This reply is very late, but it is possible to install a self-rimming Kohler Epicurean sink below like an undermount sink. Tile is no longer popular, so my 1987 install of this sink would most likely require some other countertop surface now. I wanted the convenience of a countertop that drained into the sink for easy cleaning. Just be sure to replace the silicone mold-resistant caulking around the joint that is missing in this photo.

Thank you My3dogs (this is my first post here so I am not sure if you will know I am replying to you.....the last time I looked at GardenWeb it was not part of Houzz...) I ADORE the Danby marble in my original post picture with the vintage sink. And I am not a 100% sold on Quartz/Quartzite but my concern is we have soapstone now and I am not pleased with it. A guest comes over and sets a casserole dish down and then pulls it out and it scratches. My "hard on equipment" husband unloads the dishwasher and drags a dish by the edge and it dings. I did like a white granite and thought it may be more durable than the soapstone but then researched the quartz or caesar stone and it seems bulletproof. The 'carrera" caesar stones look very marblesque. But I do love the look and feel of marble and so many on this forum have said it is NOT that hard to care for. Another dilemma! I believe I will have my husband make me a ply wood counter as funkycamper suggests....to try out the sink. I also need to research the faucets and get the sink resurfaced if I do decide on it (and I think I will always be sad if I don't..)

kelleg, that's exactly how I envision using our island prep sink, so I'm happy to hear that it worked so well for you! And great idea, to keep the cutting boards and knives right there. cpartist, nope, we're happy with our first floor layout. Our front room is one large room instead of two, so it would just end up as one vast family room, leaving us with no separate "grownup" living room (and after living in a very crowded apartment, we're really looking forward to having a more formal sitting area). We're putting the dining table on the left, because we genuinely almost never use it, and the right side of the front room is the more pleasant part of the room to sit in (thanks to the windows). And it's really only a difference of five paces. With little kids, we need the family room, with its toys and TV, to be the most accessible room from the kitchen, and to have the sight line. It wouldn't work for a family that did a lot of entertaining, but we don't. So I have no worries that it'll work out great for us. And we can always re-situate the space when the kids are older, if we want to. Did you love or hate living in an old house (or both)? zippity, good to hear the layout works for you! If you had a prep sink in the island, do you think it would become your primary workspace, instead of that stretch between the sink and the cooktop? suzanne, good point about the dishwasher handle...I think we want a handle, as a spot for a dish towel, but you're right, we'd bump into it all the time on the right.

Maybe just consider my kitchen officially broken in. I wouldn't give up yet! I understand cleaning paint brushes with a wire brush - I do that, but not in your kitchen sink! Utility sink perhaps, or outside at a water hose is far the preferred method, especially since it was not you doing it. I do think you should call a professional resurfacer, get a price, have them explain the details of the procedure, and tell the contractor who you want to have it fixed unless he has a pro do it. You scratching it versus someone who doesn't own it are two different things. Also, we're getting a couple Whitehaven's, as well as the sink grids, and I intend to buy some of those suction mats for the sides for when we clean our cast iron items (I use cast iron frequently).