Experiencing All Things Crosstown with Elkay

A few weeks ago Court and I took the BEST trip to Chicago! I’ve partnered up with Elkay to create some really cool projects this year (I can’t wait to show you!!) and to kick things off they brought us, and a few of my other favorite bloggers to Chicago! Any chance we get to visit one of our favorite places is an absolute yes. Hello, pizza? Garrett’s Popcorn? The Cubbies? ALLLLLL the yeses.

So let’s start off, if you’re looking at the name Elkay and can’t quite place where you know it from, let me give you a hint. If you’ve got a stainless steel sink, have ever used a drinking fountain, a water bottle filler, or washed your hands in an elementary classroom sink, chances are astronomical that you’ve come in contact with an Elkay product. But aside from drinking fountains and bottle fillers, Elkay has some killer sinks (not just stainless!) and faucets.

If you remember in January I took you on a behind the scenes tour of their KBIS booth. So when they invited me to Chicago to tour their headquarters and factory I was in. When they told me we’d also be attending a Cubs game, Court thought that I was the coolest woman alive and decided to tag along. I’ve been trying to get him to come to events for years, who knew all it would take was visiting Wrigley?

One of the most telling things about Elkay that I learned is that it’s very common to have multi-generational families working there. Elkay is an American institution and you can tell how much they care about their people. I love that.

We toured the factory where their stainless steel sinks are made and it was CRAZY to watch a sheet of metal be turned into a sink. There are so many people involved in the process, I had no idea it was so involved!!

Later that night we went to a showroom to see the goods in action. One thing that people may not know about Elkay is that they will custom make just about anything that you could dream up. Want a 15 foot apron sink with 3 faucets? Done.

Elkay really is trailblazing the world of stainless. Their Crosstown sink line has really sharp angles (as opposed to a traditional stainless sink that has more gentle curves). I love that they have so many options for dividers, mounting styles, and sizes. One of my biggest pet peeves is the hardware stains that form on your countertop at the base of the faucet. Elkay has a Crosstown sink with a water deck, so the faucet is mounted on the sink, not the countertop!

They also have the Perfect Drain. Imagine never having a gunky ring around the drain in your sink. It is literally seamless. Another awesome feature is that you can decide where you want your drain placement on custom sinks. If under-counter storage is at a minimum, you can have the drain placed in the far corner so that you don’t have massive pipes taking up all of the space!

I’m putting a Crosstown in the Merc and I can’t wait to start designing it!!! I’m thinking the apron front. What are your thoughts?

The next day was all about the Crosstown Classic game, get it Crosstown Sink, Crosstown Classic Game??! We had the best seats, Court was in Cubbie heaven and I fulfilled my lifelong goal of making it on a Jumbotron.

As you guys know, I’m extremely careful about the brands that I partner with. Elkay is one that aligns perfectly with what I believe in. They have quality products and are forward thinking, their people are the heart of the company (even employees star in their commercials!) and they genuinely want to help make your home an even better place. I can’t wait to show you what we’ve been cooking up!! Here’s a quick video recap of our fun trip!!

Huge thanks to Elkay for sponsoring this fun trip and behind the scenes tour of their headquarters!!