Tapping into the Right Kitchen Faucet Design

by Gabby Hyman
Face Your Kitchen Columnist

If you're shopping for new faucets, be prepared to find everything but the kitchen sink. These days, faucet designs are functional and can adorn your home with the latest in kitchen bling. From pull-out spray models to complete water filtration units, you'll find a faucet that complements your kitchen.

Kitchen sink and accessory shops offer a blinding variety of taps by form and function, with an array of finishes in chrome, stainless steel, bronze, brass, nickel, gold, and pewter. You'll also have to choose among functional types that work best with your kitchen, from one-handle, two-handle, wall-mount, and pull-out spray designs.

Choosing the Design for Your Kitchen

There are two basic faucet designs. A two-handle model uses compression to sort the hot or cold water sources delivered to the sink. The single-handled mixing faucet combines the two water sources and controls the pressure. The real trick lies not in deciding which design is right for appearance, durability, and performance, but how much you really want to spend.

One online sink and faucet merchandiser offers more than a thousand models for purchase. Single-handled faucets can list between $1,600 for a French satin-nickel model, and $98 for a basic chrome unit. Double-handle faucets run between $1,300 for an antique-kitchen, brushed bronze model on the high end, to $50 for a basic chrome kitchen faucet.

For kitchen faucets in the wall-mount category, you can spend upwards of $1,100 for a "weathered brass" design, to as little as $75 for a standard chrome model. The same dizzying range holds true for filtration faucets. A chrome design from a German company can cost more than $1,200, while another design in polished nickel from a French manufacturer can be yours for just over $100.

Search widely and choose wisely.

About the Author
Gabby Hyman has written for print and online media for more than 20 years. He has created online content for eToys, GoTo.com, Siebel Systems, Avaya, and Nissan UK. He has also been a web consultant to the Governor of California. As an author of fiction, journalism, and poetry, Gabby is a former English professor for the University of Illinois, University of Alaska, and Old Dominion University. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Alabama.