I have polished nickel and I will never use it again. It has oxidized over time and I cannot get it pretty and shiny again. I don't like brushed finishes, but I wish I had chosen a good quality chrome instead of nickel. I tried to add a photo, but that feature isn't working for me right now.

Okay, now I can add the photo...these are Perrin & Rowe in the bathroom, but I have the same line in the kitchen.

We have California Faucets polished nickel in our bathroom (5 years). It has held up beautifully. Make sure you go with a brand whose polished nickel has a PVD finish.

I have polished nickel fixtures in my master bath. They’ve been there now 8-10 yrs. no spotting problems at all, unlike the polished chrome in another bath. Both are from Signature Hardware.

My kitchen faucet is Perrin & Rowe brushed nickel with polished brass trim. It will be 15 yrs old this summer. Still looks great! I think of polished nickel being a bathroom finish, not for kitchens but that may just be me.

My designer and kitchen & vanity manufacturer are telling me to go with Polished Nickel as this seems to be the trend. My gut is telling me to go with Satin because of the low maintenance. It feels the jury on Houzz is hung as some have had no issues whereas Fun2BHere's Perrin & Rowe faucet has certainly lost it's lustre.

Satin nickel is everywhere; polished nickel is not. Satin is everywhere not because of the false claim it hides spots better than QUALITY polished nickel, but because the manufacturing is less costly. Polished nickel manufacturing requires skilled finishers to buff the inherent superficial scratched that occur with the sheet metal machinery. Manufacturers who want to mass produce cheap and easy go with Satin. Some will use the same cheap quality that is unnoticeable with Satin for Polished -- hence those few remarks that their polished tarnished or degraded. True, quality Polished nickel will not do that -- nor result in those waterspot complaints of some. The only real challenge with Polished Nickel is that finding certain hardware (like shower door sliders) is extremely difficult, because so many suppliers ho with the cheaper Satin or Brushed. So, you will need to do a lot of searching if you want Polished for all your bathroom hardware (shower sprayer, sink faucet, shower door handle and slide rails) -- or select Satin for items unavailable in Polished -- or go with Chrome (colder polish, but matches the sheen better than Satin -- but has more spotting potential than QUALITY Polished Nickel). If you want to ensure easy availability of all your hardware, and don't mind your bathroom looking like every display at the chain stores, choose Satin or Brushed for all your hardware.