The Mushroom Factor

So, a while ago I wrote about the drawer slides we’re using as we remodel our kitchen. We’re doing a complete re-do and my husband is building the cabinetry. As he completes the project, we’re learning what we like and don’t like, and which products work and don’t work. Some of the drawer slides we chose ended up on the “don’t like” and “don’t work” list.

My husband’s dovetails are just so fine (joinery, that is…as in drawers). So fine is his craftsmanship, I felt it should be showcased with undermount drawer slides. We used the Accuride Extension Center Mount.

Well, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The slides are fine in quality, however they just don’t allow the drawer to open enough. It’s like you’re losing a third of your drawer space. We used the drawers for about six months and decided we’d had enough.

So now we’ve switched to the Accuride Full-Access Undermount Slide. At $35.99 a drawer, they’re a bit pricier but definitely much nicer. We now have both form and function!

But, hey! I was searching online to link my slides for your easy reference and I found even more. Accuride has come out with its Eclipse Undermount Slide with “easy-close mechanism to prevent drawer slam and tolerance-absorbing design for flawless movement.” So says Rockler. For only a mere $59.99 a drawer.

My husband would probably love these slides since he finds my habit of not fully closing drawers quite irritating. Apparently, others love them as well. They’ve gotten pretty good reviews.

Oh well. Next time.

Aaaah, the infamous pot filler. It’s one of the most hotly debated appliances on kitchen design forums. Some scoff at its frivolity, others swear by its usefulness. Interestingly, the scoffers are those that haven’t used a pot filler and the proponents are those that have.

Pot filler faucets are one of many commercial kitchen items that have worked their way into today’s family kitchen. Located on the wall or countertop near the cooktop, a pot filler dispenses cold water and saves half the work of hauling it around the kitchen. It has a heavier flow than a conventional faucet and fills large pots considerably faster.

I wanted a pot filler because we do lots of home canning in the summer and I think filling a 33-quart kettle with water and lifting it out of the sink gets rather tedious. My husband wanted a pot filler because he thinks being called in from whatever he’s doing just to carry a kettle a mere seven feet from the sink to the stovetop gets rather tedious.

Turns out we both love our Danze Opulence pot filler. And not just for filling the canning kettle. We use it for cooking pasta, soup, vegetables and for measuring that one cup of water called for in a recipe. You name it, we use it every day. What’s especially nice is that it eliminates traffic jams at the sink when multiple people are cooking together, an activity our whole family does now that we have a large kitchen.

So what’s the debate with pot fillers?

Aside from cost, which varies greatly, the biggest concern people have is that the pot filler might leak—there is no sink beneath the faucet, after all. However, most pot filler faucets on today’s market have a double shut off valve, one at either end, and this serves to minimize damaging drips.

Aesthetics are another concern. People are doing some pretty artistic backsplashes these days and don’t like the idea of a wall-mount faucet interrupting the design. A perfect solution for this is the deck-mount, which also works well for islands and kitchen remodels where a wall-mount is impractical. In my opinion, the articulated extensions in both the wall and deck-mounts are art forms in themselves and look very, very cool.

And for those with technical concerns: there’s always the installation. I’m fortunate to have a handy husband that can do it all. He plumbed the one-half inch water line during our renovation process when the walls were completely gutted. He did the final installation and hook-up after we completed the backsplash. If your plumber or contractor is professional, he or she will certainly be qualified to install a pot filler in a variety of design situations.

Convenience. Safety. Cool factor. And most important: family togetherness.

I say there’s no debate at all!