Laundry Sink: New Plan, Different Old Sink

After milling through the salvage yards a while back, I posted earlier that I had decided on the concrete laundry sink since it is readily available and era appropriate. But something always felt off about it - mainly how ugly they always looked and how they usually had hairline cracks and would need a special epoxy to fill the cracks and hold water. Since we're not in a huge rush for a laundry sink, we were waiting for one that was cheap or free and looked good and was the right width. One popped up that was a deep single bowl sink and Christina said that it would be enough sink for us which made me think we could fill the rest of the space with a countertop. It would also work well since the faucet isn't centered at 1/2 way or 3/4 of the way on the backsplash. (Centered on 3/4 would mean the faucet would be centered on the second bowl of the sink which is better than nothing). Any double sink was going to look odd. I measured for a 48" sink or 42" sink and there was no clear way to cheat either sink a little to one side or the other to make it look right by having the sink centered between the bowls or centered on one of the bowls.

I started thinking about the single bowl idea again and I would be able to center the sink on the wall faucet (which couldn't be moved without replacing original tiles which would be a different color). Going back to the start... I thought how about an antique sink, but single bowl and maybe not concrete and I searched for '27 sink and found one that had sold in L.A. The picture got me excited with the cool old style of it -

 
Hey those look like "Carthage" tiles from Tunisia!  The spacer on the bottom of the stand is because the sink is probably 30-33" tall max while kitchen countertops are 36"

Hey those look like "Carthage" tiles from Tunisia!  The spacer on the bottom of the stand is because the sink is probably 30-33" tall max while kitchen countertops are 36"

 
The sink has an interesting feel to it. The stand reminds me of "peg leg" pedestal bathroom sinks of the time. 

The sink has an interesting feel to it. The stand reminds me of "peg leg" pedestal bathroom sinks of the time. 

The one for sale in L.A. was sold but it looked just one I had seen on Craigslist and I checked and it was still for sale and had the cool stand!

I found the sink for sale locally with the same stand for $200. I'm not paying that but it's been up for a while so I bet I could get them down.

I found the sink for sale locally with the same stand for $200. I'm not paying that but it's been up for a while so I bet I could get them down.

 
 

I found the sink I wanted and built an old school countertop around it. The red clay tiles are still easy to get. The cobalt blue sink trim had to be special ordered as the inside corner quarter round tiles - called AUs - are only used to tile in sinks which people don't do much anymore. 

The front edge tile is vintage to match the yellow of the backsplash. The original wood side piece was in the living room closet. The wall faucet is still sold at Home Depot. I really like how this looks!

Living & Dining Room Cleaning

This past Sunday, I was very lucky to have my parents and sister come over to help me clean both the living and dining room. It is amazing what four people can accomplish in just a few hours. These rooms were VERY DIRTY before we cleaned them. A load of dirt and spider webs had fallen into the room when the roof was being re-done in the past few months and it seemed like we would never have a clean living space. We haven't set up the rooms in the way we want them to look "in the end," but here are some photos of the progress we made in just one day!

my dad did a great job vacuuming up all the webs on the ceiling

 
 

The 30's Wedgewood stove is up and running!

After weeks of telling ourselves we were close to getting the stove installed, we finally did it! Well, mostly Evan... He found the stove off Craigslist from a woman in Berkeley who only charged the manual labor of moving it out of her apartment. It is VERY heavy.  

The space for the stove was an odd dimension: 38 inches. Stoves are not made at this width anymore, but once were back when the house was built. This Wedgewood is the perfect width and seems to be working perfectly! The woman who sold it to Evan said the thermostat was broken, but it appears that there was only a safety button that had to be re-set.

Evan found the safety switch! 

Evan found the safety switch! 

We were also lucky that the original salt and pepper shakers that came with the stove are still around.

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Now we can finally cook stovetop meals at home!

pancakes on the griddle :)

pancakes on the griddle :)

Spray Painting light fixtures is Fun and Easy!

Spray painting light fixtures is a fun and easy way to make all your light fixtures sorta match. Here's another one - 

This base probably wasn't always white as from what I can tell. The original fixtures are all some kind of metal-tone finish

This base probably wasn't always white as from what I can tell. The original fixtures are all some kind of metal-tone finish

Since we've chosen to go with a black-spraypainted-decorative-metal theme so far, it makes sense to make this light match the others.

The shade looks newer

The shade looks newer

Doesn't exactly rock your socks, does it? 

Doesn't exactly rock your socks, does it? 

 

We often shop around at estate sales and a new shade was on my list. I saw a nice looking milk glass shade for $3 so I grabbed that.

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Spray paint is almost too easy. Almost

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Light is up and better looking IMO

Light is up and better looking IMO

Meeko was watching me from afar

Meeko was watching me from afar

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I think it's an improvement