Throwing back to how I built our kitchen sink base!

Our throw back post this month came out all the way back in October, 2015! A lot has changed in my life since then, to say the least lol. I updated this post back in 2018 when I was still a single gal and had just finished giving our kitchen a giant makeover. Since then you guys know Lodi has joined me and we got married in June of 2022. But even with all that living and all those changes this kitchen sink base is still going strong I still love that old sink!

Its pretty amazing to read back and realize how much has changed here at Grandma’s house! Here is the original post:

I knew from the minute I laid eyes on it that it would become my kitchen sink and that I would be building a custom kitchen sink base for it!

Never mind that it had been sitting in a shed for god knows how long and it had, in fact, been filled to the brim with a mouse nest and had probably raised hundreds (if not thousands) of rodents for decades and was, in fact, totally covered in the resulting excretions.

Nope, none of that bothered me! I took one look at this sink and my heart soared. It was perfect!

(8/1/2019 A lot has changed in my life since this post came out four years ago. I’m a single gal now and have completely transformed my home making it truly my own. I am still so totally thrilled with the kitchen I built, since this post the kitchen has gone through many transformations and I just finished remodeling the entire room! CHECK IT OUT HERE!)

NOTE: Minnesota has what is considered some of the harshest and toughest electrical codes in the country. No, that outlet by my sink is NOT a GFCI outlet because GFCI outlets no longer meet code here in MN. Instead, my entire kitchen is on two separate dual GFCI/ACFI 20amp breakers.

My materials all came out of the barn or were scraps from the renovation and, amazingly, the drain was in perfect condition – the only thing I had to purchase was the faucet for $70 at my local fleet store.

I knew I wanted to wrap the whole outside of the sink with something very big so I headed to my secret stash of amazing barn wood that I’ve been gathering and pulled out the biggest thing I had: a rough-sawn, ancient, 2×10!

It was a really basic piece that I had in mind. Four 4×4 legs, 2x4s laid across the top of them for support, and then the entire thing clad with barn wood. First thing I did was get the most accurate measurements of the sink that I could, which was much easier said then done – no part of this sink is flat or square on the bottom side.

From there, I knew how long each of my 2x4s needed to be cut to fit totally under the bottom of the sink. From there I also knew exactly how tall the 4×4 legs had to be so I got to cutting.

I screwed the whole thing together with my impact driver and 3″ screws (that sink is HEAVY – I needed to make this kitchen sink base very sturdy lol).

Here the kitchen sink base is complete, I will admit that I had a few doubts but I knew my 2×10 from the barn (as well as some more barn wood to be added) would completely cover the 2x4s but I was still nervous as I hauled it into the house and set it in place.

Finally got it in place and the sink and dishwasher all hooked up! 

I added a barn wood shelf under the sink as well as one above the sink for extra storage. You can see how the 2×10 hugs all around the sink, I added this after I installed the sink and the base, it looks like its supporting the sink but really its just hanging out, the bottom base I is what is holding the sink up! 

I hate that you can still see some of the plumbing under the sink, I know most people won’t notice but… it bugs me. I plan on adding a wicker or wire basket to that shelf down there to hold all of my onions and garlic but I have not yet found the perfect basket yet but, when I do, it will hide my plumbing.

(The left side of the kitchen sink base, you can’t see it, is totally covered by barn wood so you can only see the plumbing from the from.)

I added the towel bar after covering ALL of the kitchen sink base and ALL of the barn wood with two coats of poly acrylic. Is that an old yard light above my sink? You’re darned right! It is my grandparents’ fifty year old yard light that hung off the pole of my little farm yard for many decades! It got replaced and when this old light came down I knew exactly where I wanted it to go 🙂

Above my kitchen sink of course! I will put a prettier bulb in it someday, that one was the best one my little fleet store in town offered. The paper towel holder that I added to the bottom of the top barn wood shelf was something my grandparents’ made many years ago.

(Check out my simple recipe for liquid dish soap here.)

A couple of things I have to admit. The sink is taller then the counter top not because I wanted it to be, actually I planned on building the kitchen sink base so the sink would be about an inch LOWER then my counter top to make for easy wiping.

However, when I ran the drain lines in the house I had expected to have vessel sinks in my two main floor bathrooms and, for some reason, my brain read that I needed to have ALL of my drains that high.

Sighs…

So it was either rip off the drywall and redo the drain line (over my dead body…) or end up with a kitchen sink about four inches taller then my counter top. So, my kitchen sink is tall and in all actually, I like it a lot 🙂 Because it is high it is MUCH easier on the back for washing dishes etc.

I just have to mention, why do they even make sinks that are broken into two parts?! I know, they’re made for when people wash dishes by hand so one sink can be a dish drain rack but, quite frankly, I’ve washed a lot of dishes in this sink and I would never go back to a divided double sink because. For the first time in my life, my sink is big enough to accommodate even my biggest pots and pans and, if we ever choose to have one in the future, perhaps a water filter too!

Some updates have happened since this post! Check out the entire kitchen reveal post here AND I added a great little basket to my sink that made my life SO much easier!

And here’s just the old cast iron sink so we can all embrace the incredible ickiness that just a little soap, some hot water and elbow grease cleaned up in only a few minutes!