You have not mentioned whether you have chosen a faucet. I think your faucet choice is key if you are concerned the sink's 18" width is too much. I don't think your sink width of 18" is too far if you get a pull-out faucet. I would advise against a pull-down faucet, where the faucet is closer to the back of the sink, which could be a problem (JMHO). If you think about how you use a kitchen sink, you only reach for the faucet handle for a second or two, but you will hold things under the faucet itself while rinsing/washing for minutes at a time. That's why I think the faucet reach is important for you to consider with your sink's 18" width. My sink is 17" front-to-back, there is about 5" of granite countertop in front of my sink, I am 5'3-1/2" tall, and I have no problem. My faucet is the Grohe Ladylux Plus, a pull-out style which has a 10-3/8" reach toward the center of the sink. Make sure to check the reach specifications of whatever faucet you are considering.

Oh, the butcher block is for prep, not as a landing space :-) but those insulated mats probably would not be a bad thing to have around! The Corian didn't even *feel* like plastic to me, but maybe that's because I had soapstone but now have the PO's granite, which makes my skin crawl when I put a glass down on it. It's so hard and unyielding. Does quartz have that same *clink* when you put things on it? Hard to tell from the sample. I love the softer feel of the Corian. I dragged my husband over there last night and he liked the Sagebrush; however, he did NOT like the MS Corians and the appearance of those really reinforced his whole knee jerk reaction to Corian - that its fake and plastic-y looking. They had really huge samples of the MS Corian, so my husband asked me to buy the 10x10 giganta sample so he can see how it looks blown up from 4x4. I wouldn't do an integrated sink because I am harder on a sink. I'm figuring silgranit no matter what countertop material I use. On Houzz there are a ton of Corian images. Most of them are very modern, for sure, but the material is pretty attractive in most of those applications. I would want a super beefy looking squared edge profile to mimic that look of concrete...

You can repair it-just search on fiberglass repair and you'll find a ton of recommendations, but some other scratches will be coming. Most people avoid fiberglass sinks, because they look pretty for only a very short period of time. You may be better off "making do" and saving your money to purchase a replacement sink out of a more durable material.

I'm in love with this vintage pedestal sink I bought off Craigslist, and have been researching it to figure out how to recreate its original installation as truly as possible. I'll need to support it--it's big, 33x24, so probably needs more than just a pedestal (no holes on the back for wall-mounting, either)--and I'd like to get its unusual flip-drain mechanism working again (a desire that, truth be told, has exasperated my husband and several plumbers). I'm hoping some expert here can help. What I know: It's Trenton Potteries; the mark is blurry but I think it reads 1902. (Opinions on that one welcome.) Catalogs circa 1910 show a few sinks with a similar ball-shaped flip-drain (they were installed at the original Penn Station in NYC!), but not the underside of the sink that would show me how the mechanism worked. I think there was some sort of T-shaped rod that helped anchor it to the pedestal--those seem extinct now, even on the vintage market, from what I can tell. Has anyone seen this sink (installed or in a catalog) or others like it? Any ideas on how to bring it back to its original look and function?