If you are worried about resale go with two sinks. If you don't need to worry about resale do what makes the room the most functional. Extra counter space is nice even if it is not an offical vanity space- blow drying hair, waterpik, contacts, lotions etc. having space to use these items before putting them away or maybe having space to leave some of these items out without them being on top of the sink area is nice.

We have two but we get ready at the same time most mornings.

We've/I've had a 6.5 long vanity with double sink for 26 years. DH and I started out sharing our 10.5x10.5 bathroom. That didn't last long so I can't even remember what it's like to share a bathroom with a man. I can remember NOT liking it (lol) He was quickly shipped off to the other end of the house to the 2nd bathroom. BTW, he's quite happy there and just tonight said he loves his bathroom and never wants to upgrade it..."I drive 100 miles to get to that toilet, why would I want to change it?" (g) So, our daughter and I shared this bathroom (for better or for worse). I couldn't imagine two people sharing a bathroom and only having one sink especially if you have room for two. That sounds miserable. With two sinks there is still room for a jewelry box, makeup mirror, liquid soap, waterpik and several bottles of perfume. It's not crowded. My "dressing table" area is in the center of the vanity. Now it's just me in there and I'm giving up a few inches of counter and one sink to accommodate a new tub. It'll be different and take some getting used to because I used both sinks. Didn't NEED both (for one person), it was handy every now when we had overnight company but that doesn't happen enough for it to be a determining factor. I think contractors often tell you what THEY like and even what's easier for them :o You should do what you and your wife will get more use out of. Case in point...we went to the cabinet builder's today. I'm having an arch built over the vanity (one sink to the right side). The cabinet man said the vanity would look nicer if the sink was in the middle (aligned with the center of the arch). He's absolutely right, BUT, I'll also lose a lot of *continuous* counter space if I break it up in the middle with a sink. I decided to choose function over form and frankly I seriously doubt anyone (except my TKO/TBO brothers and sisters here on GardenWeb) would ever notice the difference (g) I would imagine your wife spends more time in the bathroom than you do. If she wants two sinks, maybe you should keep the two sink scenario :)
Monica

Dh & I have had a 7½ ft. long vanity for years, with one sink... until now. Lord knows I love him but he trims his beard and the tiny whiskers end up where I am trying to do makeup. I insisted on 2 sinks, and also insisted on undermount sinks so no excuse for not getting the vanity top clean. ; )
Susan ~

Funny and timely post. We are at the very beginning stages of a master bath remodel. Its a large room approx 12 by13. We have a VERY long sort of U shaped vanity with 2 sinks at opposite ends. We are rarely in the bathroom at the same time, and even so, we still both use only one of the sinks. When my husband mentioned to the contractor that we could get rid of one of the sinks, our contractor said that most people still want double sinks if possible and I agree. We also , in the middle, have a knee drawer(not sure if that is the right word) which I suppose is a potential "dressing table". I have always done my make up etc standing. I am thinking about putting a linen tower or hutch or something in the "dressing table" space.
To summarize my rambling, I would still get the double sinks. They might be a waste of space, but I still think for resale they are valued.I am undecided as to vanity dressing table thing.

When DH and I had two sinks in one bathroom way back when, we always used one sink. Not sure why, we just did (maybe it kept the other one clean? :D) We are remodeling our hall bath now though (only upstairs bath) and putting in two sinks. They are not next to each other but rather on adjacent walls, but we are planning for a family and since this is the only upstairs bath I can see someday several people wanting to use this thing at once, so we are making it as functional as possible in that regard. Personally, I'd rather more storage/counter space than a second sink most of the time though but it really depends on how you feel about it.

Maybe rough in the plumbing for a second sink and cap it off if you are concerned about resale... this way if someone wants a second sink, they could easily put one in without having to rip apart the whole bathroom to do it.

You can see from the replies that the answer is up to you.

How you and your spouse get along, how the two of your groom, are you compatible in terms of cleanliness, will you both be needing exclusive use of the sink at the same time, etc.

I'm along the same lines as you. I always thought I'd have two sinks in my master bathroom.

My bath is spacious enough...around 250 sqft or so...but we realized that for us, a second sink would be a waste of money, a waste of counterspace, and use-wise, we both prefered one large sink over two smaller ones.

I'm not a slob, neither is my wife. When we use the bath together, there's no conflict.

In our case, after the decision was made to go with one sink my original thought was to add a sit-down area for my wife. She didn't want that, as she prefers to primp while standing.

So on the sink wall, I have a floor-to-ceiling closet at the near end of the picture, then a 6'long countertops with a single large sink, then a tall 48" cabinet at the end of the run to hide the toilet. The top drawer of the 48" tall cabinet has outlets in it, so she keeps her curling iron/blow dryer permanently plugged in. The bottom drawer in the 48" cabinet is almost like a pull-out pantry, it's divided in two vertically. The sink side is sort of like her medicine cabinet, the toilet side holds TP, toilet cleaning supplies, etc.

In the end, she's thrilled with how it looks and how it "works".

I'm happy as I saved $$ by not having to do a second sink and faucet, and that I was able to build the cabinets for "smart storage", in terms of everything being in a logical place.

Mongo

I actually considered one large trough sink for a period of time in the design process of our bathroom. It's a cool look and allows room for two at the sink, but the final design wouldn't have left enough space at either end for our personal "stuff" (and I'm in agreement I want my stuff left where I put it and not mixed with shaving creams). In the end we went for two separate vanities, his one one side of the room and mine on the other (flanking the corner soaking tub).

Back in the days of working, we often both dressed at the same time and having two sinks was really a nice thing. Now that I'm home, this isn't such an issue, but it's still nice to have your own space. I think that the "space" is more important than the sink. One in the middle with two "spaces" is a good option.

Or build yourself a 5' long vanity and her a 33" vanity and see how that works :oP (heh heh that's what I did)

I can't imagine NOT having two sinks! I'm one that prefers to clear off as much of the personal stuff as possible, leaving the surrounding area quite open and not filled with all the unmatched, branded, loudly-labelled, helter-skelter grooming aids. (I mostly keep them in a 36" tall mirrored medicine cabinet (incl. 2 mirrors interior) next to me.) And there are many, many times when we are both getting ready for a function, party or dinner out at the same time. So, we're each brushing our teeth, gargling, washing up, combing hair, etc. Two sinks for us are VITAL! In addition, if it matters, when selling a house, most buyers want two sinks. The appearance alone implies upgraded, plusher, "fancier". And, I can't STAND looking at little whiskers and nose hairs of my DH in a sink! Yuck!!

Mongo, (and others) thanks for the well-considered replies. Beautiful bathroom. Coincidentally, your sink and the way it's mounted are the very same as I had planned. Usually that sink is shown on a pedestal. My plan was to use a slab of granite, sandstone or other solid surface for the counter with 8" between the 30" sinks and 4" space at each end, probably with tile as a backsplash. Now that I have shown my wife your response and your photo, she wants crown molding. Thanks a bunch. (Really) Gary

Mongo, another question about your bathroom: How did you arrive at the idea for that dropped-down ceiling over the toilet? Was it to create more visual interest, or was there some structural problem it solved? I like it, it just isn't something I would have thought of. I'm usually trying to keep things simple, since I don't visualize all that well. Gary

Both.

The wall is load bearing and capped by a beam. The vent from the toilet stack comes out of the wall, into the bath , and around the beam.

ABOVE: You can see by the pic that the soffit is, shall we say...just big enough to hide the vent above the toilet. Hah!

The reason I made it so large was to create a bit of balance between the top of the closet on the far left and what would have otherwise been a miniscule soffit over the toilet on the far right. See the pic below.

I brought the pillar down from the soffit to the teak countertop on top of the 48" tall cabinet that's just to the left of the toilet to balance things out on the wall. It makes the left sconce the same distance from the left closet as the right sconce is from the pillar on the right.

So yeah, it's overkill. But in person, when you can see the entire room, it looks nice. It makes everything to the left and to the right of the central sink feel balanced.

Mongo

I don't know if this will help in your decision making, but we decided to buy 2 pedestal sinks and put a nice antique dresser or some other piece of furniture between the 2, for storage.

I'm going to guess it depends on space, money, and personalities. The house we bought in 1978 as newlyweds has 1 bathroom with 1 sink and is only 10' by 4'. We raised 4 kids (ages 17, 18, 21, & 23) and we're all still using the same bathroom. We taught them: the bathroom is for toilet, bath/shower, brusing teeth. They finish in their bedrooms: dressing, make-up, etc. According to them they learned: time mgmt & sharing. Weekday schedules: daddy 1st ready for work, 21 goes 2nd ready for work (they both leave by 7:30. 17 & 18 split shift (in & out a few times) he goes in for toilet then she does, he goes in for shower then she goes in to wash hair, then he brushes teeth and waits for her to brush hers then both leave for high school by 8:40. Eldest waits for all to leave then has it to himself to leave by 9:30 for work. They all have small baskets they keep their products in so no one else uses their stuff up, and I've always kept all medicines, band-aids, etc in the kitchen (higher shelves to keep away from small frys). I also grew up in a house with 1 bathroom/1 sink and 3 brothers and 1 sister.

[b]Arlink[/b] I hear ya. Only, I'm the one prone to the more helter skelter (but creatively packaged) labeled grooming aids lying around. That's why we have two small alcove "bathrooms" - adjoining. I go through phases - the clutter-free serene look lasts, oh, about two days - and then it looks a lot more like the ranch house in Sideways.

For me and my husband, double sinks are essential. We get ready at the same time in the morning, so we're at our sinks at the same time as well.

Right now, our dual-sink vanity is a disorganized mess. The builder basically combined a pair of base cabinets and threw the sinks on top. This means we have NO drawer space, and keeping things organized is a challenge (I keep my make-up in a tackle box).

Now that we're about to undertake a bath remodel (next month -- yippee!), which includes removing a never-used Jacuzzi tub, we have the luxury of designing a vanity that meets our storage needs, and continues to give us two sinks. It will look something like the one below, except we'll have a green granite top and rectangular undermounted sinks. I'm soooo looking forward to each of us being able to put small items in drawers, and getting other stuff out of sight, which we'd never been able to do before.

We are in the process of getting ready to redo our master bath, we went from 2 sinks to 1. We have lived here for 9 years and have never even used the other sink, so I doubt we will misss it. Also, just wondering, for all the folks (I guess mainly women), who said that they don't like looking at hubbys whiskers, who cleans them up??? If it's you, then does it really matter if it's in "HIS" sink or yours??? Just wondering!!

When I was a kid the family bathroom had two sinks and it was indispensable because there were 4 of us getting ready for school in the morning!

My partner and I have been suffering with a single sink through several apartments, a condo and now a house of our own and having two sinks is at the very top of our must-have list for the bathroom. We both get ready for work at the same time and we can't stand having a single sink. What I can't figure out is why the previous owners put in a single sink (and fairly small vanity) in an otherwise big bathroom when they renovated.

Just food for thought here: do you plan to stay there forever? Our house will be forever, so we're doing 2 sinks, one is open below and wheelchair accessible, with extra space alongside it for vanity use. The other is in a countertop 38" high, which makes current use much easier on our backs. In between, under a 38" high countertop is a bank of drawers--gives someone in a wheelchair, or seated on a vanity stool reachable storage as well as useful to the taller sink.

If we weren't doing the high-low sinks, we didn't want 2 sinks but would have opted for gracious-big his 'n' hers vanity areas on opposite sides of the sink.

Not only do I love our double sinks, if we ever design a new master bath, I am putting the storage cabinet BETWEEN the two sinks, so my DH's stuff doesn't keep "creeping" over to my side!

The only way I could manage having a single sink again would be to have two separate "his and her" complete bathrooms, so he can have his soaking tub and I can have my double-sized shower! And we would never have to share a toilet again either, hehehe......

One really cool thing to use in a bath is the cubbies they make for wine (with drawers they're apothacary cubbies). They're the perfect size for make up, medicines, and to slide a curling iron in. This is my vanity set up:

{{gwi:1429836}}

We've changed it a bit (vessel sinks, two doors in that middle cabinet on top, etc.) but you can get the drift here. The second vanity is for the wiskers (DH's vanity).

Your bathroom is beautiful, Mongo. I love the moldings, especially around the arch entry. What is the countertop material on your vanity? It's gorgeous.

This conversation reminds me of an episode of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' which demonstrated the need for having ones own space in the bathroom. Poor Raymond ended up shaving in the kitchen in front of the toaster before it was over.

I agree with an earlier poster. If resale is a concern, go with two sinks because people like me are used to having their own sink. Otherwise, do whatever works best for you!

I would give up a double sink in a flash if it meant I could put a door around the toilet stall.

My DH will brush teeth w/ me, but he will NOT live w/ 2 people in the bathroom if one of them is on the toilet.

But if I had room, I'd have two sinks.

yadax,

The countertops are teak. I used teak for the two countertops, the tub deck, the windowsill, and the shower door.

Mongo

Timely question - We're building and though I planned for 2 pedestal sinks in the smallish master bath all along, after our last visit to the site my husband suggested we nix one of the sinks and put in a large cabinet in its stead.

He noted that we would rarely use both sinks at the same time and that instead of a narrow cabinet between them, we'd have more room on the top and more storage in a larger cab.

There's logic in his argument, but I don't want to give up that second sink. Like some noted above, it's a personal preference, but I like having my own sink and knowing that it will be left the way I cleaned it until the next time I use it. Also, even though we rarely share the bathroom space, when we do it's usually when we really have to rush, and I would not want to be without a sink and mirror in those cases.

Seeing your question made me more certain about standing my ground in this decision. Thanks, and good luck with your decision!

We live in an older 1940's home that desperately lacks closet and general storage space. We're remodeling and have debated about one or two sinks in the master suite. After much deliberation, we've decided that the storage takes precedence over the second sink. We found a picture of a gorgeous bathroom vanity that has a linen cabinet up each side of the counter with glass fronts, and a bridge across the top. We gained a huge amount of storage both underneath the counters and on top because we eliminated the second sink. We also found that we gained more counter space around the single sink, even with the cabinet surround. Visually, I prefer the look of the custom cabinetry as opposed to the long double sink top. I agree that it's a personal decision depending on your needs, but from what I've found, the double sink does eat up a lot of potential storage space.