This is our powder room today:
The sink with the unique single pedestal leg is not a reproduction. It is an antique sink we rescued from the ditch half way across the country!
Seriously!
While driving by an antique little farmhouse between Cape Porpoise and Kennebunkport, Maine, I gasped and screamed, “STOP!” to my husband, who reacting to the obvious emergency, slammed on the brakes to our Chrysler minivan and urgently asked, “What? What’s wrong?”
Well maybe my scream was a bit over the top for a sink… but I couldn’t believe my eyes! Right there in the front yard of that cute old farmhouse, they had a free sign leaning against a circa 1980’s toilet and this antique sink was laying in the grass next to that.
“That! Look at that!” I tried to explained to my husband, who was slightly agitated his trip to the Kennebunkport Library was getting delayed.
“You want a free toilet?” he asked totally serious, albeit irritated with my whim. (I did have a split second thought of doubt myself… how hard do I push this if he’s resistant, is it really worth it?… I’m glad to say he wasn’t resistant, because once I saw it up close, I was giddy.)
Once I explained, no not the toilet… the sink, he was sweet enough to pull up into the driveway, shuffle around a few things in the minivan and move in the sink and pedestal, both completely perfect, not a single chip or crack… even though it was sort of hard to tell for sure, because the pieces were really caked with layers of dirt.
So for the rest of our two weeks in Maine, we drove around with a sink in the back of our van, shuffling it to and fro with our other treasures and necessities, until we made the long haul home to Wisconsin and it could find its rightful new home… our powder room.
Our powder room looked like this on the day we moved into ‘Our House’ 15 or so years ago:
Everything about the room screams cheap 1987 builder’s grade, but the good thing was the room was already plumbed for a pedestal sink… although we did need to ‘jimmy-rig’ a few things to fit for the new… uh… old sink.
So one of my sons, (yes the same one that helped me install the laminate plank flooring in our lower level family room recently) helped me install this sink in our powder room.
But with this beautiful antique sink, I didn’t want the hoses and drain and shut off valves to detract from its lovely sculptural form, so I painted all that stuff the same color as the wall, and you don’t notice those necessities a bit.
The sink did not come with a faucet, but this Delta one works great on it.
When it’s time to list this house for sale, I’m wondering, should I replace this sink with a different one, so I can take this one with me to our next home, or release it to the new owners and prepare to create more memories?
I do so love this sink, and I love the memory of my husband and me, on a warm August morning loading it up in the van parked by that cute antique farmhouse in Maine. It’s a picture I hope my mind always holds on to.
