Faucet Opinions

I want your opinions in another little poll about our kitchen. I ordered the countertops and sink last week (I LOVE them and will post details at some point) but have had a big dilemma about how many holes to have drilled in them for the faucet. I hadn't chosen a faucet yet...woops! So I have a couple more days to change what I told them if I find a faucet that needs something other than 3 holes drilled.

Here are the necessities:
A sprayer (but it could be integrated in the faucet or a separate sprayer next to the faucet)
High neck (we like the look of tall faucets as well as their functionality in getting large pots to fit under them)
Built in soap dispenser (we will have at least one hole drilled for a mounted soap dispenser...if the faucet we choose doesn't come with one we'll add it separately...a serious MUST have for me!)

Now here are the choices I have sourced so far. I like them both...just not sure if we went with the second one if people would think it looks weird. Let me know your honest opinion on the poll at the right and in comments. They both have a pull-down sprayer that is built in...so if you have a pull-down sprayer and like it or don't - let me know why.

Option 1

 Option 2

 

 Oh, and one last thing. I'd also love to know what finish you like on a kitchen faucet. I don't have a poll for that so feel free to leave a comment. Do you like brushed nickel, stainless, chrome, or something else??

Which do you prefer?

I'm pulling together some of the finishing touches for our house. But I want some opinions from YOU on which shower hardware we should choose for the 'master' bathroom.
It's a really tiny bathroom...it used to just be a powder room off of the bedroom on the main floor but we took out the closet that was in the bedroom and expanded the bathroom. What was the closet is now a shower. (and what was a hallway is now the closet)

Since the bathroom is so small we are able to choose some nicer tile and fixtures. It's on the main level and also the bathroom that guests will use. (if you've been to my house you may wonder how that's possible...but we've added a doorway from our family room into this newly expanded bathroom so you don't have to walk through the bedroom anymore)

So picture this...we have a frameless glass shower door on the shower and there will be floor to ceiling carrara marble tile 'mosaic' inside the shower. (it's not really a traditional mosaic - it's just different sizes of the same tile together)

Here's where I need your help. I love the look of exposed shower pipes....like the examples below. I think they're beautiful but my husband thinks they look like handicap showers and he would rather have a traditional shower head and knobs. What do you like better? You can vote using the poll on the right side of this blog.

 

Below is an up-close look at the handle system that comes out of the wall.

 

And another example of what one would look like in a shower.