I’ve now recommended this faucet to four clients and bought one for myself. It’s high time to spread the word.
You can’t go wrong with the sleek but unfortunately named de’ Lux pullout kitchen faucet from Rohl. (Sometimes the number is R3830.)
It’s simple. It’s not too big or overly stylized. It works with traditional and contemporary kitchen styles. (There is a “country” version with different handle and trim around the head – it’s pictured at right – but I don’t care for it.) And the button/disc you press to switch the head from faucet to sprayer is large and metal, not small and rubber. Maybe the rubber ones hold up just fine, but I like being able to give the faucet a good WAP with the palm of my hand…can’t do that with a puny little button.
Thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can find this faucet in the mid $400s from places like Faucet Direct, which I use and like. But it retails for at least $600. I know: it’s a lot. But your kitchen faucet is NOT the place to skimp. Cabinet knobs…skimp on those instead.
For the finish, polished chrome is timeless. Brushed stainless is still ok, but I worry it’s going to look dated any minute now. No polished nickel (still ok in the bathroom, though), brass, iron, white, black, or “antique” anything, please.
As far as the name “de’ Lux,” I’m flabbergasted. What is UP with that random apostrophe? Is “deluxe” too hard to spell? Did the word feel inferior because it didn’t have a capital letter in the middle of it? Lots of words don’t, you know. And they’re perfectly dignified.
Well, I guess we’re lucky that Rohl’s main business is plumbing supplies, not naming things. Although you’ve got to admit that “LS750L Soap/Lotion Dispenser” is pretty catchy ;)
