Everything (and the kitchen sink)

Life with a newborn means little time for house projects, and even less time for blogging about them. My apologies. Since I last checked in, we have fixed the overflow issue from the attic furnace. We still have a couple of minor adjustments left to do for better efficiency, but at least it's not dripping onto the floor anymore. We also had a security system installed. Besides the standard door-and-window alarms, we also had the air conditioners hooked up to the system. We managed to get the kitchen sink installed as well, a process not without problems. The drain hole is smaller than the standard, but we were able to use a strainer intended for a bar sink. Due to the sizing issue, we were not - and probably never will be - able to install the garbage disposal with this sink. I do love the sink, but I have to empty the strainer every 2 dishes that I wash. Maybe I'll luck out and find another sink I love for a bargain price. Here's the classy setup we've got until we do the kitchen renovation for real.

I should submit this to Rate My Space.

Giant - 26"x19"x11" - epoxy resin sink. Love its size and depth. This sucker holds a lot of dirty dishes.

Tiny bar sink strainer that clogs if you breathe on it. Mound of silicone to fill the 3" diameter rabbet surrounding the 2" drain hole.

Keeping it classy with plywood countertop.

We used a spare piece of plywood for the countertop. I attempted to spray paint it, but it just looked, well, like a piece of spray-painted plywood. So I had some cheap paint mixed at Wal*Mart, slapped on a couple of coats, and sealed it with polycrylic. The clear coat makes it glossier, easier to wipe down, and harder to damage with water splashing from the sink (and windows when I forget to close them when it rains).

To give this plywood counter truly professional look, I routed the edges with a roundover bit.

Gotta protect the finish. Wouldn't want to ruin such an expensive custom counter.

Since the counter extends so far past the base cabinet (3 feet or so on each side), we attached furniture-quality legs to the corners to provide some support.

I thought of adding horizontal pieces between the legs for extra stability, but I don't want to harm the finish of such a valuable piece of woodwork.

The nicest part (and I genuinely mean that and am not being facetious) is our faucet. It's a Pegasus bridge faucet in a satin nickel finish. It's beautiful and looks completely out of place with the rest of our ghetto-fabulous kitchen setup.

Purty.

It's not much, but it's a vast improvement over hauling hot water in a bucket from the bathtub upstairs to wash dishes every night.