How I Found the Best Farmhouse Sink for My Kitchen
I absolutely love the farmhouse sink and faucet I found for our Fixer upper home in Waco.
Note: This blog post was created in partnership with Elkay.
Many months ago when I was designing our kitchen for the Waco home, I knew I wanted two things. These two items were a vintage island and a large white farmhouse sink. As you can see from the photo above, I got exactly what I wanted.
I should probably mention I was “designing our kitchen” on a cocktail napkin while sitting on an airplane. (Sometimes that’s where I get my best design ideas!) As I sketched and did floor layouts, the entire kitchen came together. In addition to the island and farmhouse sink, I decided I wanted a pantry that was a vintage piece of furniture instead of built-in cabinets. And instead of upper cabinets, I wanted open shelving.
A month later I went to the Round Top Antique show and bought my kitchen island and pantry cabinet. So, all I needed was the kitchen sink.
The Planning Stage
I started researching kitchen sinks and I knew there were four specific things I wanted.
Farmhouse style with a front panel – Given the style of our home, I knew I wanted a farmhouse sink. Our kitchen is open to the dining room and living room so I knew it would be highly visible. A farmhouse sink that made a statement was absolutely what I needed.
Long lasting durability – Since our home is going to be rented out as an Airbnb I didn’t want anything that needed extra care. It’s way too difficult to ask short term guests to take care of a sink so I needed a sink that was stain and scratch-resistant.
Extra deep double bowls (of equal size) – We have single bowl farmhouse sinks in Pasadena and Ventura, but since our home in Waco is eco-friendly I decided to try something different. I think it’s way easier to wash dishes with less water with a double sink.
Undermount – I am a huge fan of under-mount sinks. It’s so much easier to wipe off the counter directly into the sink. Overmount sinks have a “lip” on them and I don’t like how they sometimes leave debris around the edge of the sink.
Luckily for this project, I was able to partner with Elkay, and they were great enough to provide me with a sink. I selected the Elkay Fireclay Equal Double Bowl Farmhouse Sink. It meets all of my requirements and more. It measures 33″ x 19-15/16″ x 10-1/8″ which is the perfect size for standard cabinets! That saved me money for sure.
I also needed a faucet. And I knew exactly what I wanted. (I think that’s because I spend so much time in our kitchen at home.)
What to Look For in a Kitchen Faucet
It’s funny but all of the faucets I have ever had are the same style. But functionality has changed over the years and I was excited to find just the right one. There were three main qualities I was looking for in our kitchen faucet.
Stylish – I wanted a very stylish faucet. I like the three-hole Bridge faucet that goes well with the farmhouse sinks. (Ok, so this hasn’t changed in over twenty years.)
Long-lasting – This is a no-brainer and something that should always be a high priority. Solid brass waterways are a must.
Pull-down spray head – I have never had a pull-down feature with my kitchen faucet and yet it seems like every faucet should have one!
I asked around and talked to a lot of people and ended up picking the Elkay Explore Three Hole Bridge Faucet with Pull-down Spray and Lever Handles in Chrome.
Do you know what convinced me? It was something I didn’t know I needed! This faucet has a hand spray with a “pause” feature. This allows for streaming, spraying and pausing water-based tasks! How awesome is that?
The Construction Phase
I selected our Elkay sink and faucet in the early stages of the construction phase. My sink and faucet were actually the very first delivery I received to our Waco home! As you can see, we weren’t quite ready for the new sink and faucet.
This area in the back of our home is what became our kitchen. This is what we started with! It took a lot longer than I had hoped but I am happy with how it came out!
The space looks quite different after we added shiplap and the cabinets! You can see we were getting ready for the sink installation in this photo.
The Completed Phase
And here is our home with our vintage island, sink, and appliances!
I love this kitchen so much and I am so happy I can share it with our Airbnb guests. It’s fully stocked and I hope some of our guests will cook in our kitchen. We have plenty of seating space and lots of room to prepare meals. I can’t wait to come back in January and spend more time at the house. I will be cooking at the island and enjoying my new gorgeous Elkay sink and faucet.
I like your kitchen. I wanted to see the piece of furniture that became your pantry. The island was really nice and I was hoping to see the pantry. Also, stove was nice as well. What brand did you select? It should have been featured in your blog. Nice kitchen overall. Clean and neat lines. They say white is out of fashion, but I still think it creates the ultimate blank canvas for any color you feel like adding. Looking forward to seeing more. I am working on my kitchen as well and will check out that sink.
It is very useful and informative. Thank you for sharing
Awesome! No words. You always go one step beyond.
There is so much great, useful information here. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Read our guide if you wish.
view more
Thanks again 🙂
Hi Leslie,
Can you please share the make of the stove you put in this Waco Home? I really love the white stove appliance, and wanted to hear how you like it also please. Thank you, as always, Kathy Jagodnik
Awesome! No words. You always go one step beyond.
There is so much great, useful information here. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Read our guide if you wish.
bestfarmhousesink.com
Thanks again 🙂
Nice kitchen, I’m currently working on my kitchen, my question is are your cabinets a 33 base cabinets
Beautiful! I second the request for info on the sink base, I know you used IKEA cabinet frames, please share the base you used, and if there had to be modifications to it. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous home!