I went into the relationship with eyes wide open.

I read the reviews- sure, half were 5 star and half were 1 star.

But those 1 star'ers ~ well, they were just probably unhappy people anyway & were taking it out on their sinks.

And, it wasn't like I was marrying someone who got half 1 stars.  ( I married a decidedly 10 golden star guy. )

Well, phew on that, as my sink choice, while handsome as can be, isn't all it was cracked up to be - excuse the pun.

Well not cracked, crazed.

I have a Shaw fireclay sink.

Covet barely describes the way I felt about this sink before I made it mine.

For the 10 months we spent trying to buy this house & the 8 months we slogged through the renovation, until the day the kitchen went in, that blue diamond danced before my eyes.

There was no doubt this was the sink for me ~ for this house.

 

I still feel that way, but want to share with you that...now get the 1 stars.  I still think it is a 5 star sink in many ways, but I see now what I didn't want to believe.  It crazes. 

I share this in case you find yourself coveting too.  No wonder it is against the commandments.  It can get you into trouble!

This being said & shared, like my marble, I would not trade in my sink for another.  It is mine & I love it crazed or not.  Maybe I am crazy - crazy in love with a sink?

 

But you should know the truth & the fact that if mine crazed & those 1 star peoples' crazed, yours might too.  So if you covet, covet with eyes really wide open.  

My sink is a Shaw 30" white fireclay sink.  Shaw, a British company has been making these sinks by hand since 1897.  

Fireclay is a heavy duty material created when clay is heated and cured in upwards of 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. 

It is very heavy, dense, non-porous and should be almost impossible to scratch, dent or crack - you don't see that word "craze" there do you?

Crazing is a network or web of fine cracks on the surface of a material.

There are theories on why some, but not all Shaw sinks craze.  Pouring in boiling hot water, tightening the disposal too tight, not aligned right.  But for each 1 star there is a 5 star that pours in boiling water, has a super tight disposal and is mis-aligned.  Sometimes it just happens...

I actually like crazing on things like $1 plates I pick up at yard sales.  The aging is charming.  Crazing on my, about a thousand times such a plate, sink ~ not so much.

I understand that if crazing appears on your Shaw sink, the company that now owns Shaw, Rohl, will replace it. 

As in, send you another sink. 

You need to get it installed.  Not an easy feat.  Sliding a zillion pound sink under existing countertops and re-connecting the plumbing.  Not to mention, removing the craz-y sink!

I am going to explore this option just so I can share with you the full story on these beautiful, but potentially crazed sinks.

Stay tuned for an update...in the mean time I will be waxing poetic on being wabi sabi and enjoying the imperfectly imperfectness of my craz-y handmade sink.

How do you deal with the imperfections of daily life?

** Kelly **

p.s. the $50 Home Depot gift card we are giving away on Decorating Tips and Tricks is still up for grabs.  Enter your email HERE so we can contact you if you win.  Ends 2/23 - details in the show notes for THIS episode.  

Oh and, if you are a BONA floor cleaner person - get their new mop, it is the bomb.  Click HERE & scroll down so you can save $5.  You 'll need it if you also covert Shaw sinks ;)