So all the hours of surfing and ogling photos online over the past year are not for naught! I shared inspiration way back when (and then again more recently) of copper farmhouse sinks, envisioning one in our Chennai kitchen. Now a hammered copper apron sink will indeed be there to bring a Tuscan farmhouse flavor to India (it’s hard to see the hammer texture here):
Yipee! My first pick was a copper sink with a diagonal basketweave pattern:
But if we’ve learned anything through this process, it’s to not pick things sight unseen. That can work in the U.S., but we’ve had disastrous results doing that in India. Even something seemingly simple like having a hardware vendor add antique finish to door handles … well, apparently this turned out far from expected, and I must spin refinishing magic when I visit the apartment.
The copper sink should fare better. My husband found a manufacturer of beautiful copper farmhouse sinks in New Delhi, amazingly down the street from his business partner there! He saw the same apron sinks that we almost got in the U.S. to ship back to India. What a small world it really is.
So he saw the hammered copper sink with his eyes and felt it with his hands, but the basketweave sink was not available to see plus it was unknown when it would be produced again, and thus hammered is our choice. At this point compromise is OK. Still gotta admit though, the basketweave is far more interesting to me. Painful to skip it.
But there’s a plan to return to Chennai in six weeks or so to supervise installation of critical kitchen items. My husband will likely do that trip. Then six weeks after that, we’ll both return and I’m gonna — finally, finally!! — do the furniture selectin’ and the decoratin’! Including, a few more copper accents in the kitchen.
Now what I’d really like is this copper tub!
They said they ship a lot of these to the UK. Unfortunately our bathroom square footage is already spoken for. Hmmm … what about make like Gwyneth Paltrow and put a tub in a bedroom!? Ha.
Hi Deb
I find your website and posts both equal parts fascinating and instructive.
I am also a big fan of the copper sink, and I was hoping to be able to get one for my apartment (I’m in the process of renovation).
All I have been able to find till now are large water bowls with a thin wall. While these would work as counter top sinks, I was really hoping to be able to find a thick walled copper bowl.
Would you be kind enough to share the details of the manufacturer who made your sink?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Sid! I’m glad this blog helped you. Yes, the supplier of our sink was Vani Crafts in Delhi – you can contact them at vanicrafts “at” gmail.com. We’ve worked with Ramesh. They manufacture big amounts for retailers, but they may have some individual pieces in stock to purchase, or be able to make custom. For example when we contacted them about making a brushed copper oval sink for the bathroom, they had slightly different dimensions available than our original request, so it’s good to be flexible. Definitely allow enough time to work with them, as response can be a little slow.
I understand what you are saying about thin copper. They know sinks need to be thicker strong copper. They advised thickness for us and we were very happy. It’s a thick heavy sink. Here is our sink:
http://nomadicdecorator.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kitchen-in-India-pied-a-terre.jpg
Let me know if you have any other questions! Deb
Many many thanks for the quick response. I will contact them soon, and will send you a picture of my final sink.