Thursday, December 31, 2015

Vintage Outdoor Garden Sink

I have wanted to install a useable vintage outdoor garden sink for years. With all the gardening, barbecuing and kid play in our yard, a garden sink workstation would really come in handy. We looked for inspiration at all the outdoor garden sink ideas but I knew I wanted something vintage.

This summer on vacation in Oregon, a vintage hunter's dream store, was not far from my brother's home. Hubby and I went crazy in there. They had an entire room devoted to old sinks. I think we spent an hour and decided on this antique sink from the 1920s for our garden sink DIY project. It came with the mounting piece it was originally set with. Lucky!

garden hacks, vintage sink

To me, working in the garden is healing and now I can work outside without coming in to wash up. I rinse vegetables in the garden sink faucet and we put the old drinking fountain on the other side. The drinking fountain had been in this garden since my hubby was a boy. Now our youngest gets a cool drink whenever she wants one.

The antique garden sink sits right next to hubby's barbecue so he can quickly wash up and rinse things like our special corn on the cob recipe. We have the old rubber stopper and plug that came with it and we can soak things out here as well. I've even seen a few Barbie's using the sink in the summer. Talk about a multi-purpose outdoor sink.

garden ideas, potting bench sink

We knew our old sink would go in this spot because we had an old water spigot that was no longer in use. Hubby made a few trips to the hardware store for a garden hose sink adapter but he actually plumbed it like a regular sink but just with cold water. We searched the garage and found an old piece of rigid PVC pipe to drain the sink into the adjacent planter, but you could use flexible tubing. 

plumbing for outdoor sink

The only additional garden sink plans we have is to seal the under part of the iron sink. You can see it came with some rust but being outdoors we do not want to see it damaged from moisture. A clear sealer will take just minutes to apply.

We do not use any harsh cleaners that would drain into this planter but when I do scour the sink we just pull the flexible hose into a bucket and can dump that indoors in our stationary sink.

Cost of DIY Outdoor Garden Sink
  • $45 vintage 1928 sink
  • $20 one sink faucet
  • $24 hoses
  • Total: $89
Get more of our garden posts here.



10 comments:

  1. That was a great deal! I wish I had something outside like that instead of bringing in dirt.
    Brenda

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  2. Good Morning Elaine, How exciting, firstly to find the perfect outdoor vintage sink and secondly to know how to install it.
    I used to have an old square sink in my old garden and it was brilliant. I used it throughout the summer months and as you say it saves all the trudging in an out of the house.
    Happy New Year to you.
    Best Wishes
    Daphne

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  3. Very clever! This would be perfect for anyone who spends any time outdoors.

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  4. Brilliant! When we had our outdoor kitchen installed, Trip didn't want the outdoor sink, and our contractor said we'd regret not doing it. We regret it. But this is a wonderful solution! I wonder if we could do something similar. I also love the idea of a water fountain, and how sweet that your husband grew up with one in his back garden! I love that.

    Happy 2016, Sweetie!

    xo,
    RJ

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  5. Happy New Year!!! Great idea...I love it!!!

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  6. What a great idea - how nice to have that - going to make repotting plants a breeze for clean up!

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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  7. Happy New Year Elaine! Love your outdoor sink - it's a fantastic idea.

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  8. Great idea and I like what you picked out. Now I'm thinking I want one too!

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  9. What fun idea - this would be great with a work table off to the side as well. Love it!

    Carole @ Garden Up Green

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