writersblock, thanks for the warning on Ikea faucets - I will check out the reviews. In fact in looking at the bathroom hardware I have and the general traditional style of our home, I don't think the Ikea faucets would fit with the feel, they are all too modern and institutional. The thing is the ones installed by the PO are actually less than 2 years old and of not-entirely-awful quality, I just find the configuration and finish to be less than nice. I love the simplicity of a single hole, single lever faucet. hosenemesis, thanks for the encouragement - I have been studying dozens of blogs and DIY tutorials on the refinishing/epoxy topic. Some of the projects look tacky but several look really, really good for very little cost. I have been honing my DIY skills and have enough basic artistic ability plus practical skills to pull this off, I think. Since DH and I have priorities other than putting money into the house, I like the idea of making due as much as I can with what we have, but making it better and more attractive. Really, it can't get much worse than the chipped, yellowy 1980 cultured marble! Well, it can - I have seen some of the blog "before" photos of mauve and baby blue laminate, etc. live_wire_oak, I think you misinterpreted something I said or perhaps I worded something incorrectly - I would never try to use silicone to keep a sink in place! The current sinks are enameled cast iron and pretty heavy - they are with definitely held in by screwed-in clips under the counter - there is caulk around the mater sink to disguise the fact that it is not the right shape and keep water out - that's what I was re-doing as the old caulk was messy and bumpy. The master bath sink is more oval than the hole and there is a tiny gap between the cutout and the sink. I don't know whether the master sink was replaced more recently or if it is older but it's a different shape and size despite the countertop cutouts being the same. It is not rusted like the other 2, but fits much worse than the powder and guest bath (powder room sink is the photo at the top). So, maybe for now I'll keep the faucets and sinks in the powder and guest bath since they actually fit correctly - and just refinish with epoxy where the chips/rust are (worst that can happen is the rust comes back through!) . Replace the sink in the master bath and a new faucet there, and refinish all the tops. And of course I am repainting the vanities. Here's what I have done so far bath-wise - this is the powder room before purchase last summer and after a little paint facelift, hardware and a new mirror (I was going to make a frame with moulding but found this on clearance sale for less than the cost of moulding!): Photo take before we closed - note the hideous sheet vinyl and the industrial gray vinyl baseboard, During flooring after painting and flooring, new hardware after painting, flooring, mirror And here is the master bath in all its current splendor, as inherited from the PO. Notice the enormous slab mirror (you didn't notice it, right?) the "makeup station", the high gloss paint (only rooms I have not painted yet are the upstairs baths) and the huge expanse of 9' of yellowish cultured marble. The guest bath looks almost exactly the same but toilet on the left and shower on the end. It was functional and had 1 year old acrylic tubs, surrounds, and faucets so we left it as a "next year" project... now it is next year! But just so you can see I have not been idle, before we moved in I made this: into this: and this: became this So you can see I am not afraid of "DIY", and all of the above including 1500 sq ft of flooring and paint was done for less than $1500 :)

I bought this exact sink with original hardware and legs for my bathroom. Does anyone have any tips on the best way to mount it? It came with two legs (no towel bars) and no mounting bracket. There are no slits in the back, only underneath. I see these beauties installed in bathrooms all over the internet, but no word on how people mount them. Any tips are appreciated! Btw I also asked the nice people over at deabath and am waiting to hear back. But figured maybe you would might know. Thanks!

Talk to the company or the product seller. The lever vs. handle issue is hte right one. We have lever handles and the faucets turn in opposite directions for off, both for the wall mounted (shower) and the sink mounted ones. All it should take is a valve swap-out. In fact, I had our shower faucet valves swapped because the levers swung down instead of up to go on, which seemed extremely odd to me. Put more simply, any faucet has two types of valves possible: clockwise off and counterclockwise off. You just have to pick the right one for what you want, given your handles etc.

To reemphasize the importance of eBay, I have something to reveal. My DH and I are remodeling our kitchen to look like a 1930s Art Deco-ish kitchen, since our house is from that era and we love the style. We (especially I) looked all over the universe, or so it seemed, in search of the right sink. He liked the kinds with drainboards and aprons and curved corners. I really, really wanted one that was set up for vertical faucets instead of wall-mounted ones (almost all 1930s sinks had wallmounted faucets), so that it would look more "deco" than "country/farmhouse." Something like this (see "inspiration sink" link below). We also wanted it to have at least three holes, to fit the kinds of faucets we like. At first we wanted a single sink/double drainboard one, but then research showed that those sinks always had small basins, so we expanded the search to single-drainboard models. It turns out almost all 1930s drainboard sinks had wall-mounted faucets, so this style is VERY hard to find and very expensive when you do find it (again, see below--yikes! That sink went for $2495!). Also, we both preferred that the sink NOT be bright white, as 90% or more of sinks from that era are. We wanted ivory or cream or pale yellow or almond, something like that. A tall order, in other words. And what did I win in an eBay auction this morning? A 1934 Kohler single bowl/single drainboard sink in near-mint condition (no stains, no chips, gloss still on all the porcelain), set up for a vertical faucet, with four holes and an apron with curved corners, and a backsplash that forms a little shelf (very similar to the sink linked below, in other words). The basin is more than two feet wide, bigger than the modern sink we have now. And it's butter yellow! And I got it for HALF the price of the one linked below!!! Even though it's in better shape--the one below had a couple of small chips in the front of the apron. In other words, SCORE! Major score! We're so pleased. Yay eBay. I searched eBay every two or three days for almost two months, which is maybe a little... what's the word I'm looking for? Obsessive? Pathetic?? But I'm glad I did, because I saw this sink come up for auction, researched it to death, drew up our kitchen plan with this sink in it, used Photoshop to make mockups of our existing kitchen with this sink added to check that the scale of the sink worked with the room, and so on. Total obsession, but enough to convince me and DH this was indeed the right sink for us. So then I swooped in thirty seconds before the auction ended and won it! Yay. I hope this inspires everyone here to look for what they want, especially on eBay... Here is a link that might be useful: Our inspiration sink