I love chrome, whether it's on a Cadillac or a faucet. It's very hard, which is a plus in a kitchen (and on a bumper), and cleans up without a fuss. And it's so darn shiny.

It sounds like you're going for a classic traditional look, so chrome fits the bill there too. I bet either would look great, though, and once installed you'll never notice the difference.

We ordered polished nickel for the powder room (biscuit tiles) and chrome for the master (white). I was really surprised to see how blue the chrome was, but the real problem -- the various chrome pieces did not match each other. Some were much more blue than others. The supplier agreed to take all the chrome pieces back and exchange for polished nickel. (The PN, BTW, is quite nice and we are very happy with it. We had some nice old taps that we kept for the sink in the powder room and the new PN pieces were a better match to the old taps than the varying new chrome pieces were to each other.

Message -- whatever you choose, see it IRL if possible before you commit. And if there are pieces from more than one manufacturer make sure they match each other.

The nickel will tarnish over time and develop a patina that some like and some don't. Unless it's lacquered, in which case the coating will eventually fail and look awful. The chrome will look like new forever. (Personally, I'd go with the nickel.)

i vote for nickel.....that is what we just installed on our cabinets so i don't know about the tarnishing aspect but it's gorgeous. i think it just looks a little warmer than the polished chrome. check out rmkitchen's pictures. she has white cabinets, marble and polished nickel......

Thanks gglks! (she and I are twins)

It's true, I have pure white cabinetry (with no undertones of yellow, grey, blue, green, pink, etc. -- pure white), white calacatta countertops / backsplash and polished nickel pulls / knobs. I like chrome as well, but I love the warmth in the nickel (that yellow-y undertone).

My kitchen is an interior room with the only windows in the breakfast portion at one end; those windows are north facing, so they never, ever receive direct sunlight. I LOVE a creamy kitchen but knew it would be ugly and drab in our no-natural-light kitchen. We tried sample after sample (after sample after sample), trying to find a creamy white and then a white white which would be bright and cheerful without looking forced and artificial. I'm one of those who feels blue in the winter, so I knew I needed as much brightness as possible.

That's how we came to our white color. I have absolutely no doubt that our white in another kitchen would read "wrong," but in our kitchen it's perfect for our space and my mood!

Even before I'd chosen the color of the cabinetry I knew I wanted polished nickel because of its warmth. I am a sucker for silver and have silver all over the house -- frames, bowls, trays, candlesticks, goblets, magnifying glasses, nutcrackers, objets -- I totally love it! I even love polishing it. But let's face it, not only could I not afford sterling hardware I'd be insane to do it -- it's just too much work!

But I got that beautiful warmth from the nickel and I don't regret how hard it was to find polished nickel appliance pulls.

Absolutely chrome would've worked in our kitchen as well, but the nickel is what we have and I'm grateful for it.

Here's an overview of our kitchen:

and a better view of the polished nickel, although you can see that the chrome would be practically indistinguishable from the nickel in this photo:

everytime i see rmkitchen's pictures, i love them more!!!!!! sounds like this is the kind of kitchen you want, julienpete.....

there should be no doubt: POLISHED NICKEL!
the patina adds a depth that chrome lacks. i like chrome and am using it everywhere else... except the kitchen and master bath. it's PN for MY rooms!

What color are your appliances? Are they stainless? If so, then I would go with satin nickel than the polished chrome or polished nickel.

They are making you pick your hardware now? My KD stated I should wait until my cabs were in my house so I could see how things looked in my kitchen. The light in my kitchen is different than the light in the showroom. I am glad I waited. I love what I got but probably would have never chosen it if I hadn't waited. If I had gone with my original choice, it wouldn't have looked half as pretty!

I've posted before on this subject. I love the look of polished nickel and nothing can take it's place, but it does tarnish. I have it in the master bath and while I don't mind it going dark, I don't like the spots on some of it. I may polish it someday, in fact, I did buy the polish recommended on another post but still haven't used it. I'm too distracted by my kitchen remodel. I have chrome everywhere else and will have it in my new kitchen too. I like the timeless, classic look of it and how easy it is to maitain. But that polished nickel is soooo pretty! FWIW, I'd never do satin nickel. I have it at the beach house and it just looks dull to me. Just my opinion.

Chrome plating is bad for the environment if you need another reason to choose nickel!

Wow, SO pretty!! The chrome does look perfect in there. Your kitchen is definately the look I am after.

How quickly does the nickel start to tarnish? I'm looking at cabinet pulls myself right now and this would affect my decision.