. Some of my faucets have this finish, the kitchen and master bath precisely. They're acually oil rubbed copper so the worn areas are a copper color instead of a bronze color. I chose this because I have several copper accents throughout my home. The powder room vessel sink is copper and the accent on the knobs on my stove are as well. As for ORB knobs, pulls and faucets with a sealed finish, I think they hold up as well as any other color. I have Moen ORB in my kids' bathrooms and they look just as new as they did three years ago. BTW I have ORB (copper) on my white farmhouse sink and it looks great.
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Seems "normal" but not what I call reasonable. I updated my 1980 kitchen myself for $500 this included painting all the cabinets, new porcelain sink new pull down faucet hardware and poured concrete countertop. I am also in the SF Bay Area. If you are planning to sell or rent it out those eventualities are different goals. For a rental, a nice laminate countertop would be fine. For sale, granite or quartz would be a better idea. Unless the cabinets are terrible terrible just prime and paint for either eventuality. New hardware will dress it up a lot I got nice knobs on amazon for $1 each and some drawer pulls for $4.50. This post was edited by tinan on Tue, Jun 4, 13 at 19:15
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" I went with a warmer finish like antique brass, will I have to carry that over to my knobs & pulls? I really am not wanting to do that. It seems they'll be "off" next to the stainless appliances." See! You've put the time and thought into already. You already know what's going to work. I haven't seen your space or finishes, but I think, from the description, that you're absolutely right that you need something warm to go with the granite, and, you say, the adjacent areas. The pendants are their own space unless you have something pushing into it. Over an island, they're visually part of a wall that the island defines. If that were an actual wall, would you hesitate to use a warm color on it? In terms of not matching, I think we can ignore the chrome faucet. Chrome faucets are still standard, as in every builder and apartment, etc., so it's ignorable. To go with the all the stainless, brushed nickel cabinet hardware would be your ticket. What you don't want to do, with the antique brass pendants, is have a whole other vocabulary of metals. One shiny, ignorable faucet, to be the thing that doesn't match (without something that doesn't match, the space would be boring), and the rest fitting in with the sink and appliances. That will work fine. Picking up the shiny of the chrome isn't a great idea, though, unless the large amounts of stainless are going to be polished. If you're planning that, good luck to you, but I'm glad I won't be there to watch you trying to maintain it. :) That said, the brass will be dull, and the appliances and sink will be dull, so adding in dots of shiny all over, rather than the one shiny faucet which is an accent piece, would be too distracting. An alternative to the brass, if you really don't think the mixed metals will do it for you, is to go with color. I think the antique brass goes better with the picture in my head from your description, but a complex color, like burgundy, could be beautiful, either in enamel or glass.
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I usually feel that when it comes to these either/or scenarios, it depends more on how period the look is of the general area/room/home. If it's supposed to look more classic and old fashioned I'd go with polished and if more modern, brushed (if you have both present). The other thing is you can tie the finishes together in a more layered (?) look if depending on where the fridge is...so if the fridge has a polished front, you could do a polished faucet if the sink sort of acts as the peanut butter, you know? ;) Even if the fridge is to the side but close by. That said, if the sink is major eye candy and the fridge just sort of disappears next to it, I'd match the sink!
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mom2reese
14 years ago
I have a mix of stainless pulls and appliances, and two chrome faucets (and chrome light). It all works well together.

Chrome is pretty timeless/classic and generally cheaper. On the flip side, brushed will hide fingerprints/smudges much more, but I don't find keeping the chrome faucet clean a big deal.
kelleg69
14 years ago
If price isn't a factor, I would go with the stainless. I am doing a whole house. I went with chrome in nearly all baths, but switched to stainless in kitchen. That being said, I totally think you can mix the finishes, so if you like the chrome, or you want to save the money, go for it.
lonni_mcd
14 years ago
I have polished nickel cabinet hardware and light fixtures in my kitchen, but I'm going with stainless steel plumbing fixtures because they will be used most often and I'm a finger print/smudge freak. I think whichever you decide needs to work for you and your family. Either will look great!
buddyrose
14 years ago
i have a stainless undermount sink, satin nickel pulls and a chrome faucet. I just couldn't see spending that much money on something that doesn't really bother me, at all. And I always wipe everything down so fingerprints aren't a problem.
If money were no object, maybe I would have gotten a satin nickel finish faucet. But maybe I'd still have gotten chrome! Who knows. I like my faucet, a lot.

;-)
ncounty
14 years ago
I have chrome faucets and find them hard to keep clean. They require more maintenance to look great than I like to expend.
msgreatdeals
14 years ago
I picked stainless for my faucet and appliances. Biscuit sink and pewter knobs and pulls. I will have Cherry cabinets with a medium brown stain. Just starting my remodel so I won't know how it looks for about 6 more weeks!

Stainless or Chrome Faucet

Comments (8)

pattyk_64

ebse

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