FauxFabulous

Farmhouse Sink?

OLD WORLD | MODERN | BACKSPLASH | GLASS BLOCK | FAUX GLASS

Many people appreciate the classic beauty of a farmhouse sink. Recently, the farmhouse sink left the utilitarian niche of actual farmhouses, and now graces the high tech, high buck kitchens of suburbia and beyond. Available in many styles of stone and porcelain, a typical sink can easily run several hundred to thousands of dollars.

We have developed a Faux Farmhouse Sink using a utility or laundry sink. One of the great things about a laundry sink is its deep capacity (or capacities, as you can get a double vessel sink, if you wish). Also, they come with their own stand, saving you the cost of a sink cabinet. The unit we purchased was a single vessel with a stand and complete faucet and drain kit for $64. At the moment, this looks nothing like a farmhouse sink. Let's change that.

Our first design is going for an Old World style with a polished marble look. We are accomplishing this look with contact paper in a white marble pattern, purchased from the local hardware store for $5. The faucet comes with clear acrylic faucet handles, but for our Old World sink that really doesn't go. We switch out the faucet handles, a fairly simple job, for a pair of clamshell faucet handles, also purchased at the hardware store for $14.

Because we went with the white marble contact paper on the white laundry sink, there is no need to paint the top of the sink. If you went with a darker stone pattern, such as a green granite, you would want to paint the top part of the sink in a matching color (I wouldn't bother painting the inside of the sink).

For the legs of the sink, you can paint them whatever you think would go with the finishes in your room. We chosea flat nickel. So how does this faux sink work in our Old World Kitchen?

Both the cupboard and the bakers rack were local classified finds for a total of $35. We continued the white marble look with more contact paper on the top of the cupboard, and in the homemade shelf from scrap MDF board (approx. $5). The artwork came from a discount store for $10, and was paired with a thrift store frame for $8. The cupboard was first painted white to match the bakers rack ($7), and then colored the burnt sienna tone with the same paint used to create the faux ceramic tile (more on that later) for about $30. Total cost, not including appliances and accessories is about $175.
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Our next look is a more modern take on the farmhouse sink with a textured cobalt stone look. We accomplished this using spray textured paint (specifically made for plastic) in the serpentine marble color for $7, followed by the clear coat for another $7.

You can paint the inside of the sink with spray paint specifically made for plastic for about $5, but you still might see the paint inside the sink flake off from cleaning sharp objects and using caustic cleaning solutions, just to let you know. We would just paint the top around the faucet area and leave the interior alone.

We changed out the faucet handles again, this time to a simple streamlined version for the great price of a mere $5. We did a hammered metal texture on the legs to finish out the modern look for $7.

In our modern kitchen we flanked the sink with very streamlined pieces of furniture. On the left is a beautiful cherry credenza that outlived its useful ness at a local business and we picked up for a cool $25. On the right we have a brand new metal utility cabinet, picked up from a home improvement store for $80 (you could also get away with a MDF utility cabinet or armoire for about $50). Our utility cabinet came in this industrial blue finish that works very well with the serpentine marble of the sink, but if this were a MDF or another color cabinet, we would paint it with spray paint in a verdigris color for about $15 (2 cans). The Asian inspired accessories seem to work well with this room. The bamboo shade was purchased at a discount department store for $5 and used as a frame for this reproduction Victorian horticulture print from the same store for $15. The cherry carved screen was a thrift store find for $10, and the other accessories came from the discount department store for about $12 each. The shelves were Scrap pieces of 1x6 inch pine that was stained a cherry to match the credenza (about $10 including the stain). The walls were painted a pail aqua color to bath the room in calmness and contrast the rich colors of the wood and stone ($30). Total cost of this ensemble, not including accessories is about $225.
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FUN FAUX BACKSPLASHES

The walls between the cabinets and the counters are no longer taking a back seat to the rest of the kitchen. Back splashes are becoming a brilliant accent. They can also exceed the cost of the cabinets and countertops, if you are not careful. We too love the great astheatic addition that a back splash can bring to a kitchen, but we choose to fake our way to that look. Here are some great examples.

SHEET METAL:

What a beautiful use of “shiny” in a kitchen. We found ours in an art supply store, ranging from $10 for a 9 x 60 inch piece of colored tin to $30 for the same size in actual brass. Sheet metal comes in varying thicknesses. We went with 3 millimeter (about 4 times as thick as household aluminum foil). For about 25% more in cost, you can go with 5 millimeter (about 10 times as thick as commercial aluminum foil).

There are several ways to get it up on the wall. We chose to back ours against 1/2 inch drywall (about $10 for a 4 x 8 foot sheet). We wrapped it around the outside, like a present, and stapled the metal onto the back. I would do this on a soft blanket or bath towel to prevent the sheet metal surface from getting scarred up.

After applying the sheet metal to the backer, it's time to add your texture. Use your imagination. You could literally punch holes in the metal for a pattern, similar to the metal screens used in old-fashioned pie cooling cupboards. You could lay out grids and make tiles. There are actual metal tooling kits that you can purchase in an art or craft supply store, but you can also use just about any dull household item that will leave a mark. We chose to make subway tiles, and the tool we used was a dull pizza cutter held against a straight edge.

If you have a back splash extension from the countertop, you will need to hang the sheet on the wall (if you want to remove it later) or glue it to the wall for something more permanent.
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GLASS BLOCK

This style makes a huge statement in the kitchen. It will also take up some counter space, so keep that in mind. We choose to go with acrylic glass block as opposed to actual glass, because it's lighter and you can drill holes in it relatively easily. Our glass block is plain clear, 3 inches thick, for about $7 per block from the local home improvement store. The blocks are held together using calk ($5 per tube). If you want to remove the glass block later, I would just glue the blocks to themselves and not to the counter top.

You can just leave the glass block whole, which is pretty. We chose to run lights through ours. A 3/8 inch drill bit($2) with a standard household drill should work fine. We chose colored LED Christmas lights($13), and ran them across the top row and bottom row of glass block. You could also use plain white lights or mono-colored lights for a cleaner look, and even choose to paint some of the blocks in a contrasting color.

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FAUX GLASS TILE

Glass tile is one of the hottest trends on the market for kitchen back splashes today. It's also one of the most budget busting, and not an easy DIY job either. That is not so with our faux version. However, credit must be given where credit is due. We actually were inspired by (“stole” is such an ugly word) an HGTV episode of either “Facelift” or “The Painted House”. This project is fun, but dirty and time consuming.

We start out with that 1/2 inch sheet of drywall, cut to fit our backsplash space. We set this on a flat surface, somewhere where it can be left for a while on a generous drop cloth. Next with a plastic trowel ($3), we added ready-mixed drywall compound ($5 per quart, or $10 per gallon) to the entire surface area of the drywall board at about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. This needs to be done rather quickly, so we weren't overly fussy about smoothing it out as we can sand down the edges later.

Next we laid a section of garden fencing over the top and pressed it into the drywall compound, making a 2 inch square grid. You can use just about any kind of fence for this, with different hole sizes and shapes, as well as making up your own grid using string or pressing bowls or cups or anything else you would like into the compound. We pulled away the grid system, leaving behind the impression. We allowed the compound to dry completely, then went over the surface with a fine grit sand paper ($3) to take out any sharp edges. Finally we sprayed the entire surface area with Acrylic Sealer ($5) and allowed it to dry overnight.

Now, for the fun part, we painted our faux glass tiles with non other than pearl fingernail polish. We chose this item for its dizzying array of colors, its reasonable price ($1 to $5 a bottle) and the ultra easy application with the brush and cover built right in.

If you can paint your fingernails, you can paint these tiles. Just be sure to have lots of ventilation for this project, because of the gas-off of the acetone-based polish. Imagine painting dozens and dozens of fingernails in one sitting and letting them dry.

After we were done, we simply hung up the drywall. If you are worried about the polish getting chipped, apply extra coats and finish with another spray of clear acrylic.
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