No expert here, but when our daughter had her kitchen re-modeled she had the faucet mounted an inch higher than her tallest pot. Seems to work for her.

I agree with 2" hex on counter - that was the norm - 1" was for floors. I also prefer color to b&w, but finding colored 2" hex today will be really hard, so maybe white hex with colored trim. Make sure it is has a glaze around the sink though. I like pale blue or green with yellow cabs. I HIGHLY recommend the book "Bungalow Kitchens". Reading it was like reading the diary of my house, and it has fantastic pictures of old original cabinets and counters. I think JohnLiu gave the link to pics from his vintage kitchen tour on you older reticulated tile post - find that thread and look at the pics - it has a few awesome colored 2" hex counter pics. As for the tile, I mentioned this on your tile post, and plllog mentioned it here: You will NEED to have it set in real "mud", NOT Thinset! Being Upstate you'll probably be more likey to find someone who can do it. Try contacting local Historical Societies or house museums to find out who does their repair work. Alternatively, try to find a marble flooring installer - marble floors are supposed to be set on a mud bed as well (but an old school tile guy would be best). As for using an undermount sink and tiling over it, I'm not sure if this will work. The problem is what will the sink actually be attached to? Only the 3/4" plywood? Will that work? You have to find out from the sink manufacturers. Another problem will be the size of the undermount rim - because it will be below the plywood, your QR tile will have to go onto the actual sink rim to hide the plywood edge, and if the rim is too narrow it won't be structurally sound.

It is true that some of the faucet companies make a level that they sell for lower cost through home center stores, but these will not have the same serial number as the more expensive, usually better made, faucet. I've noticed Home Depot seems to also carry more expensive lines too. For example, they carry the Whitehaven sink - and it is the real Whitehaven sink. A company cannot sell two different versions of the same product under the same serial number. If you see a well made faucet you like at a plumb supply store, get the serial number if you want to do comparable home center or online shopping. If the price difference is not much, I do try to give local companies my business.

If you do a search, such as ’sconce above kitchen sink’, lots of ideas come up. We don’t know/see enough to make more specific suggestions, but just as an example: A bit more mod style: