A Genius at Work, Our "New" Washstand

There are still a few things we haven't completed in the house since we are doing it all ourselves. One of the items which was starting to bug both of us was the lack of a sink in the bathroom. With only the two of us here and a small place it wasn't a big deal to use the kitchen sick but we really wanted to get it done this winter. The problem is we could not come up with a design and were determined not to spend money on it. Enter my Mountain Man and his genius ideas.

A while back we had come into the possession of a very old and run down treadle sewing machine. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of it before he took the whole thing apart! However, the wood was peeling badly and the whole thing looked like it was about to fall apart as it had been stored in an outside shed for years. The machine itself has ended up being a nice decoration in the house and in the event of necessity it could still be used. I actually learned how to sew on one of these machines so have a love for them which most people might otherwise not have. 

It was however, only the base that Mountain Man wanted to use. I still haven't decided what to do about the rust on it. I like the look of it, all rustic and aged but I'm wondering if I should clean the rust off to help preserve it. 

He then built a "box" for the top and covered it with the primer needed for the stone. 

The sink is actually the top bowl of a large and very old cream separator. The cream separator is too old and too big for us to ever use it but we really liked the bowl on the top. Have I told you how much we love old things?

Next it was time for stone and finishing touches. Then to connect it to the sewer pipe and hook up the water.

Going with our theme we found an old coffee urn and used it as the spigot. We just popped a hole in the bottom and ran the water pipe through it, then attached it to the frame. There we go! Water! We looked everywhere for a sugar bowl to use as the knob to turn the water on and off. I think what we found is actually a poeppery dish but it does look like a it could have been a sugar dish. Goodwill has very cool stuff when you are looking to do this sort of thing.

I was a bit worried about the wooden bits for cleaning and such, so Mountain Man covered them with many coats of varathane and has assured me they are completely scrubbable.  So, there you have it! Our wonderful "new" sink which cost us only a few dollars as everything used was left over from other projects or items we had but didn't know what to do with. The only thing purchased was the varathane and the "sugar" pot. I think its pretty cool that we have the cream bowl, sugar bowl and coffee pot all in one piece.

Over the last few days we have really enjoyed asking each other is we need to wash our hands. LOL! It is so much fun using your creativity to create wonderful things. 

A big thank you to Frugally Sustainable and Mind Body and Soul for their blog hops.