Help with my vintage sink situation? Style mavens, grant me your
Hello folks,
So the saga continues: We're creating an art deco-ish 1930s-style kitchen in our 1930s home, we found a most amazing sink, and we have a slight dilemma. We want the sink installed as this style of sink was installed in the 30s, i.e., on a sink base that's shaped like the sink (with curved corners) and that sticks out a few inches from the cabinets on either side. Arlosmom's sink is an example:
This is our sink (it's butter yellow and about 4.5 feet wide):
But the thing is, these vintage sinks are only about 25" deep, if that... so only the depth of a standard counter. So the options, if you want them to stick out (which we definitely do), are either (1) have shallow base cabinets and counters on the sink wall, like only 21"-22" deep... but for storage and other reasons we would rather not do that; or (2) build up something behind the sink's backsplash, like in the next two pictures:
Or...
Does anyone have any other ideas, or other pictures of similar solutions, or suggestions? I like the approach in the first picture above, with the yellow tile, but am not totally sure how to do it since unlike those folks we're not planning on having a tile counter. We will have a vintage-y tile backsplash, but I'm not totally sure how to make it all work together.
The plan is to put the sink below a window that's as wide as the sink and has the windowsill a couple of inches above the top of the sink's backsplash, like Arlosmom except that there's no window frame below our sill. We will tile that whole wall in a vintage-y fashion (probably cream tile with a green or black stripe, something along those lines). The base cabs are probably going to be some kind of stained wood, possibly light cherry; it's up in the air because we have to go look at the sink next to various wood options to see what color works best. The uppers will be painted wood, cream colored. For the counter, we're not yet sure. We are leaning towards wood in a contrasting color to the base cabs, so either very pale (silver maple? Birch?) or quite dark (walnut?). My husband is passionately opposed to tile counters. :-)
Any ideas?? Thanks in advance for your help!
Comments (29)
mary_lu_gw
11 years agopalimpsest
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Undermount sink suggestion for a vintage style bath
Comments (20)The sink is 20 wide by 18 deep and 35 off the floor to the top of the marble. The cutout for the under mount is 12 3/4 x 9 3/4. I got the polished nickel console leg kit from Signature Hardware online. You cut the pipes to make the width and depth fit your application. The faucet is Porcher Reprise. I got them cheap as the line was discontinued but we used them years earlier in the upstairs bath and I wanted it all to match and look like it was all done at once. I had the marble top made, fitting an inexpensive under mount sink. I think the marble cost about $200, the sink was $100, faucets $150. The leg kit was the killer at $500. So yeah it's a $1000 tiny sink when all is said and done. It was an over the top no holds barred jewel for the basement bathroom. It is a very small room (5 x 8) and there is a 36 inch corner shower in it. So I went overboard on the heated marble floor and sink. Doing most of the work myself allowed the extra expense on the sink....See MorePlease Help Me Find My Style
Comments (16)Sorry I didn't get to this sooner, djdoggone, and sorry this is long but I can go on forever about bathrooms. LOL If it's too much to digest at once, you could save it to your "clippings" (look on the right side of the screen) and read it in bits. Glad your library is getting you the Powell book. Even if you find absolutely nothing else useful, which I doubt, there's some great eye candy in it! :-) However, 8'x9' is not a small bathroom, it is quite generously sized! When you said "tiny bathroom" I was thinking more like the 5'x6' bath that's fairly typical of a small house! Do you have a floorplan? I was able to fit both a soaking tub (a clawfoot, yum) and a shower stall into the 8.5'x8.5' master bath in my previous house; in the same-sized upstairs bath (oh, do I miss having separate baths) had a shower/tub but a double vanity and good-sized linen closet in the same size room. Very rarely do you have to lay mosaic tiles individually - they pretty much always come in sheets for easy installation, thank goodness! Unless you cough up for custom made borders (yeowch) or use a simple strip border, they have to be put together by hand but you can set them up on mesh mosaic sheets beforehand, which are then just laid onto the thinset. I had eliminated the small mosaics because you had specified "easy to clean" and that's a lot of grout! (I was unimpressed with the so-called stain-resistant epoxy grout. It DID stain, had a bit of a plasticky look, cost a lot extra for both materials and installation, and just wasn't worth the hassle in the end.) While Greek key borders can be had premade they are virtually always either glass or stone which isn't really appropriate for the style of house you're aiming for. One of the other nice things about the Daltile octagon-and-dot, it's dirt cheap. :-) You can do a simple but attractive border by cutting out the small tiles in, say, a double line around the perimeter of the room (before installing the sheet) and replacing them with those of another color. It is very classic and goes pretty much anywhere. (Some people will insist that you have to use large floor tiles with a small bathroom "to make it look larger". I disagree, especially if the color values of the small tiles and the grout are similar which minimizes visual clutter and busy-ness. I also disagree that small spaces must be automatically made to "look larger" - we have in this culture an attitude of "bigger is better" even when perhaps we should really embrace compact efficiency.) If you live in a chilly location, electric floor warming mats are probably the best few hundred bucks you'll spend in a bathroom project. On average they use about the same amount of electricity as a light bulb, and you can get a programmable thermostat as an option. I loved mine and the people who bought the house were totally jazzed about having such a "luxury". (It cost about $300 for the mat and the fancy thermostat - Home Depot and Lowes both carry the Suntouch brand, which is what I used.) Per the pedestal sink... maybe I'm just strange (okay, that's nothing new) but having pedestal sinks has always made it much easier for me to manage the clutter factor in the bathroom, because it forces me to put things away when I am done with them. When I have plenty of horizontal space like a full countertop, it accumulates "stuff". Some pedestal sinks have wider decks than others, too, giving you more room to set things down while they are in use - American Standard's Retrospect and Standard are two right off the top of my head, as are many of the wider pedestal sinks from Kohler (Bancroft, Kathryn, Devonshire, for example; the narrower versions have skinny decks). Toothbrush holders and suchlike can be wall mounted to get them off the sink top, or a glass shelf placed above the sink under the mirror or nearby. If there is floor space, a small standing cabinet (here's a spendy one at Pottery Barn, but it gets the idea across) can be placed next to the sink. As for toilet paper storage, there are attractive cylindrical storage containers especially for TP (Wal-Mart, Target, Linens & Things, etc.) that hold a four-pack and can tuck behind the toilet, keeping the "stash" within easy arm's reach. If you get monster packages, the remains can be stored elsewhere and the in-bath container kept filled from that. You obviously already know about recessed cabinetry, which is usually your best friend in a small bathroom - a wood-framed recessed medicine cabinet (VanDykes.com has a nice kit that is cheaper than a similar readymade from somewhere like Restoration Hardware) over the sink is stylistically compatible with beadboard etc. and holds some stuff, and if you use beadboard on the walls you can use a beadboard door on your recessed wall cabinet to help it blend in, and keep your trim very narrow. I had a tall, skinny (I'm talking like a 10x15" footprint) freestanding linen cabinet tucked into the corner near the toilet to keep the standard bathroom things in; things that were not used often were stored in the closet of an adjoining room. A pretty decorative cabinet can hang over the toilet to hold yet more - in the upstairs bath in the previous house that's where TP and such lived because we could just reach over our heads to get a fresh roll! LOL I am not much for the "spacesaver" sort of over-the-toilet cabinet, although some people like them. If you think the right way you can cram a positively ridiculous amount of storage into even a small bathroom. Can you do a pocket door? They are some of the best spacesavers in the world, and they have come a LONG way from the flimsy things of the 60s and 70s, more like the heavy and durable ones of the Victorian era (many of which are still functioning just fine today!). There is even locking hardware available. I understand the PITA factor of the combo shower and tub in a vintagey bath, I'm in the same boat. (Complicated by the need for a deep soakable tub for the 60" niche - I'm a daily soaker - in a lighter-weight acrylic tub in this 107yo house, feh! I love the feel of cast iron, but reinforcing the floor joists to permit the cast iron would require tearing up the floor in the hallway and one bedroom, or tearing down the ceilings in the dining room and kitchen. Uh, no.) Pretty shower/tub faucet sets are available - I love the one in American Standard's Standard Collection and it's very reasonably priced. Subway tile (white with light gray grout) would look especially lovely for the tub surround but if the hubby is being super stubborn then a solid surface (Corian type, but there are several other brands now) material would be attractive behind that glass and easily cleanable. A light gray with a subtle granite-like flecking, perhaps, although Corian does make a pretty solid light gray (Pearl Gray). Not quite sure what you mean by "how do I frame this bath" - can you clarify further? Have you visited the Smaller Homes forum? It's going through a slowish patch now but it has flurries of activity, and if you post questions you'll almost certainly get plenty of answers....See Morevintage sink in non-vintage kitchen?
Comments (24)powermuffin, thanks for the caveat on the garbage disposal drain size. I'm not sure that I would put in a disposal, since we're on a septic and therefore quite rarely use the one I have now, though it's ~30 years old and perhaps just gumming anything I put down it anyhow. Since there are drains installed in the sink, I haven't figured out how to measure the diameter--oh no, sounds like real life math! ;) Definitely something to know *before* buying a new disposal! mtnrdredux, I have to take faucet concerns seriously from someone who put a pot filler in a rock wall... ;) Yes, the deck and drain hole sizes and what faucet will fit is now gnawing at me (heh, likely because the design questions don't have a finite answer like this does). the ledge above and behind the current sink (all along the counter and wood-covered in the other rooms) is actually open to the half-basement below with windows for solar gain. It's a hypocaust system where the south-facing windows heat the air and then there are fans that pump the air under the north side of the house. We also use a fireplace insert but the propane furnace runs quite rarely, set at 60, and we're at 8200' with an -18 degree night last winter! Well, that was a loooong answer to your comment! :) I *do* love having the ledge to set hot pans especially, which is why I really want to put tile/something heatproof there. I put all the pizza toppings on the ledge while taking up the whole counter handling the dough--feels like a real pizzaria that way lol! ptamom, I have read good reviews of reglazing for bathtubs but bad reviews for kitchen sinks. This sink is in good enough condition that I won't have to worry about that. Concrete counters sounds like they'd provide that contemporary/industrial edge, but I have concerns about the maintenance required. Also, the counters (well, everything...) has to be DIY which is why I've focused on laminate and lately soapstone if other concerns can be met. thanks for coming back to this thread with your thoughts! cheers...See MoreVintage range mavens, can you date this?
Comments (17)The Westinghouse Rancho is a great old stove! I picked one up in good condition, mostly working, with very good condition enamel, for about $275 in 2020. I installed a new range cord, repaired the loose burner drip trays, wired in a new oven indicator bulb and socket, and a new 3000W coil wire for the lower oven heating element. A 70+ year old stove, which works perfectly, and can be relatively easily repaired, except that it is hard to find replacement Corox burners. It's been such a wonderful stove to us and the oven bakes so evenly. I recently read (see attached press release) that the Rancho Range and other Westinghouse appliances came standard with a development of 500+ homes built in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio in the early 1950s by developer Ray Heslop. This was the largest development of post WWII housing at the time in Ohio....See Moreideagirl2
11 years agoremodelfla
11 years agokatsmah
11 years ago
John Liu
11 years agobadgergrrl
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rococogurl
11 years agolavender_lass
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mtnrdredux_gw
11 years agoZacsDaddy
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11 years ago
arlosmom
11 years agoIdeagirl, I just saw your post. Your sink is gorgeous. I really love the butter yellow color. And I'm impressed with your cabinet guys. We couldn't get ours to do the curved portion of the sink cabinet, but luckily my DH is a pretty skilled woodworker. Yours looks great.
You mentioned my window trim in your post. The trim isn't what "builds out" the space behind the sink backsplash, it just butts up against a wooden box, about 4 inches deep, that doesn't show much in that head-on photo. Nutherokie's box behind the backsplash is exactly what we did too, except without the shelf brackets. Initially, I was going to look for small antique corbels for shelf supports, but opted for the simpler solution. Since the photo below we've swapped the white shelf for a walnut shelf which warms up the look. I love your idea of a marble shelf. I'll be watching for photos of your progress!
nutherokie_gw
11 years agoarlosmom
11 years agomarcolo
11 years agonutherokie_gw
11 years agoWow Arlosmom! Your husband carved those curves out of a solid chunk of maple? You have a genuine heirloom on your hands. My carpenter cheated. He build a curved frame then used a kind of flexible corrugated plywood product with the corrugated side facing out. I didn't get a photo of that stage, but found something that at least looks similar. He then laminated maple flexible plywood to the corrugated base. Tell your husband I'm in awe.
rococogurl
11 years agocovingtoncat
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ghostlyvision
11 years agoraro
11 years agoideagirl2
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nutherokie_gw