Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Every item that goes into a kitchen seems to be pretty expensive these days and the prettier the item, the more expensive it gets.

(bhg.com)

This basket weave apron, for example, is quite pretty although I think it might require a little extra effort to keep it spotless.

(countryliving.com)

This hammered sink really appeals to me.  Love the texture it provides without breaking up the sleek lines of this sink front.

(oldhouseonline.com)

This one truly does have that farmhouse look, but takes it a little further than I want for my kitchen.

(uploadedbyuser)

Like the rounded corners and the texture of this one.  I have a white sink now and, although it is a bit of extra work to keep it looking like new, I'm tempted to go this route again.

(bhg.com)

Pretty sure this one is not in the budget.  So let's move on to something that might be within reach.

(Traditional Home October 2002)

Soapstone is probably also out of the question.  This one was carved out of a single block of dosa stone to eliminate all seams and make it easier to keep clean.

This one looks a little boring by comparison but I must remind myself, something in the room has to take the backseat or I'd have everything in the front seat trying to drive the design.

I took these pictures in the showroom so that I could discuss this counter top application with my brother.

Notice that all of the above sinks are single bowl.

I have an offset divided bowl right now and I love that feature.  I'm not sure I want to forego that feature for the farm house sink.  Something usually comes into play to make such decisions easier.  What will it be this time?

Some with two bowls are wider than the space I can carve out for a sink.

I prefer one bowl to be smaller than the other too.

This Kohler in cashmere is very cool.  Divided bowl, low divide, shorter apron, but alas, it measures 35.5 inches.  Well, that and the fact that it is a little pricey.  I'm starting to waver on the apron part.  I remain convinced it would be beautiful, but I can't really justify paying 3 x what a conventional sink would cost.

(Blanco)

However, if I forego the apron front, I could get this offset 33" double bowl in metallic gray.  The left bowl is 18" and the right bowl is 12."  It also has the lower divide.  But, I checked out the color you see here (looks perfect doesn't it?) ...nope...the metallic gray has flecks of glitter in it.  Completely threw me when I saw it.

I checked out some cast iron colors from Kohler and there are some lovely colors from which to choose. All this deliberation about which beautiful sink is best and in the end, none of that really matters.  I visited two showrooms today and then spend several more hours checking model after model online.  My conclusion: Texture, color, design, and price are immaterial if it won't fit in the allotted space.  And my allotted space rules out everything I have been drooling over.  I suppose I avoided that fact because I wanted to fantasize and wallow in the options.  But, that's over now.  Time to face facts.

But....turns out facing facts is not such a bad thing.  Sometimes there is a way to alter the facts.  So down that rabbit hole I went.  It led me to exploring 18" wide dishwashers and the pros and cons of such a choice.  This would allow me to have a 36" sink base that all the sinks I admire seem to require.  The other option would be to have a narrower bank of drawers to the left of the sink or...continue to steal a few inches by overlapping the back door casing as the current dishwasher does now.  Ahhh, not sure yet.  Still in the thinking stages on this one.

(mrspollyrogers.com)

But while we're still "thinking" about it, could this be a possibility?  

You can see me running in circles over all this, can't you?  I will eventually settle on something but you will have to stay tuned to find out what that ends up being.  Right now I'm headed back to the showroom to look at Silgranite sinks in the colors of cinder and anthracite.