Wednesday, July 25, 2012

ReStored: Sink


I don't know if this happens to you, but when a mess, or a gross thing, or something I don't want to deal with has been there long enough, I really don't see it anymore. Take for example my bathroom sink. It's from 1974, not even “avocado” but “mint” back when pastel bathrooms where all the rage. I happen to like the color, and it does match the tile (also original, of course), but the faucet was a disgrace to put it mildly. Impossible to get clean after years and years of build-up. One day, one of my adored beyond measure cleaning girls said gently, “You know, if you replaced that faucet, I bet it wouldn't cost all that much and it would really make it look nicer in here.”  See?




So I told the engineer. Who said, “Of course we can replace the faucet! Why haven't you asked before?” Let's not get into how many times we've discussed updating the bathroom shall we? Off we go to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Does your town have one of these? I hope so. It's like a garage sale/flea market and is eerily similar to my own garage where The Engineer's craigslist habit has filled the non-car side with...free stuff. The car side? It belongs to Sparky. Sparky Von-Boom-Car, the former Toyota Paseo which is a set of batteries away from being an electrical car. 99% done. We ran out of money. It's been sitting. A while. Got fired in 2009, remember?

We find a great sink, with a great faucet. Serendipitously, the week before I'd been looking for a new razor, which I knew I had, and ended up spending 4.5 hours cleaning out under the sink. I think I might have mentioned this before, or maybe that was facebook... but every twelve years, whether it needs it or not ;-) is my motto. Five trash bags. Two donation bags. Clear plastic totes each holding its category of stuff. Easy to move should one need to install a new sink. See this? I'd call it “in the nick of time”



New sink.


Check out the price.



Happy camper here.

Do you have a mess you don't “see”? Found a good deal you want to brag about? Or are you like one of my friends whose house is ALWAYS perfect? 

16 comments:

klahanie said...

Hey Tina,
You happy camper, you! I began to sink a bit upon reading this article. Felt a bit drained..:)
My house is always nice and clean. The dishes are always spotless. Hand the plates to Penny the Jack Russell dog and modest internet star, to lick. She does such a good job that I put the plates straight back into the cupboard....
Happy days to you, Tina.
Gary :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

We have one of those stores! I wouldn't be brave enough to instal a sink though. Glad you have a new one that works now.

Donna Smith said...

I JUST got off the phone with my son who is in the process of buying a house with lots of "needs" and was telling him to check out our local ReStore. My daughter and her husband got their range, kitchen sink and whirlpool tub at their ReStore. Now I guess I have to head on down there. We are restoring an old house now, too, and need a few things that don't have to be brandinew. You should bring the mint green sink to the ReStore though. It looks pretty cool minus the faucets.

Brian Miller said...

booyah...nice....and cheap too....found a free deal and not sure if they are doing it in other cities...but LEGO just opened a Brickation today...it is a store where you can not buy anything but you can play with all the LEGOs int eh world for free...all day.....pretty amazing...

Unknown said...

Fist bumps the cheap and awesome looking re-store. I need to start investigating more unseen messes here in my house. I bet I could find a few. Yikes! :)

AguiLeon.com said...

nice work re-store

Unspoken said...

LOVE the price! I have a 1940s sink, and I am a perfectionist who chooses to be blind in the 1940s bathroom.

rscredits said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
JoJo said...

What a great bargain! And it's great that you guys can DIY. I've always had to call in the professionals. I didnt' dare try to fix my leaky faucet myself earlier this year. The plumber came and all it was was an O ring that needed to be replaced. He didn't even charge me for the visit b/c he was in and out in 5 minutes!

Jo said...

Luckily living in an apartment I don't have to worry about such things. I have an avocado bathroom with a white sink. Pity, I like the avocado.

Amanda Lee said...

I think my whole life is full of unfinished projects and messes I don't even notice anymore!

Jenny said...

I love that store! Good job!

cleemckenzie said...

You deserve bagging rights! And you nailed in when you said there are "unseen" messes lurking in those outdated fixtures. I've seen 'em. I've suffered from 'em. Great post. Congratulations on your super new sink.

Thanks also for stopping in at the A to Z Road Trip. Very nice to meet you.

Andrea said...

Ooooh, and I really like the green tile with the white sink!

Unknown said...

How serendipity works is still a big puzzle to me. BUT, it works perfectly in the nick of time. Like how it worked with your sink. If you hadn’t replaced your sink that time, seeing the rusty inside of its pipe, you would have dealt with a huge plumbing problem.

Althea Tumlin

Darryl Iorio said...

I agree with Althea, you made it just in the nick of time! If you hadn’t made a change now, then most probably you will experience major plumbing issues in the future, which mean costly repairs. It’s important that you act and do something about the problem as soon as possible to prevent any other damage.

-Darryl Iorio