Renovating? Here’s a quick guide to choosing your kitchen tap
Your kitchen tap is one of the most important parts of what may be the most important space in your home – the kitchen. So when you renovate or update your home it’s well worth spending a little time to make the right choice.
To make your choice easier we’ve put together a quick guide to choosing the right kitchen tap.
Choose a tap that suits your kitchen design
Your tap should match whatever look you’re going for in your kitchen. For example, if your kitchen has a heritage style with ornate fixtures and fittings a classic style brass tap may suit. The same goes for minimalist, modern and industrial designs.
If you’re not sure whether your tap suits your kitchen’s design or need help choosing, get in touch with the experts at Abey Australia.
Make sure your tap matches or complements your other finishes
As well as the style of your kitchen your tap should match or complement the other finishes and accents in your kitchen. That includes your benchtop, floor tiles and splashback, appliances, cabinetry, and even window frames.
For example, if you’re going for a coloured splashback a muted colour may be best for your tap, to avoid them competing for attention – or if all of your other fittings and handles are minimalist, a matte black tap may look best.
Consider mounting
When designing your kitchen it’s a good idea to consider how you’re going to mount your tap. Generally you’ve got three options:
- Wall mounted.
- Bench mounted.
- Mounted in your sink.
Bench-mounted taps are the most common, followed by sink-mounted taps, which give your sink a seamless, all-in-one appearance. Wall-mounted taps will give you a little extra space on your benchtop and make it easier to clean, but they may be slightly more expensive to install.
Check out the tap’s WELS rating
A WELS label (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards) is a sticker that comes on all kitchen appliances and fixtures that consume water to help you make more informed decisions about the water efficiency of the products you’re buying. The more stars, the more water efficient.
Generally a one or two star tap should be avoided, while three to six stars are fairly water efficient. A more water efficient tap is better for the environment, will save you money on water (obviously) as well as the cost of heating hot water.
Think about functionality
Sometimes a simple tap is more than enough. But in other cases you may want a tap with extra functions such as a pullout, spray or swivel function.
Pullout taps extend the tap so that you can use it like a showerhead to clean food, rinse the sink or clean hard to reach places in your kitchen. These are particularly useful in large sinks where a traditional tap may not be able to reach every corner. A spray function is a pressurised jet of water that can be activated on the side of the tap – it’s useful for cleaning caked on food off dishes and oven trays.
See your options in person before you buy
Before you decide on the right tap for your kitchen renovation it’s always a good idea to view your options in person and speak to an expert.
So why not visit an Abey Selection Gallery near you. You’ll find a huge selection of taps to browse and plenty of inhouse experts to provide advice and steer you in the right direction.
