The funny thing about doing a kitchen renovation is that, as with any new experience, you find yourself taking delight from small things that you’d never even considered before. That’s exactly what happened for me when it came time to select and then install our Waterworks brass faucet and farmhouse sink. I went from being someone who thought a sink and a faucet were, of course, essential components of a kitchen, but nothing to write home about. And now, I’m that girl who gesticulates with wild enthusiasm if you ask how she likes her new sink and faucet. Because the truth is, the right ones are life-changing!
By “the right ones”, I mean pieces designed and manufactured with the utmost attention to detail by people who make it their life’s mission to consider the factors that never cross the minds of you or I. Take our faucet, for example. The Studio McGee team selected the Henry Faucet in the unlacquered brass finish, which I knew I’d adore because the warmth of brass fixtures in a kitchen has always had a place in my heart. What I wasn’t prepared for, however, was all the little stuff: the smooth-as-butter operation of the tapered lever handle, the weighty, anchoring presence of its proportions, and the positively statuesque curve of its profile. Its accompanying sprayer makes incredibly quick work of doing the dishes, with a powerful pressure that’s as strong as any professional grade sprayer I’ve used in commercial kitchens. (Oh, and that unlacquered finish is intended to patina and will grow ever more beautiful with age!)
As for our sink, the classic apron front of the Clayburn Sink had me at hello. I have never had a basin this wide or this deep before, and I don’t know how I ever lived with anything smaller. It seems like such an insignificant thing, but because we’re able to stack dirty dishes in it throuhout the day—without them visibly piling over the edge—the kitchen seems to stay cleaner for longer. (Haha, the ultimate lazy person’s rationale, right?) But seriously, after you’ve cooked a meal for a large group, there’s nothing more depressing than entering the kitchen afterwards and seeing your pots and pans all over the counter. With the Waterworks sink, I just place everything in the sink and we get to them when we get to them! And naturally, its a total looker, what with proud facade and stain-resistant glaze. Indeed, I’m so smitten with these two components of the kitchen, it’s taking all my restraint not to write this entire post in ALL CAPS!!!
Photos: Monica Wang Photography.