I put a high arc, but no pulldown, faucet in my old kitchen about 11 years ago. I loved it except for the side sprayer. During our whole house reno, were staying in a house with the 1971 original, short, old faucet without a sprayer anywhere. I hate the thing. I guess I got used to a taller faucet. This one is too short. That, plus the sink is a hated shallow 50-50 bowl, makes it hard to fill pots or wash bigger items. I can't wait for my new Hansgrohe high-arc I posted on the other faucet thread! (I think you saw that.)

Faucets are a matter of preference. If you don't like tall, then do something shorter. I know which I prefer, but it's not for everybody.

And chrome, IMHO, will never be dated. Classic.

I am not much help, as I seem to have somewhat the same opinion as you! I will be looking closely at your responses.

My problem is that I think faucets that aren't arced can look a little out of date, but why do they have to arc so high!?!?! But I do LOVE the pull out spray (had one in my old house). I agree that chrome is classic and never out. I have found a few that are less tall. You might like something like this...

Here is a link that might be useful: Faucet

My faucet decision was the hardest to date . And just for the record, I'm not wild about how it came out either. Sorry! Just wanted to sympathize and tell you fwiw maybe we expect too much when we expect this one to be easy. Who knew?

I also like the higher arc for water filtration containers (although we are probably the only person on the web that buys a fridge without these). What I like most about my high arc is that it moves from side to side. This is great when I need to move it to lay something in the faucet.

I like the way chrome looks, but I have sometimes found it harder to clean water spots (or maybe they just show up more, I don't know). This is probably more of an issue in the bath, however, than a kitchen sink.

My faucet is linked below. Mine is made out of the bronze, but they have chrome. It has been a great faucet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Danze D422057 Opulence High-Rise Kitchen Faucet, Chrome

Our kitchen had the 1972 faucet from the original build date of the house until about 2 years ago when it finally developed a pinhole near the top. Evidently the hole was simply from years of use and water wear. I went down to HD and stood there looking at the display until I saw something that looked likely and cost about $119. You can see how invested I was(n't) in the faucet. The faucet was a high arc with pulldown and was the best improvement to our kitchen in 20 years! The high arc makes not only filling pots easier, but is great for washing cookie trays and filling flower vases. The sprayer chased the stray bits down the drain without my having to cup my hand under the faucet, catch some water, and throw it at them. I went from "it's a faucet, big deal" to "OMG, I had no idea!" This is all past tense as we tore out the kitchen in Aug. but can't put in the new faucet until we replace the floor so we can return the dishwasher from the garage and then hook the plumbing back up. This week? In any case, go with the high arc with pull down and find out what you've been missing.

I can honestly say I would never go back to the side sprayer for any reason. They never seem to work well for very long. The flow and ease of operation is so much better in the pull down or pull out for that matter. If the high arc is too much to go with you could go with a pull out instead with no arc. I had that before and liked it too.

I went with a simple Delta Ashton high arc pulldown. My sink is in front of a window so it took me a while to get used to the faucet showing in the window. It does seem big in comparison to my small kitchen.

I'm still not crazy about that, but the function of the high arc pulldown faucet trumps the looks IMO. It is so much easier to use when filling large pots, washing large pots, rinsing large sheet pans, etc. The magnetic docking is great, and the weighted hose pulls out and retracts smoothly and easily. The installation was very straightforward. It did not need the level of supervision seen here!

One thing we did which I am still really happy about is twist the faucet when installing it so the handle is over the sink rather than off to the side as was intended. This minimizes the water dripping on the sink edge from wet hands. I am so happy I thought of that, I recommend that installation to everyone.

Aw, did the kitty supervisor approve?

I love your install team, Mabel! Reminds me of my departed crazy orange feline who insisted on parking himself on you regardless of your position or activity. (Oh, you're holding mildly still? OK, then you need company!)

High arcs are great for (1) vases, (2) pitchers, and (3) really big/tall stockpots. If you fill any of those things regularly, you will appreciate a higher arc faucet really quickly...if you don't, you won't see so much difference in function. To some extent, a pull-out sprayer can , if the hose is long enough, substitute for the higher arc.

There's also one other option - Pfister makes a faucet with adjustable height, the 'Elevate EXT.' You can keep it at 8' most of the time, but raise it to up to 11' when you need it taller. Might work for you; its supposed to be sold at Lowes, according to Pfister...

Here is a link that might be useful: Pfister Elevate EXT

I am considering 5 or 6 faucets right now and 3 have high arcs, 3 don't. My KD says that high arc cause a lot of splashing - specifically if there is something left in the sink. Is this true? Can anyone weigh in on that?

Also, (and this may be stupid) if you have a high arc faucet and fill up a large stock pot, you still put it on the bottom of the sink, right? I ask b/c I know that is one of the advantages of a H.A.F. but my current faucet allows me to fill up my pasta pot, no problem and I just wonder if I am missing something.

How high does the arc have to be for it to be considered a H.A.F? Here is what I currently have (stock photo) - in case anyone was wondering. Yes, it has a side sprayer but it is really well made and I have had *NO* problems with it. I like it so much better than my MIL's pull out faucet but I do understand why people go that route.

I bought my faucet within the last year, and it is a low arc pull-out. When I visited the swanky, overpriced faucet store, there were lots of low arc faucets on display. I don't think they're dated.

My sink is 10 inches deep, so there's no problem getting a stockpot under the faucet. Aren't most sinks really deep these days?

gardenpea I'll say it for you forcefully. Don't get a high arc faucet. (".... so I don't know that I need something for huge pots, just the one we use for spaghetti which is not horribly deep...")

Don't get a faucet as large as a bicycle. You have a small galley kitchen, so it is overwhelming. Get a smaller faucet. I can tell you flat-out that you will not regret it. ("... my question is, will I regret not getting the high-arc pull-down kind?)

If you get a low-rise pullout you will be fine. Consider a Ladylux (Grohe), a Livello (KWC), or one of the many shapes made by Blanco or Franke. ANY faucet that is a single main sprayer wand in a center tube. A pullout and not a side sprayer. They come in small shapes too.

Why this? Because a stronger central "sprayer chased the stray bits down the drain without my having to cup my hand under the faucet, catch some water, and throw it at them. This is why you go from "it's a faucet, big deal" to "OMG, I had no idea!" I'm quoting suzannesl. Confirmed by breezygirl abfabamy and others. And as gr8day mentioned, side sprayers are all weak.

Now, about the one big pot.
Either you put the big pot into the sink or not.
Here is the skinny on what to do IF you wish to leave the big pot on the edge of the countertop while filling it.
You can tilt the tall pot to get its rim under the faucet nozzle.
If you tilt the tall pot, you don't need to put it into the sink.
With a very low faucet, you have to hold the pot tilted for the whole time you are filling it.
With a high arc faucet you can let the big pot stand up again on its own, and only re-tilt it once again when you remove it from under the high arc.

With ANY pullout=pulldown spray you can pull the spray wand out to give the big pot the room it needs to slide out from under the faucet arc.

Hth

Thanks, davidro1 and everyone else who responded. I'm still debating the issue. In fact, on an episode of Property Brothers tonight they had a small galley kitchen which had a pull-out faucet. I stopped and rewound several times looking at it from near and afar and making sure DH looked at it as well. I'm very close to getting one of those, although he's not quite convinced yet. I think he thinks since I've already purchased the high-arc one we should just make do with it. The cabinet installer today commented that once the granite went in the high-arc wouldn't look so big. I'm not so sure, so off to look again tomorrow. Thanks, everyone.

Low rise pullout faucets can be gotten for $100.
A single hole drilled in the countertop is all you need for one of these.

If you don't want the pullout hose, consider this one:
Giagni Pivot Hands Free Kitchen Faucet in Stainless Steel ( GIA-87138 )
Giagni SK102-SS Pivot Hands Free Single Handle Kitchen Faucet, Stainless Steel
Giagni Pivot Hands Free Kitchen Faucet in Stainless Steel

It lets you spray the four corners of the sink, without using a hose.

When you see a faucet image shown with a plate under it, the plate is optional.
You can install it without the plate.