Upstate Update: Master Bath Progress

I went up to the house on Sunday for the first time in over two months (due to certain complications with our new contractor) and there was a lot to see -- almost all of it in the master bathroom.  So, in no particular order...

Remember this lovely vanity/counter/sink combo that I picked up at BIG NYC back in February 2012? Here it is sitting at BIG.

Well, after much back and forth about whether it would fit, it looks like it will finally have a home in our master bathroom!  So exciting!!!  I'm glad I don't have to help carry that massive marble slab up the stairs into the bathroom - it weighs an awful lot.

And look how nicely this tile border I devised for the master bath floor came out.

And here are some panoramae I assembled.  They look wonky, but that is just the panorama software.

DESIGN IDEA: Vintage Soapstone Sinks? Cheap and abundant, but workable?

(Note to reader - all photos are from elsewhere on the web)

We haven't chosen a kitchen sink yet, but the time is nigh (does that mean what I think it means?).  Anyway, we have been talking about getting a farmhouse sink, whatever that means.  The term "farmhouse sink" seems to cover anything from a brand new apron front firestone sink to a great big cast iron slop sink with washboards on either side to the monstrously heavy "soapstone" sinks that used to be popular in basement laundry rooms to any big old dirty tub anybody on CL is hoping to get out of their basement.  

The new firestone sinks aren't going anywhere anytime soon and they cost a little bundle, so we can talk about those some other later if nothing else works out.  And the big cast iron ones are just so gosh darn wide (since this is about things "country" I'm taking "gosh darn" out for a test drive) with the big washboards on either side - so they just wouldn't work against a curved wall - plus they are usually missing a big ring of enamel around the drain hole and have a dark circle of exposed iron which is no fun at all.  

And then there are these massive old soapstone sinks.  A lot of them seem to come from Alberene, a company that is still in business ("The Alberene Soapstone Company was founded in 1888 after large deposits of soapstone were discovered in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains." and so on (http://www.alberenesoapstone.com/why-alberene-soapstone/about-alberene-soapstone)).  They came in single basin and double basin and had a brass or bronze medallion on the front and looked pretty much like some variation on this...

And they sometimes sat on heavy cast iron legs (but good luck finding a pair of these. I have visions of them electroplated gold - oooooh!!)

And there are a lot of them out there for sale for anywhere from $75 to $500 - but plenty turn up on CL in the affordable range. 

They are big and heavy and invariably filthy, but since they are made of soapstone which is not porous, so it seems they can be cleaned up!

Apparently, if you sand these sinks down and then rub in some mineral oil, they clean up pretty nice.

These two following are pretty much the most realistic inspiration photos since they are the most common model of old Alberene double basin sinks.

 

And here are some more examples:

And since they lend themselves to wall mounted faucets, you can do fun stuff like this:

What do we think?
 
Some Links:
Here is a guy who did it himself: http://myhouserepair.blogspot.com/

And here is another great link: http://www.cultivate.com/blog/why-you-should-try-salvaged-kitchen-sink

design ideas - apron-front kitchen sinks

So, I think we're agreed that we want an apron-front kitchen sink.  They're just so big and nice (and they hold like a week's-worth of dishes, which is perfect for me).  So, here they are, apron-front kitchen sinks:

1 - Kohler – Hawthorne™ apron-front, tile-in kitchen sink (over $1800.00)

2 - Kohler – Verity® apron-front undercounter kitchen sink (over $2600.00)

3 - Belle Foret Farm Apron Front $408

4 - http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/kitchen/simple-kitchen-backsplashes--110954

5 - http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/look/heathers-bungalow-kitchen-update-047289

(sink apparently from Ikea!)

6 – What do we think of the under-counter mounted apron-front sink? - http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/house-tours/courtney-andys-cape-codhouse-call-112527

7 - http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/house-tours/courtney-andys-cape-codhouse-call-112527

(again, the Ikea sink! – I'm going to have to check this out)

 

8 - Whitehaus Apron Front Classic Farm House Sink 30 x 20 x 10 - ~$975.00- http://shop.designerplumbing.com/store/WHITEH58.html

And here are a few pics from shorelychic.blogspot.com: http://shorelychic.blogspot.com/2010/10/farmhouse-sinks.html