Down On The Farm

Ah, the farm sink....a beautiful adaptation to what must have been on a farm back in the day. Whereas most sinks are undermounted or hidden under granite, this sink is pronounced and in your face.

Have a look...

Big tip: If you want one of these, you must plan it early. The design of this sink impacts cabinets....But this is a really unique (and expensive starting at $1,000) sink.

Whats to a Sink?

I love sinks. There dont leak and require little service. A few posts ago, I posted about my mothers rusty sink, and thought today would be a good chance to review.

Couple of Points:

Undermounts: The sink is mounted under the solid surface. I like this adaptation. It looks better and its seamless design is easier to clean.

Apron Front: Basically a sink finished in the front.

Gauge: My mothers sink is rusty, beacuse it is an inferior gauge. Gauge refers to the amount of nickel within the sink itself. 18 gauge is considered good, with lower numbers being better. This is the Franke Orca, which is a 18 gauge.

My Favorites:

The Majestic M30 is the largest sink that fits within the standard 30 inch cabinet.

Majestic A: Nice look for under $1000

Kitchen of The Year Part 1

At the bottom is the video for House Beautifuls "Kitchen of the Year" which is being shown outside Rockefeller Square.

How about a nice long post on how to do this differently?

Appliances...

Refrigerator:
House Beautiful: JennAir JDB36NXFXRW
Yale Beautiful: SubZero Bi-36

The House Beautiful (HB) is a one-compressor bottom mount. The Yale choice has two compressors and vacuum seal for evenness of temperature. SubZero also has an air scrubber, which scrubs the air keeping food fresher for a longer period of time. It is available in stainless or panelized as shown

Wall Oven:
House Beautiful: JennAir JJW2830
Yale Beautiful: Miele MasterChef

Both have computers, but the Miele has multiple, advanced settings for almost every food imaginable, and is very simple to use.

Cooktop:
House Beautiful: JennAir JED3536
Yale Beautiful: Thermador(or any induction cooktop) with a componentary downdraft unit

This is no contest. JennAir is a radiant with downdraft in the unit. We employ induction technology(faster, less heat retention, child safe, etc) with a more powerful and separate downdraft unit...You can almost pick any induction. I like the Thermador or Bosch with the powerful burner in the middle.

Sink:
House beautiful: No idea
Yale Beautiful: Majestic M33, M2433

Have to admit the island one with the flushing system was cool. Ok very cool, but spend your money elsewher. Island sinks are for veggies, etc...You dont need a flusher. Majestic is big, square with a 17 gauge and cheap.

Decorative Lighting:
House beautiful: The German thing you can not buy in the US
Yale Beautiful: Holtkotter

Kind of torn between a whimsical shaded light and an adjustable LED light...so why not both? BTW, ours are German as well, only you can buy them...here

Overall, the Yale Beautiful has a better, more functional set of appliances, sinks and lighting. Yet it is also more expensive.



How did we do?

Part 2, we will do it again only for way less money.