I have a 33" Vigo ss apron sink. It's been installed for 8 months but we have only been in the house for 6 months. The outside of the sink looks as good as the day we got it. The inside does have scratches but that is to be expected. It is only dh and I, we don't have any children yet. I am pretty careful in the kitchen but Dh is not at all. I also found a thread in the metal working forum debating different ways of removing scratches from stainless steel. Of course everyone seemed to have a different opinion. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread on removing scratches

Yes, jerzeegirl. I tend to kneejerk negatively against the whole term "out-dated". I think the bones of the house should dictate whether you go more traditional, modern, cottage, farmhouse, industrial, etc. To me, if the general style fits the style of the home, you're golden for decades. Of course, then your own personal tastes come into play as well. If you combine those well, I think a kitchen should stand the test of time quite well. I've been in homes with 80 year old kitchens that look fantastic. Sure, there may have been appliance updates and other tweaks over the years but if the original materials were good enough quality to still be in good condition and, of course, the layout is functional, and it suits the home and owner's tastes, why update just because of trends and fads? Of course, if the kitchen is crumbling or has a dysfunctional layout, go ahead and remodel but choose items that fit the house. Of course, I'm assuming here that someone bought that Victorian because they appreciate that style of architecture and so their tastes will match up with the types of kitchens that should be in a Victorian or Cape Cod, or Tudor or Ranch or MCM or whatever. When I say this I'm not really speaking about appliances. An electric stove with coil burners might be age appropriate to most homes but I doubt any of us lust for one of those anymore. And the last time we had this discussion, someone popped in with amazingly modern kitchens put into centuries old European buildings. OK, that contrast was striking and those types of structures were never built with any kind of kitchen as we know it today. so I'm not talking about those kinds of extreme situations. Getting back to farmhouse sinks, whether it's a good choice for a particular kitchen depends on the style of the kitchen and the owner's taste. And in 20-30 years when you redo your kitchen or someone buys your home and remodels, the farmhouse sink may stay or go. Don't worry about it. Do what you like and works for you and your kitchen's style.

While I agree with the gist of what @M Miller said, there is a minor correction. The description of the corrosion process makes it sound as if visible rust is always just surface contamination from other items. That's often how this starts, but it isn't necessarily how it proceeds. Stainless steel gains it's stainless properties from easily forming a thin protective layer of corroded material all over its surface. But since stainless steel is an alloy of more than just iron, these oxides are primarily from the chromium in it. And unlike iron oxides (i.e. rust), those are transparent and form a solid passivation layer that protects the steel underneath. Usually, you are unlikely to disturb this thin layer of oxides and if you do (e.g. by scratching) it quickly forms again. It's self-healing. But that process breaks down if you contaminate the surface with rust, and that rust can very well originate from other iron objects that were left in the sink for too long. At some point, the actual stainless steel will start rusting as well. It's still a slow process and your sink won't rust through. But you'll need a lot more elbow grease than if you had to just remove some contamination on the surface. In other words, if you notice occasional rust spots, clean them up quickly. This process turns out to be even more problematic if non-stainless steel particles or iron somehow became embedded in the stainless steel. That is guaranteed to lead to rusting and will often even cause pitting of the stainless steel. This is not something you'd expect to happen under normal circumstances, but it is the reason why you should never use steel wool on stainless steel (unless the steel wool is also stainless). There are other things that can corrupt the chromium oxide layer and cause stainless to rust. The most common household chemicals prone to doing so are anything high in chlorides (e.g. cooking salt). And while the chemical process is different, oxalic acid in Barkeeper's Friend would similarly remove the chromium oxide coating. Neither one of these chemicals are a problem during brief exposure. But let salt or Barkeeper's Friend sit on the sink's surface for hours on end, and you'll see surface damage and blemishes that will need to be removed. Mechanical scrubbing with more Barkeeper's Friend should clean up the damaged area, and if you rinse everything off thoroughly, then in due time a new protective chromium oxide layer will form. And just for the record, it doesn't make a difference whether the original factory finish was satin or brushed. As long as the factory didn't use steel wool to do the brushing, you're all good. And if they did hypothetically use steel wool, you'd discover that mistake within days of owning the sink when it gets rust spots all over.

I purchased my Sea Salt Kohler Whitehaven through Amazon Warehouse. Got it for almost 1/2 price. It was perfect. I only purchase if an item is marked as 'Like New' or 'Very Good'. Just saw a Ruvati 9200 workstation apron front stainless on there with several installed pics. Might be worth checking out.