The sorry tale of my sinking sink
By Christa TerryI’m of two minds when it comes to appliances and fixtures that are getting up there in years. On one hand, the logical part of my brain says something like, “If it’s still working all right but looks a little outdated, that’s no reason to toss it to the curb. We’ll find some creative way to incorporate into a new decor scheme.” It’s the budget friendly choice. It’s the environmentally friendly choice.
On the other hand, my reptile mind is saying, “Baby, you’ve just found the perfect excuse to get that new sink you’ve always wanted! You can put it on your credit card…screw the environment.”
Long story short, my kitchen sink is currently propped up on a tower of paint cans to keep it from sinking any deeper into the hole beneath, and my reptile mind has already spent quite a bit of time pricing new sinks. What I discovered, of course, is that there are two kinds of kitchen sinks: the sort I can afford and the sort I actually want.
I can afford the sink above. It’s all right…it’s white, and I like my food prep and personal hygiene spaces to look invitingly antiseptic. It has two basins, which is what The Beard desperately wants in a sink for some odd reason. But the sink I truly desire? It is as beautiful as it is deadly to my bank account, as it would require a partial remodel to even fit it into our current kitchen set-up.
My logical brain sang a little happy ditty when the contractor who came over to have a look at our sinking sink said that an el cheap-o clip could likely shore the whole thing up. Meanwhile, my reptile mind was somewhere sobbing in the background of my subconscious. *sniff*
Unfortunately, the economics of the situation has dictated that we go with the clip fix instead of a new sink, meaning I will have to live with my boring old stainless steel number for a little bit longer. Oh, but I’m putting my pennies in a jar and saving the odd dollar here and there so that one day I can approach our contractor and say, “Rip out the shite you see before you and build me the kitchen that I have mapped out for you in crayon on an assortment of cocktail napkins!”
January 21st, 2008 at 9:15 am
I found your site on Technorati and read a few of your other posts. I just added your RSS feed to my reader.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Ah, the farmhouse sink (aka “stone sink”). I looked at those also…but then was beguiled by the contractor saying the magic words, “Corian(tm) is having a sale – the sink is free with the countertops.”
I cannot resist “sale” – it must be in the genes or something.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Condolences on the clip job — I hate the look of stainless steel sinks! They look like they belong in an operating room, or possibly a morgue. A nice, white, kitchen-y sink is so much nicer.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:30 pm
When I give in to my reptile brain (which I do on a regular basis) I always Freecycle the old stuff. (You can find a group at http://www.freecycle.org) Good for the environment, good for someone else and good for me.
January 21st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
You can get a lovely farmhouse sink for a reasonable price at IKEA. We remodeled our kitchen over the last year, losing our far too worn and cheap stainless steel sink for it. I love it, and it looks much pricier than it actually is.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:05 am
I don’t know where you live, but here in Texas there are surplus house-builders’ stores every ten feet. Mostly they’re tiny and have odd selections of odd things, but there are the occasional warehouses of off-price stuff. It would be worth it to look around for surplus stores where you are.
There’s one place I love that had, on my last trip: farmhouse sinks like the one above for $50, an entire set of the Stations of the Cross from an old church for some unimaginable price, pendant lamps dating from the 1930’s for under a hundred bucks, and a Victorian-era shower, of all things, complete with the original hardware.
January 25th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
LOL! Oh, the careful crayon renderings on napkins. For anyone not laughing, you have likely not worked in customer service. I used to be a graphic designer, & you should have seen the shite people brought to me to print! “Really classy, but with bubble letters, like on this 3 year-olds b-day card!” “For the mature customer, sophisticated. In bubblegum pink!” “Like this! Like I drew on this napkin!” (Crumpled wad of paper also used to wipe face, apparently.)
I can only imagine the contractor’s pain.
Loving your new blog.