No matter what style or size kitchen you have, two staples that every kitchen needs are a faucet and a sink. The difficulty when choosing a kitchen faucet or sink, however, is despite the fact they’re two of the most used elements in the kitchen, they vary greatly when it comes to quality, style and function. I can’t tell you how long I spent researching and getting hands on with both to find the perfect combination of usability and great looks, and after a huge amount of debate, I fell in love with offerings from the brand Julien. I loved their sinks and faucets so much, in fact, that I actually altered my kitchen design, changing from only a main sink and faucet to a design that included both a main sink and prep sink with second faucet.
So what did I choose? I picked the Julien Sky Faucet, the Julien Azur Faucet, the 36-inch Cambridge Sink and the 15-inch Nantucket sink. And honestly, they’re everything I’ve dreamt of and more, blending perfectly an incredibly gorgeous style with the perfect level of functionality.
Julien Sky Faucet
Julien Faucets
Despite being one of the most used elements of the kitchen, it’s easy to overlook a faucet in your kitchen design and give precedence to the other design elements. But after suffering through numerous faucets that I hated, finding a faucet that would hold up to the rigors of everyday use was extremely important to me. Look past its functionality and the kitchen faucet can be a statement piece in your kitchen, skillfully sculpted with beautiful lines that serves as one of its key design elements. It’s this blending of functionality, quality and style that led me to choose to Julien Faucets in my dream kitchen.
Known for their long history in creating products for the commercial kitchen, Julien home products are built with that same great long lasting quality seen in their commercial products. Manufactured in either Germany or Italy out of solid brass with ceramic disc valves, they’re the most durable faucets you’ll find anywhere, boasting not only a 1 year warranty on the entire faucet, but also a lifetime warranty on the ceramic disc valve and flex hose (which are really the faucets two main functioning components).
I loved the build quality of all of Julien’s faucets, so picking which Julien faucets I wanted really came down to style. It’s no secret that kitchen styles and personal taste can vary greatly from person to person, which is why Julien carries both traditional and contemporary faucets in a variety of finishes and styles. Having worked in a commercial kitchen, I knew I wanted an oversized spray hose for ease of use, so I ultimately chose the Julien Sky Faucet in polished chrome for the main sink and the Julien Azur in polished chrome for the prep sink.
The Julien Sky faucet is absolutely stunning, noting a contemporary 27-inch tall design, a 2.2 gallon per minute flow rate and a 360 degree swivel head that flexes, allowing you to reach anywhere in your sink. It’s the perfect companion if you’re considering an oversized sink, as I did. For washing, the Sky has a dual sprayhead, allowing you to easily change between a spray jet or a stream jet depending on your needs with the push of a button – an extremely handy function when rinsing dishes. The high arch and flexible hose also allows me to fill pots while they’re sitting on the counter instead of in the sink. If you prefer to use hands free, you can keep the spray head it in its resting position and direct the water flow down, while a single lever makes controlling the heat and flow with one hand quick and easy. From a usability standpoint, it’s the most functional faucet I’ve ever used, and could easily be used in a commercial setting. But from a design standpoint, the Sky faucet is a work of art, blending seamlessly elegance and luxury in a sleek, modern design.
The Julien Azur faucet (which I’m using for my prep sink) is a smaller contemporary option, noting a 15 3/4-inch height and sleek, more minimalistic design. It too notes a 360 degree swivel spout and flexible spray hose along with a 2.2 gallon per minute flow rate. Like the Sky faucet, a single lever makes controlling the heat and flow rate a simple one handed operation, a huge plus when washing fresh fruits and veggies. And despite my use of it as a secondary faucet, the Azur could easily be used as a main faucet, as it’s still both incredibly functional and great looking.
Julien Fireclay Sink
Julien Sinks
After picking a faucet, my next task was selecting the two sinks for my kitchen. While Julien offers the most beautifully handcrafted stainless steel sinks that are equal parts art and sink, I chose a pair of Julien’s fireclay sinks after falling in love with fireclay while on vacation in Europe. Designed to last for generations, the classic fireclay sink boasts clean lines that blend perfectly into virtually any modern kitchen. I specifically chose the Cambridge X-Large, a 36-inch wide sink as my main sink, as it’s not only huge, it’s also a single basin, meaning there’s no divider to get in the way of washing larger pots and pans. This of course comes down to personal preference, but having used divided sinks in the past, I much prefer having a single larger basin as opposed to two smaller basins. For the prep sink, I chose the Nantucket Square, which as the name implies, is a convenient 15-inch square shape, the perfect size for smaller prep tasks. Both sinks are handcrafted in England and made from solid fireclay, one of the oldest materials used by man, and both are chip and scratch resistant. For added piece of mind, Julien’s fireclay sinks also carry a 10 year warranty against fading and staining issues (and a 1 year warranty against manufacturing defects), ensuring your sink will look beautiful well into the future. In my kitchen, the sinks were the perfect addition to the faucets I selected, as it brings a classic feel to the contemporary lines of the faucets, which I love.
Stay tuned as I’ll continue to discuss Julien and the other brands I’ve chosen in my kitchen, giving you an inside look at what it takes to create a dream kitchen. Until then, you can see both the faucets and sinks discussed in this article at the official Julien website.
