budget kitchen faucets and sinks

I can’t believe we are at the end of the Love Your Kitchen Series! Next week I will summarize the Series and add a few additional tips to wrap it up. There have been so many beautiful, inspiring kitchens featured in this Series that I plan to create a Top 15 inspirational kitchens post down the road as well! So here is Tip #10 to creating a beautiful, high-end looking kitchen on a budget.

When looking through photos of designer kitchens what I see about 85% of the time is gooseneck faucets and undermount sinks. What is a gooseneck faucet? It is a faucet that comes straight up from the base and then curves over like a candy cane at the top as pictured below.

Undermount sinks are when the rim of a sink is mounted under the countertop so it is not visible. It creates a nice seamless look between the countertop and sink. Here is an example below.

Here is a collection of beautiful kitchens

displaying these faucet and sink features.

New England Design Works via Houzz

Maletz Design via Houzz

Mitchell Wall Architecture & Design via Houzz

New Century Kitchen & Bath via Houzz

via Houzz

Before we even moved into our home I was scheming up inexpensive ways to update our kitchen and changing out the standard, cheap-o looking sink and faucet was for sure on the list. Here is a picture of our original sink and faucet (exactly 2 days after we moved in).

Before

And here is the After

Much better, right!? So here’s the deal. I knew I would be purchasing the above Ikea laminate countertops (reasons and review for the IKEA countertops can be found here) and it is technically possible to use an undermount sink with laminate countertops (when having the laminate custom made and installed with this method). But my Ikea countertops are not custom so an undermount sink was not an option for me.

If you find yourself in my situation where an undermount sink is not an option, the second best thing to do is to get a sink that blends into the color of your countertop. In doing this you are still creating flow between the countertop and sink and it appears seamless to the eye even though it is not.

Since my countertops were an off white I started looking for an off white sink (granite composite, soapstone, cast iron it didn’t matter to me). After researching costs of faucets and sinks at Home Depot and Lowes I decided I needed to start scouring Craigslist!

Interestingly, there were a handful of white sinks to choose from on Craigslist. I chose to go see one that also had a gooseneck faucet included. They were about 15 minutes away and were asking $100 for the sink & faucet combo. I talked them down to $60 because there were a few dirt marks on the bottom of the sink that I wasn’t sure I would be able to get out (I was able to). I am so happy with my sink and faucet! They really assist in giving the kitchen more of custom, expensive feel!

DSC00305-001 — Gah, I forgot to put away the dish soap and dish rag for the picture! Please use your imagination and pretend like they aren’t there. Ahhh, much better!

In doing a little research for this post I came across some good prices for gooseneck faucets. I have no affiliation with Amazon, just appreciate their good prices on these faucets. I would say anything around $85 and under is a really good price for a kitchen faucet.

Peerless $56.66-Amazon

Delta $86.00-Amazon

As far as sinks go I think Craigslist is a great place to start looking. For some reason whenever I’ve checked, there seems to be a good selection. I think anything $150 and under is a really good price for a sink.

Has anybody else switched out their faucet and/or sink and seen a dramatic change to the look of their kitchen? Any other sources for good prices on sinks or faucets?

Have a great weekend! I’m hoping to go to an Antique Show Extravangza this weekend. And if I do, you better believe I’ll be taking pictures of the cool stuff I see there and writing about it! Take care!