We have a wall-mount in our renovated kitchen and also had one in our old kitchen. I love it and have no problems with the reach, though I also worried about that. (New counters are 25" and old were 22" deep, but I don't notice a difference in reach.) I do like the levers much, much better than the other style handles (cannot for the life of me remember what they're called now...used to know this like the back of my hand!) We had the four-pronged handles on our old faucet and I preferred them aesthetically, but the new faucet came with levers. Intended to swap them out for the handles, but it turned out that levers were so much easier for day-to-day use that we kept them. We have a Chicago Faucets bridge faucet with an arched spout (not gooseneck and not the flat straight out style--not sure if the in-between option has a name). We don't have a sprayer but I can see how that would be handy. Since we've never had one, we don't really know what we're missing. :) The 8" spout on our faucet does have enough reach to clean a 30" sink with no issues, though, which was another worry I had.

"Look at it this way - should the Karbon be replaced with a different faucet later, it will be easier to patch drywall than to patch Karbon-specific holes in your counter. " Exactly! Go for it. There are, and will be, many other wall-mount fixture options should the Karbon conk out in a decade. (And if you're really truly worried, live with it for a few months to make sure you love it, then pick up a second one on sale somewhere, just in case.) I think the wall-mount version is even cooler, if possible, than the deck-mount. If I had any wall at all above my own sink, it would have been a definite contender.

@kmcg, I love having two handles---and thought we'd hate it when we first moved into our house. Instead, we chose the same style faucet for the remodel! We do have our hot water heater set at a pretty moderate temperature (enough for nice hot showers but low enough that it can't scald). So that means we can (and do) turn just the hot tap on when we want warm water, and just the cold tap on for cold. I rarely mix the two unless I'm running a big sink full of water for something or need lukewarm water for bread, so it effectively functions as a single handle faucet for most uses. If you keep your heater on a higher setting, you'd probably be mixing the two more. Our new faucet also has levers on the top of the faucet (like the two here), whereas the old one had cross handles on the front. I prefer the cross handles aesthetically and had fully intended to replace the levers (which just happened to be what came with our model faucet, since unlike most of the Chicago faucets in only came in one version...yay California regulations!) But I've found I really prefer the levers functionally, so we're keeping them. We have a bungalow-style kitchen, so the traditional look fits in nicely with the aesthetic (mix of white inset and gray frameless, soapstone counters, and white cast iron sink).

No, it's a long story, but I have to use a top mount with my countertop - no one should plan an IKEA kitchen until they get their new sink (sub for the unicorn domsjo) because they will screw up your design. So the only way to save the situation is to just use a drop in (so much for my farmstand, which won't fit with the IKEA cabinets, already installed). I've already been through this with the counter people. I'm just wondering if I have to also start all over with the faucet.