Kitchen faucet favorites: gadgets, design ideas, shiny things.
My ideal kitchen faucet is:
-brass.
-two handles.
-bridge style.
-wall-mount.
-articulated (adds spout-reach and flexibility).
-pullout spray (in faucet head, not separate).
-touchless would be nice! But we can make ANY faucet hands-free by installing a foot-operated option.Ā
Iād like a pullout spray integrated into the faucet itself– I do not like the look of a separate side spray; because there is literally nothing I do not have an opinion on.
My goal is to have everything OFF THE COUNTER– but, of course, my cleaning lady is very lazyā¦ so your mileage may vary.
I mean, obviously, I like the LOOK of ALL THIS SHINYā¦ because this is all brand-new and has never been touchedā¦ but once that’s all gunked up on sauerkraut dayā¦ ? Yeah, no.
Also:
everything nice is nine million dollars.
But even if we spend nine million dollars, we still cannot get EVERYTHING we need for the general-sink-area, without compromising on wall-mount.
I am talking about the reverse osmosis water dispenser.
THIS is the ONLY thing, that our kitchen MUST HAVE.
I have no idea how anyone lives without one.
And we are going to make it EVEN BETTER: by adding instant-hot-water THAT IS ALSO FILTERED!
I spend all of my life in winter, heating water for tea.
My husband’s brain melts if our house thermostat is set above 67Ā°.
It used to be 66Ā°.
The extra degree is a concession to my weak-spirited bloodline.
I am married to someone who believes it is LAZY to be cold.
JUST MARCH AROUND.
ITāS FREE.
So the idea of simply walking up to the sink and getting filtered, already-hot water? That? That is likeā¦ magic.
Also, FYI: if you run the water/pipe/stuff longer you can put the equipment elsewhere than under the sink.
BUT.
OBVIOUSLY.
I would like the filtered-water dispenser to also be wall mounted.
But.
Can you get a wall-mount that has the option to dispense two types of water?
No.
So I googled custom kitchen faucetā¦ because I am EVEN MORE of a special snowflake than anyone knows.
But apparently, custom kitchen faucets do not exist… unless one of you has faced this and found a solution; we are going to have to deck mount.
So annoying to have THE OBVIOUS IDEAS and be forced to still do it a stupider way.
Also, donāt forget THE AIRSWITCH— it operates your garbage disposal without you having to toggle on/offā you push it, and some kind of hydraulic air pressure thingy runs your garbage disposal for several seconds.
Because what kind of peasant has to tolerate waiting around for their garbage disposal to be finished?
Here is some video I took when we were at the Wolf/Subzero showroom. Airswitch is at the end, but first is an INTEGRATED REFRIGERATOR… because I realized I meant to show you and forgot!
If you have not seen these? They are amazing!! Integrated is different than just plain panel-readyā¦ (what we got because we are poors.)
Anyway.
Airswitchā CANNOT be wall-mounted. It MUST be deck mountā¦ so weāll probably forgo it because my priority is getting stuff OFF the deck!!
But you can see how great it is for islands and other places where a traditional switch would be tricky.
I cannot just sayā well, the faucet detail hasn’t sorted itself out yetā¦ let’s just keep moving and see where it takes us.
The faucet determines everything else.
Figuring out the countertop fabrication, backsplash, mirror, sink, shelvingā¦ requires that we know faucet, lightingā EVERYTHING else that also needs to be configured.
So.
I’m wandering around the internet looking at faucets.
Most of which cost more than the refrigerator.
ZERO of which are EXACTLY what I need.
Turning an antique grand piano into our kitchen island.
Pool table slate into kitchen countertops.
Do I REALLY NEED a range hood?
All kitchen posts.
June 20, 2018 @ 3:21 pm
We live in a 1904 Queen Anne on the other coast, and my husband is always telling me that I am not building a Swiss watch. So when we redid the bathroom I tiled a 36″ working clock onto the wall just to remind him that YES I am.
We lived aboard 0ver 20 years ago with a manual foot pedal in the galley and I still sometimes try to turn on the water with my foot. I still can’t figure out why they aren’t standard in houses. They are so practical and I will definitely install one in our future kitchen.
We bought the Kohler Vinnata faucet after an unfortunate plumbing accident 10 years ago, and it has a lifetime warranty. Kohler mails me parts for it every couple of years, and after watching a YouTube video I have installed parts myself. I will probably go with their Artifact Series after the next go around. Take a look at the bar, restaurant and lav faucets, too.
We have a whole house water filter with a pre-string filter. It is shocking how quickly it needs to be replaced, particularly in the summer when we are watering the garden.
I can’t wait to see with what you come up with and would love the idea of a kitchen/dance studio.
June 20, 2018 @ 5:45 pm
The house we just moved into has an airswitch garbage disposal, it is very cool and feels fancy, and it makes running the garbage disposal almost fun lol. I love all of these faucets.
June 20, 2018 @ 10:55 pm
Having replaced three kitchen faucets in six years (two Deltas and one Hans Grohe), I said enough. Yes, the companies sent replacement parts. But the plumbers did not work for free. Just installed a Waterstone w/spray and air switch. Oh, my gosh. The quality is tangible. Because the valve is so precise the spray does not āgo every whereā and the finish is gorgeous. Considering it is equipment I use maybe thirty times a day, the expense seems quite reasonable. Wishing now I had not sunk hundreds of dollars in the āaffordableā stuff.
June 21, 2018 @ 12:41 am
We’ve had a Tapmaster water foot control for 12 years and love it. We should really get them for the bathrooms given how much we appreciate it.
June 21, 2018 @ 11:11 am
Can’t wait to see the Promised Land when all is one and your fevered brain has gone on to other topics. I agree about all hands off the deck. My journey was difficult (nothing I did in my kitchen remodel was any where near your level of difficulty!). I wanted wall mount and industrial styling. The object of my lust KWC went AWOL the year I needed him. I gave up and installed two commercial faucets with nonintegrated in the faucet sprayers. The sink is Kohler’s utility sink, Harborview. The sink has the primary NEED for me: integrated backsplash. At almost 70 it thrills me no end to know the rest of my time on earth will not be needed to clean that damn space between the back of the faucet and the caulk of the backsplash!
June 21, 2018 @ 2:39 pm
Can you do an under-deck disposal button mount? We bought an old Victorian that someone had poured a lot of money into before us, and one garbage disposal button is under the lip of the countertop to the right of the cooking sink. The washing soapstone sink is not even there – it’s mounted into the underside of the cabinet above it! Just little black buttons, you wouldn’t know they were there unless you were looking for them. Took our plumbers awhile to figure it out š
June 21, 2018 @ 10:32 pm
Have you considered getting a point of use water heater to put under your sink? Then you could get your super hot water from a single faucet AND save water!
July 27, 2018 @ 7:01 pm
1) For the life of me I cannot remember the name of the designer who offers custom plumbing parts (Keep thinking Barbara Barry but that’s not right). She does a full PDF catalog of French plumbing for things like freestanding tub/shower bars, kitchen faucets, etc. Literally down to the washers…you can order whatever parts you need. It’s NOT cheap but an option.
2) There’s also Tom Robbins who DOES design custom faucets: http://www.customfaucets.com
March 1, 2020 @ 4:50 pm
You had me crying at the comment about your husband’s brain melting at the thermostat being above 67!!!! In my house growing up, it was 65, the heater wasn’t even turned on until Thanksgiving until which we were told to “put on a sweater” as we braved the all tile bathrooms which the perpetually leaky sunlights in the middle of the night. My brothers, who all make more than enough money to support a thermostat at 70 in California, still abide by the same law. Old habits just don’t die!!! Love, love, love your writing!