East Texas Countertops And Sink Revealed

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are well.

Countertop weekend number two went off without a hitch except for the hitch in my back. 

Thankfully, we love our new counters and sink and the problems we had are behind us. 

Here is the post about countertop weekend number one. We encountered some issues. You can read all about them over there. Essentially, the last section we put in, needed to be replaced. 

How we pieced the counter was just not going to work. 

The old sink was fine and serviceable but it was not the look that I was going for. 

Thankfully, we had more countertop so we didn't need to purchase additional material. 

Once coffee was consumed, Bill removed and cut the section of countertop to the left of the window so that the seam would be in the center of the window. 

That was done without issue. 

We lifted another section of countertop and laid across the sink area. Bill marked the cutting line by marking it with a pencil from underneath the cabinet. He made the cut. It was perfect. He then cut out the other half of the sink with a reciprocating saw. He had much more control and no kick back. (The saw kicking back is what marred the section of counter the previous weekend.) 

If you recall, the other new sink was broken. A corner of the cast iron had snapped off. Bill was able to exchange it for a new one. 

It is the Kohler Brookfield Drop-In Cast Iron 33inch 4 hole sink. We purchased it at Home Depot. It was $249.00.  

It is the heaviest sink in the world. I have no verification of that but it is heavy. 

Getting it in the cutout without cutting off our fingers, took some thinking. 

Once the new faucet was on, we put boards under the sink and put it in position. I slid the front board out Bill lowered the front of the sink into place. We did the same thing for the back. 

We still have all our fingers. 

I was finally able to breathe. 

I am in love. This was exactly the look and feel that I wanted for this country kitchen. I didn't need an apron sink which would have required remaking the cabinet. I wanted drop in because I do not like the under counter mounted sink at home. It's a mildew habitat and I hate it. I love the white sink! It's so beautiful. It adds an element of sparkle to this kitchen. 

I sealed the counters so that we could use them for dinner.  

I need to do a light sanding and another coat or two of butcher block oil. 

The smell is a little strong and it lingers so I'll do that before we leave next time.

No. Cats aren't allowed on the counter but she crawled up while we were working so of course she jumped up when it was finished. 

The stove is propane. Bill would like a new one. This one doesn't bother me. I'd rather cook on it instead of electric. It has a vintage-y look to it which I love. 

We're toying with the taking the microwave down. We're not sure where we would put one though. 

The faucet is the Banbury High Arc 2 Handle Kitchen Essential Faucet by Moen. It was $109.00. 

We reused the wooden backsplash from the first phase of the kitchen makeover. We needed it to cover the gaps from the old green counters due to the crooked wall.  The faux tin backsplash was cut from a piece left over from my mother in law's old kitchen and a piece that I found at the thrift store. It's very pieced together because I cut it wrong the first time. It is essential to protect the wall until I decide on a permanent backsplash. 

Sometimes I know exactly what I want and other times I need to mull things over. 

We got the Unbranded Unfinished Maple Butcher Block. 

We got three 8ft. long by 25 in wide sections. They are 1.5 inches deep. They were $324.00 each. 

We needed one 6ft. by 39in. wide section for the peninsula. It was $389.00. That is the piece that had some serious flaws. 

The color of the wood doesn't match in front of the sink. That is what caused me to make the stupid design decision the previous weekend. Compared to the flaws we encountered during counter top weekend 1, this one won't bother us at all. 

Sometimes big mistakes make little imperfections seem less noticeable. 

A blue and white valance has decorated the window for the summer. 

The color scheme was prompted by a stunning flow blue platter that I found at my thrift store. 

It was only $35.00. 

I should have moved it for the photos but my IKEA cutting board was part of the reason that I knew we could do butcher block counters. I've had it for years and it still looks pretty good. I'll be using it or something else for all our cutting. We won't be cutting on the new counters. 

We'll hang the little white cupboard this weekend. I don't need it to disguise olive green counters anymore and it will give us more counter space. 

This was not an easy DIY. We learned a lot. I don't think we will ever do it again. 

It was worth it all the sweat, angst and tweaked backs. 

It was a very budget friendly countertop solution. 

I love how it turned out! 

Have a wonderful weekend. I'm off to visit my pretty kitchen. 

Katie