Hello Amanda, : )) Do you mean in the kitchen? Yes a nice idea. I like flat plate too, but really plain. Well the best way to describe how I feel about certain alterations is to tell you about someone I knew who "did up" her flat to such a degree that she literally took away all that was characterful about it.. Sometimes it's best to leave things as their patina develops over time and results in something quite special. Restoration is one thing but you can also restore the life out of something and thus diminish in certain contexts the value- and so it's good to know when to stop.. So yes, I'm firmly in the camp suggesting leave them, but of course it's entirely your choice. : ))

We had that choice when we fitted our new kitchen and categorically decided that it (in our specific situation) was a bad idea to have. It all depends on your situation though. We have young kids, we have young nieces/nephews and also 'elderly' relations. We decided that the majority of people using our house, who may wish to wash their hands, or rinse a cup out by hand would just turn on a tap and stick their hands under. Trying to re-educate both the young and the old not to use this tap when everyone has grown up with, and are used to, warm water coming out of the hot tap just wasn't going to be possible. Also, I don't really see the point of them (I view them as a nice to have) - I've always used a kettle for boiling water for drinks - I actually like the 5 minutes standing doing absolutely nothing waiting for the kettle to boil. As for the spuds, or pasta - mehh, I'm never in that much of a rush to have it done 5 minutes quicker than letting a pan boil.

I would search your local area for an electroplater company. Beware it might not come out perfect and may also invalidate any warranty from the original manufacturer.

By the way we also originally had all the seating in a line like that, but I realised that a) the seats all faced away from the view (our big sliders will be behind that side of the island), and b) everyone sitting in a row like that is not at all convivial. It just looks good in photos. So we've changed the island layout so that the seats are at one of the short ends and along some of the long side, so when people are sitting there, they are in an L shape which is much nicer for conversation. And we've put some cupboards under the rest of that side of the island which has added a bit more storage. It won't be as photogenic and I struggled to give up the original design because I loved the symmetry of it, but I am glad I was flexible on it in the end, as I think it will be nicer kitchen to spend time in IRL as opposed to looking good in a photo!