I recently (as in this week!) was asking myself the same exact question - a quick look at all my kitchen magazines convinced me that the satin nickel faucet/stainless sink/ ORB hardware combo is done all the time. I think it's a great look. The faucet will pick up on the sink, your Wolf range, and any other stainless appliances you may have. Like you I have creamy cabinets with glaze( with a cherry island) , Wolf SS range, paneled fridge and SS undermount sinks. My granite is in the medium brown tones - New Venetian Gold. I'm doing ORB hardware on both perimeter and island, satin nickel faucets and stainless undermount sinks. Lighting will probably have ORB or similar trim. I've also seen ORB faucets matched up to ORB hardware , including mixed with stainless sinks (one like that right on the cover of one of a recent kitchen magazine) - those can be just gorgeous , too. To me, some faucets styles look better in the ORB than others - just personal preference. In addition to kitchen magazines, you might also want to check out the finished kitchen blog on this site - look at categories and then creamy colored kitchens or ORB. If you want a satin nickel faucet though, I think you'll be reassured by what you see.

Even though I tend to be a "mitchy-matchy" person, my CKD said to remember that all metals should be considered neutral. I have SS appliances, sink, faucet. ORB hardware seemed to look better with the tortoise ceramic floor, bronze glaze on the cabinets, and darker wood trim on the cabinets in our rustic kitchen. We were also able to get samples to look at. I think it was good advice to look at overall tones/colors and not just the other metals. I also liked all pulls. Excuse any picture problems. I am just figuring that part out.

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. 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. 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

@backstroae Ours are Berenson Hearthstone. I just went and measured and the larger pulls do stick out a bit more than the smaller ones, but not by a lot. On our one 30" drawer we used a 160mm pull as the 12" looked too big. But seriously... if you can buy one of each pull size and hold them up to each drawer, do so... we would have not bought the right sizes if we had just guessed. Also, to anyone who reads this who may be considering Berenson brushed nickel hardware. It is fantastic and shows no smudges no matter how greasy my hands are... they look perfect still. We used cheaper pulls in the bathrooms and those show every fingerprint (as does Kohler's BN hardware so I guess it sort of matches).