Yummer Plumber

I had no idea that finding a kitchen faucet would make me so happy.  I had spent a lot of time online looking at plumbing fixtures and filling up virtual shopping carts.   Here's a sample of one list

I put together 3 or 4 more of those.  My search was for interesting fixtures with classic lines, anything that had a little character. Then I'd send the lists off to the contractor but somehow they'd synthesize my order, remold it into what they said I really needed and recommend something like

this.  They just weren't seeing my vision.

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to live in an industrial space.  When I was a kid I wanted to live in my elementary school.  I just loved the oversized windows in the halls, the high ceilings and dark, echoing stairwells. I'd still like to live in a school building or a warehouse or an old fire station. And so would lots of people which means that those cool old buildings are hard to come by and expensive when you do find them.  But there are little ways to introduce that industrial aesthetic into the Huron house and one of them is with plumbing fixtures.  The trick was finding something I could afford that had an interesting design style. Things weren't looking up until I stumbled upon a place called the Chicago Faucet Shoppe (chicagofaucetshoppe.com). These guys know their business and they're a treat to spend time with. The first day I was in their tiny store on Elston the floor was covered in cleaned up, previously owned sinks and toilets. Somebody was rehabbing a house that must have been fairly large because they had a couple truck loads of porcelain that they were recycling through the store. It resulted in a very casual, come-as-you-are ambience and if you like that sort of thing and appreciate a small, independently owned business where they remember your name and seem to really care about what they do then you should check 'em out. And if you need to repair, replace, clean or buy something Adam's your man. I wish I had more stuff to get because he is delightful. He recommend these

and they were exactly what I was looking for. Each piece is heavy and really sturdy feeling. Adam swears they're well made and will hold up and I really like the classic shapes. In less than 20 minutes he had sorted out what I'd spent about 2 months muddling through on my own.  And you know what, just looking at the pictures still makes me happy. Imagine what it'll be like when they're finally installed.