Polished Nickel vs Brushed Nickel: What’s Right For Your Home?

This post is about the difference between polished nickel vs brushed nickel.

Nickel is a timeless silver metal and a super popular choice for plumbing and hardware fixtures. But there are a few variations of nickel, and polished and brushed nickel are the most popular.

These two finishes can dramatically change the overall feel of a room, even though they’re made from the same base material.

So, how do you decide between polished nickel and brushed nickel?

Let’s dive deep into the characteristics of each finish, weigh the pros and cons, and explore some tips on when and where to use polished vs brushed nickel.

What is polished nickel?

Polished nickel is exactly how it sounds: nickel that has been polished and sealed to create a shiny, reflective metal finish. This high sheen look gives it a classic vintage, luxurious style.

A lot of people tend to get polished nickel and polished chrome mixed up. But polished nickel is warmer compared to chrome, which has a coolish blue tone.

Polished nickel instantly elevates a space and makes it feel more formal and expensive, thanks to its stunning polished finish.

Pros and cons of polished nickel

Pros:

• More luxurious: The high-shine finish of polished nickel comes across as feeling more luxurious and high-end.
• Versatile: Works well with different interior decor styles, from modern farmhouse to transitional.
• Brightens a room: The reflective quality of polished nickel means more light bounces off of it, helping a room feel more open and brighter.

Cons:

• Shows smudges easily: Fingerprints, water spots, and smudges are way more visible on polished nickel due to its reflective surface
• High maintenance: You’ll have to wipe down polished nickel regularly to remove the fingerprints and smudges, PLUS you’ll need to use a good polisher every so often to keep it looking shiny.
• Shows more scratches: The shiny finish can show scratches or marks more easily than brushed finishes.

What is brushed nickel?

Brushed nickel has a more muted, matte-like finish. This type of finish is created by literally brushing the surface of the nickel so that a lot of the reflective shine is dulled.

This brushing process gives the nickel a softer textured look, making it more understated and subtle compared to polished nickel.

Pros and cons of brushed nickel

Pros:

• Timeless and versatile: Brushed nickel isn’t trendy – it’s a finish that will stand the test of time and goes well with just about any interior decor style.
• Low maintenance: Because it’s less shiny, brushed nickel doesn’t show fingerprints, water spots, or smudges as easily as polished nickel. And regular polishing isn’t required.
• Durable: The textured surface makes it more resistant to scratches, so it can stand up to hard everyday use and still look great.

Cons:

• Less dramatic: If you’re looking for a bold, statement-making finish, brushed nickel may feel too subtle or subdued.
• May look dull: Because it doesn’t reflect light the way polished nickel does, brushed nickel can sometimes look flat or dull in rooms that don’t get a lot of natural light.
• Feels builder grade: Brushed nickel can be less expensive than polished nickel, which itself sounds like a pro, but one downside to that is that brushed nickel is sometimes used in more ‘builder grade’ homes.

What is the difference between polished nickel vs brushed nickel

Polished nickel has a shinier, reflective finish. Brushed nickel has a matte, textured finish.

Both are timeless choices, but polished nickel brings more of a luxurious and elevated feeling to a space.

The downside is that polished nickel gets dirtier more easily and requires some regular polishing to stay looking beautiful, while brushed nickel is better at hiding fingerprints and spots and is much more durable.

When to use polished nickel in a bathroom or kitchen

Polished nickel is a fantastic option when you want to add elegance or a touch of luxury to a room. If you’re working with a design that leans more traditional or even a glamorous modern style, polished nickel will be the perfect choice.

Kitchens: Polished nickel faucets and pot fillers look stunning in a traditional or even transitional kitchen. I especially LOVE a polished nickel faucet in a modern coastal kitchen because it goes really well with the lighter paint colors that typically go with this style.

Bathrooms: Polished nickel looks especially great in powder rooms and master bathrooms where you want the fixtures to shine. It pairs beautifully with marble and other high-end materials to create a more luxurious feel.

When to use brushed nickel in a bathroom or kitchen

Brushed nickel is perfect for more laid-back, casual spaces. It’s perfect for kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms or anywhere you want a durable, low-maintenance finish that can withstand daily use without showing every smudge or fingerprint.

Kitchens: Brushed nickel is an excellent choice for kitchen faucets, cabinet hardware, and lighting. It goes well with all kinds of kitchen styles, from modern farmhouse to transitional. And the durability means that it can withstand a lot of the daily wear and tear in a bathroom without you feeling like you have to constantly wipe it down.

Bathrooms: In bathrooms, brushed nickel works great on faucets, showerheads, and towel bars because it won’t show water spots as much. And it will go nicely with a lot of typical bathroom materials and colors.

Can you mix polished nickel and brushed nickel?

As a certified kitchen and bath designer, I would recommend NOT mixing polished nickel and brushed nickel together.

When it comes to mixing metal finishes, you want to follow a few rules. And one of those rules is to avoid mixing metals that are the same color but have different finishes….like polished and brushed nickel.

Polished nickel and brushed nickel clash with each other. Trying to mix these two finishes together would be like wearing a bright white shirt with off-white pants.

That’s because there isn’t enough difference to create a visual separation.

Instead of trying to mix brushed and polished nickel together, I would recommend either using only one of these finishes in a space OR pairing one of these with a completely different finish – like brass or matte black.

If you want to mix nickel finishes, choose either brushed OR polished nickel and then pair it with a totally different finish, like brass.

Final thoughts

Choosing between polished nickel and brushed nickel will come down to your personal style, function of the room and whether or not you’re ok with regular cleaning or you’d rather have a low maintenance metal.

But either way, you can’t go wrong with nickel. It’s great on its own or used with other brass or black matte finishes.