This week at the flip house, my plumber is installing the kitchen faucet. For that space, I chose a champagne brass single handle faucet with built in pull out sprayer and it is a beauty.
I also just replaced the faucet in my kitchen in California, again a sleek single handle faucet with sprayer in a matte nickel finish. And I’ve got my eye on a few different options as an upgrade to my studio kitchen after I replace those countertops. So faucets are on my brain this month.
As with everything, prices vary, but you can find affordable and stylish kitchen faucets for under $450 and often for half that price. When you think of how many times a day you use a kitchen faucet, good quality and function are key. Style is also important since you’re the one who has to look at it every day.
Things to pay attention to when deciding on a faucet are the clearance from the handle to backsplash and also the spout reach, make sure it fits your sink! Other details to check on with these single handle versions are 1) the docking strength of the pull down sprayer, 2) the flexibility of the hose, and 3) the strength of the water stream. Not all require an escutcheon (the wide plate that sits on top of the countertop), I like them better without but it’s a personal preference.
Keep in mind many of these come in several finishes from chrome to bronze to brass, so if you like the style, click over to see what other finishes the faucet is available in. I rounded up only those with high ratings and good reviews to give you greater confidence.
aberdeen / vigo edison / krauss
moen align / delta trinsic / delta trask
phister vosa / delancey / phister raya
kohler simplice / kohler artifacts / delta mateo
delta essa / delta cassidy / moen arbor
If you’ve recently added a new faucet to your space, let me know which one you chose!
.
Funny, I just purchased a kitchen faucet today! Fixing up our rental house to sell, so was looking for stylish but not too expensive and found a really pretty Rohl in polished nickel in ebay. What kitchen sinks do you suggest? Please add a roundup for that next!
Ps I’ve never heard of matte nickel??
Also referred to as brushed nickel :)
Something else to keep in mind is your preference of using the water spray or a solid stream of water – and which of those two modes the faucet comes on with. I’ll explain what I mean: I prefer the spray mode all the time, unless filling a narrow-mouthed vessel. When turning on my previous Kohler faucet, it would automatically come back on to the previously used setting (stream vs spray) but, much to my dismay, my new Moen doesn’t do this and always comes on in the stream mode. I called them and was told that all of their are like this. I am now used to having to switch it from stream to spray every time I turn it on, but if I’d though to ask or look into this before purchase, I likely would’ve selected a different manufacturer.
I have the Delta Trinsic with Touch2O – the Touch2O feature is a game changer!!! It’s especially helpful with water conservation, so easy to tap on/off as you move around with dishes. I absolutely love it, one of my fave things in our whole kitchen remodel (brand new kitchen). I will say, when it was first installed and I saw it, it was much “thicker” than I wanted. I still can’t say I “love” the design, but the functionality def out weighs the style. The sink on our island has a gorgeous chrome Koehler bridge faucet, which is an amazing show piece, and I will tap that one too when I’m jumping around the kitchen….ha.
I would love to have one, but I have a widespread 3 hole situation in my kitchen. So I guess, unless I want to replace the granite, I have to have that forever…
You can buy plugs for the other two holes. I saw it on Young House Love in their first house’s kitchen. If you don’t mind the look!
I had to do that when I went from a faucet with separate sprayer to a single hole with built in sprayer. I bought a flat counter plug that blends in, I don’t even notice it now.
I have been in our new build townhome for a year and the builder picked our faucet. I really like the style; it is much like the vigo edison you linked but in chrome. I was surprised by the strength of the docking, or maybe it is in the limited flexibility of the hose. We have a large one bowl stainless sink and it is a workout to pull the faucet far enough to clean the sides of the sink bowl. I’m OK with it now that I’m used to it, but would have probably selected something different if I had known. You are so right – we use our kitchen sink too often to have a faucet that doesn’t function well!
great ground up Kate, I am posting this to my Pinterest board ASAP!
Thanks!
Maria
Another thing to consider is the depth of the sink. We changed our low tap with vegetable spray over to a tap similar to the Kraus (above). It looks great and the convince of the high tap is great too. However the tap is too tall for the depth of the standard sink so there are constant splashes. As I cannot stand the water on the sink surround I am constantly wiping. We will eventually replace the sink with something deeper. My plumber said it was a common problem that people including us don’t think about when replacing taps.
Those faucets look stylish yet functional! I like the gramercy in matte black the best. Thank you for posting this collection, will definitely try some of them.
Great looking faucet’s !!!
I installed the delta faucet in my kitchen. It works just smoothly. It’s been 6 months i installed that faucet. So far i am really happy with the delta faucet.
Can’t recommend much than that one.
Thank you All
we’re trying to decide on a faucet right now. plumbers have steered us away from Moen to Delta and today we took a long subway and bus out of town to get a look at the Delta Essa but it’s still difficult to judge how these things are going to function once they’re installed. we actually liked the Moen Sleek better and the salesman said he likes the brand fine himself but i was concerned about the lever that changes from spray to stream, and i just now read one of your comments concerning this. the Delta seems to hold its position while the Moen lever has to be depressed while the water is flowing. the showroom displays don’t allow you to sense how these hoses pull lout and retract either. i think Delta uses a nylon hose while Moen’s is braided stainless steel, which i think i would prefer. i sure hate spending hundreds of dollars and not knowing how a thing is going to work until after it’s installed!