Wednesday, November 3, 2010

kitchen faucet hunt

Edited to add: the Kohler Karbon won.


Minta by Groh

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I like this square with rounded corners look.  Later I realized the faucet that came with the prep sink, which I really like, echoes this.

Hansgrohe Axor Uno2

Not crazy about the handle though.  But this is a good example of a large graceful modern gooseneck, which I seem to be drawn to but my husband seems to be averse to.

Talking about it tonight, I think it's all the gooseneck faucets in medical/hospital settings that put him off them.


KWC Eve
My friend loves her KWC faucet, so that line seemed very safe for quality.  Looking over what KWC has, I was drawn to this "Eve" tall gooseneck, which my husband think is boring and common.  I think it's elegant, but I'm not sure it's right for my kitchen.

Dornbracht Meta 2.0
In the Fixtures N Faucets showroom, this Dornbracht was on display away from the other faucets, in the front window.  It just looks great in person.  The sprayer amuses me because it's heavy.  The salesperson joked I could crack walnuts with the sprayer.

Dornbracht Lot

I brought the Dornbracht catalog home, just to have my husband hate the Meta 2.0 but love this demainding Lot.  I think this was the other Dornbracht in the window.  It impressed me as cool but a little bit scary.  All those squared-off edges are severe.  And, is the boxy-style stainless steel sink going to look sloppy next to it?

Kohler Karbon
Then, in another direction, the Kohler Karbon is fun.  I like how you can articulate it and it would stay there.  I like how it would reach different areas of the sink.  I like how I saw it on t.v. and they posed it as a dauchshund.  

The obvious drawback: kids posing this to spray someone across the room when it's turned on.

Brizio Venuto with Smart Touch
We like the idea of the Smart Touch faucet.  But we're not so excited about the look.  And I wonder about how well made it would be compared to say, a KWC.

The other Brizio Smart Touch faucets look even less appealing.
Now I discovered MGS, made in Italy.  Here's one in that shape 

pull out spout

Grohe "Essence"
What I like about this solution: the control on top makes it easier for the spout to be used by either right- or left-handed people.  And in this house, I think we're just about evenly divided among those camps, and I hadn't given it a thought, being in the right-hand camp.

Grohe Essence with sprayer pulled out.


What I don't like is, the pull out has to be pulled towards you, instead of down.  I think--I'm not really sure how the pull-out works on this one.

WhiteHaus "Deco Haus"
And then there's just being honest with myself: I do seem to be converging on the look of a pot filler.  Why not just put in a really great sculptural pot filler?   But, am I brazen enough to deal with it when an outsider comes into my kitchen and thinks "hm, that's a potfiller at her sink. That's weird."  I do hate how my new house tends to make me class conscious or something like that.


3 comments:

  1. Hi Johnna,
    I had a hard time picking out my kitchen faucet. I know what you mean. I don't think I'm much help to you. I like the look of the Brizio Venuto with Smart Touch.

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  2. The Kohler Karbon makes a good conversation piece. Every faucet needs an interesting story.

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  3. Hi Tina--do you remember which faucet you went with? And is this like most things, after you have the faucet you don't much think about it anymore?

    TJ, stories are fun. I wonder if I could have two Karbon faucets on one island--one for the main sink and another for the prep sink. There's no little sister version of the Karbon.

    Now that I know my cabinets are cheap and mass made, I'm feeling much less pressure to choose the perfect faucet.

    Thanks for the conversation!

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