Stuck between painting my builds or leaving them raw metal

I finished welding up a small cart for my garage yesterday and got to the point where I had to decide: spray paint it or just leave it bare. My buddy swears painting stops rust and looks cleaner, but I honestly love the raw metal look with all the weld splatter showing. I went with a clear coat instead of full paint to keep the texture visible but add some protection. It's only been 24 hours so I don't know yet if it'll hold up. Anyone else run into this choice and regret one way or the other?

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wren_thomas1613h ago

Tried that clear coat trick on a set of shelves once. Looked awesome for about two weeks. Then it started peeling off where I'd brushed against it.