my shiny, new kitchen sink

Lime cleaner left streaks and ruined the finish on the chrome faucet six months ago. I was secretly happy we had a reason to replace the faucet, but the sink was a trickier problem to address.

The hardest part when replacing an undermount sink is finding a sink with the exact dimensions as the cutout in the countertop. It took six months to find an off-the-shelf sink in the exact dimensions. We were afraid to go with a special order, just in case it didn't work.

Step 1: We scoured the web and all the hardware stores. Finally, a score at Home Depot. A single bowl undermount stainless sink from Kohler's company, Sterling. $250 off the shelf. I am thrilled Home Depot now carries a single bowl undermount stainless style, something they didn't have when we first started looking.

Step 2: Hire a willing granite company to send their crew to torch, pry and buff the shellac from existing sink and install the new undermount. $220 for 2 guys for 2 hours. Check.

Step 3: Back to Home Depot and Lowes to find a replacement faucet for just the right amount of holes (3 existing in the granite). This limited us because we wanted a soap dispenser and easy to turn-on-with-messy-hands lever, but not a goose neck (divides the kitchen). I found the perfect faucet at Lowe's. A bronze Price Pfister for $160 and a $20 bronze soap dispenser.

Step 4: Max rigged the faucet to be installed without the deck plate, used plummer's putty to seal the new stainless drain (Home Depot, $30) and reinstalled the old disposer and new faucet. (30 minutes.)

Result: Shiny and new. The single bowl makes the whole kitchen feel bigger. Not to mention much more practical for washing platters, pots, babies, puppies, watering orchids.... The soap dispenser - soap bottles = eco happiness and one less thing on the counter!