Black Friday is ending and I wasn’t able to find my dream faucet or our sink on any of the great sales this year, so the search continues….
I’m trying to design our space to fit the reality of our lives rather than the way I wish we lived.
I’d love to imagine that the Mr & I would come home from our jobs clean enough to curl up with our dogs on a large down sofa built like a cloud (& upholstered in white of course) to gaze out at our immaculate garden and the sunset beyond….but that’s not reality.
We’re a rough and tumble crowd with chickens & dogs, we love our VERY dirty jobs, and while I do manage to have white slipcovers on our furniture- we expect everything we expect that everything we handle in our home will stand up to our lifestyle without much fussing.
This puts my brain into overdrive since I’ve spent the last 7 years living in a constant state of fantasy about all the amazing things we would do ‘once we remodeled’.
Reality is harsh and I’ve not come around to it willingly….which means I don’t have much time left to make A LOT of major decisions before we start demo in December!
Sink
While I’d LOVE to have a huge white fireclay sink in our kitchen, the thought of hauling it to our cabinet guy so the cabinet can be built around it, bringing it back, and getting it installed without any issues gives me hives.
Also, the image of myself lording over the Mr. as he installs the disposal repeating at a volume 8 “BE SURE YOU DON’T TIGHTEN THE FLANGE TOO MUCH OR IT WILL CRACK!”
So, after researching sink choices until my brain hurt I’ve finally landed on the Tall Apron Enameled Cast Iron “Whitehaven” by Kohler
Its beautiful, simple, has charm, and goes with everything.
Basically it’s everything I wish I was on a daily basis.
Kohler offers such an amazing guarantee that I can’t help but feel confident that it’ll stand up to our daily abuse without looking any worse for wear (unlike a fireclay version).
The Faucet
I’ve got a deep and passionate love for all brass bridge faucets.
The older and more patina the better!
I know a lot of people don’t find the practical or beautiful but I feel that the signs of time and age that builds the natural patina is a thing of timeless beauty.
The natural beauty and ability to age with grace is something that fits right in with our lifestyle. Although I can be type A about a lot of things, our home is not one of them.
To me there’s nothing more beautiful a space that FEELS lived in. Like rumpled linen or warm sunlight shining down on wood floors…it just invokes the feeling that your welcome. That’s what I want our home to be, a welcome refuge for all who enter so they might stay awhile and have a long chat.
While dreaming about the beauty of my faucet is all fine & dandy, finding it is another story!
It’s not exactly difficult to find un-lacquered brass faucets, but add in that it must be bridge style, with lever handles, and matching side spray and it becomes a Herculean feat!
Some Options:
I like the shape of this Kingston Brass faucet spout but all the curves and nooks on the body will quickly fill up with lime scale from our hard water and gunk from being used in the kitchen. We have similar styles in our bathrooms and it drives me crazy.
In the beginning I was set on a wall mount option similar to this Kingston Brass option (avoiding the lime scale buildup) and further giving our kitchen the old world charm I so badly desire. Once we were further into the planning stages it also occurred to me-we don’t have the wall space for this setup unless we change the layout of the window framing which is more work/money than it’s worth!
For a few days I even considered going with something like this faucet by Waterstone, but I realized I’d probably become sick of it. Plus, I’m not sure I want to faucet to be the center of attention since the dining, living, and kitchen will all be one open space.
This faucet by Waterstone has just enough detail while still having the classic spout and I love it!
I adore the side spray’s they offer and think the wide head would be great for washing vegetables and rinsing out the sink.
I do worry that the flat surfaces under the levers will collect lime scale but it doesn’t have all the curves that the Kingston has so it wouldn’t be as hard to manage. This is in the top #3!
Waterstone offers so many variations of finishes and even allows you to customize the finish into a two-tone if desired, which I love!
I really want a faucet with simple profile lines that’ll minimize the amount of lime buildup and possible contamination it can collect. Waterworks Easton faucets are the perfect example of this idea and they can be installed with the curvature facing either forward or backwards depending on the sink/counter depth. This is in the top 3!
I also LOVE the optional side spray with additional level handle that can be installed on either side of the faucet…anything with symmetry get’s me excited.
Then one day I stumbled upon the Mayan Aged Brass Faucet by Perrin & Rowe (Designed by DeVol)! This faucet is everything! They even found a matching strainer for the garbage disposal! This is number 1 on my list right now!
DeVol is located in Europe and I haven’t contacted them but the information says it can be purchased so I need to get in touch and see if it will work in the US. *Fingers crossed*
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