Kitchen Update: The Sink Area

 About a month ago we refinished our vintage cast iron sink that is original to our house and installed a new faucet. 

 We've had refinishing our kitchen sink on our to-do list for a good while now, but getting a new faucet was the perfect motivation to get it done!

BEFORE:

Surprisingly, our sink was in great condition, but there were a couple chips and some scratches in the porcelain.  We used a Rust-Oleum Specialty Tub & Tile Refinishing Kit in white, which I have to admit I was very nervous about because we had never done anything like this.  UPDATE: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT.  IT HAS NOT STOOD UP TO THE WATER USAGE AND WILL CHIP AND FLAKE OFF.   The product needs to cure for three days, so we refinished the sink before a weekend trip out of town.  We followed the directions on the box and it actually went pretty smoothly, although it did take a couple hours.  I was glad we did it when the girls were in bed because the smell was very strong and although not impossible to do alone, the two of us worked together on it the entire time.  Believe it or not, the prep work actually took longer than the actual painting. 

AFTER:

 This is what it looked like the next day... shiny and like brand new!  It was pretty exciting.  Although dry, it was slightly tacky... three days later when we arrived home, it had completely cured. 

I have to admit that I was so, so nervous to put anything in the sink.  I purposely waited this long to tell you about the product, because I wanted to see how it would stand up.  So now I'll give you my honest opinion... although it's not perfect, I would use this product again in a heartbeat.  I love the fact that I can refinish my sink affordably and easily.  But I will also tell you I am a lot more cautious than if I had a stainless steel sink... I never place cast iron skillets in the sink and I am careful with hot saucepans.  However, so far there has not been anything that I cannot buff out.  I also don't think there are any guarantees that the coating will not chip if hit hard enough, but that was the case for me beforehand anyway.

While we were at it, Justus also replaced all the sink drain parts with new.  That turned out to be the most difficult part about the entire job!

Okay, too funny.. I just noticed that although I cleaned the sink really good before taking pictures, there's a piece of lettuce in the sink drain.  I thought about removing the picture, but then realized you would understand.  So just in case you were ever wondering, I'm just a real person that has lettuce stuck in her drain more often than not (smile)!  

 More exciting than anything was installing the new faucet that Pfister so kindly sent me.  This faucet is called the Ashfield and I fell in love with it the second I saw it.  This is a three-hole faucet, but I purchased separately a hand soap dispenser from the same line to fill our fourth hole in the sink.  When I received the faucet, I was once again shocked by how durable and well-made it looked and felt. 

I knew its vintage design would be the perfect compliment to our sink and the brushed nickel finish keeps it from looking too fancy in our simple kitchen.  I love that the handles match the antique hand pump on our old well outside.  (By the way, it looks like the handles go up and down, but they actually turn.) 

 The one thing I was worried about turned out to be my favorite part.  Never having had a pull-down faucet, I had no idea what to expect.  It toggles between spray and stream modes and the spout swivels even when it's not completely pulled down.  It is awesome... I use it constantly while washing dishes.  The spout looked a little bulky to me at first, but now I like its industrial look. 

In other kitchen news, we have a huge slab of butcher block countertop sitting in our living room to be installed next to the refrigerator cabinet.  It's exciting, but I do admit to already missing my farmhouse table where I sit and each breakfast each morning (smile).

(Update: To see the finished kitchen, click here.)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!