My sink is 32" (I think-I could be off by an inch). The reason it is that size is because that is the biggest I could fit in my cabinet.

Big is awesome. You could always get a cutting board to put across a part of it to increase your counter space when prepping veggies or something.

My Shaws will be 30", but if I had the space I would have gone with the 36", or if I had the space AND the busget, I would have gotten the Michael Smith sink for Kallista, which is 40" I think. As long as you have the space, I say go big, but don't sacrifice too much workable counter for it. In the end, you have to figure out which of the 2 is most important.

Mine is 31x18 interior because it was the largest sink we could get and still have the type of faucet we wanted. The 18" depth and zero radius bottom mean we can put cookie sheets to one side front to back. I think we have one cutting board that has to go sideways, but everything else I can think of goes front to back -- leaving plenty of pace to the other side if something needs to rest or soak. With that depth, a few more inches of width wouldn't mean that much -- I'd rather have the counter at that point.

I didn't mention that my sink run is less than 11 feet and stuck between a wall and a doorway. I'd have longer if I could, but I can't. I questioned both larger and smaller sinks, but this one took about the same space as the 2-bowl we had. We didn't pick up counter space, but we put in a second DW and have a large enough sink that we can stack in it instead of one the counter.

Do you have a secondary sink? If so, then you don't really need the bathtub. :) Not that sink space is ever wasted. What other demands do you have for your counter?

Maybe a good compromise would be the 45" Kohler Stages sink? It has a large reef in it, which is just under the level of the counter and is for wet/messy counterwork, like deboning and washing a chicken. It also comes with accessories that fit over it (cutting boards and prep bowls) which makes it easier to work right over the sink.

I think 30" single bowl is perfectly adequate. I actually think 30" double bowl is adequate if it's tiled in or under mounted, thereby having some splash space, though it takes more work to use than a big open single bowl.

I loved my old triple bowl, 48" sink. Each of the large bowls was 18" square, and deep. I couldn't fit it in my new arrangement, so got an interestingly shaped 30" single bowl, and a 16" prep sink with a tail. I just got faucets and drains, but so far I love them. The 30" would be perfectly adequate, but I also like the different heights my two sinks have.

I love my 39 inch Shaws sink. Wish my cabinet were 4 inches bigger than the Shaws sink - - that is a good rule of thumb from your cabinet man. Wish my cabinet were framed per my contract, frameless is less than ideal for various reasons, at least from Wood-Mode/Brookhaven.

We got the big Shaws sink so that we could bathe the dogs in the sink, soak big pots and pans, and put all dirty dishes in the sink after dinner for a good soak if needed.

Because the 1 1/2 basin sink is huge, I use plastic dishpans inside to create smaller soaking tubs.

For me, it is the right size.

Thanks everyone!

It is our only sink. We have a DW for most things but sometimes need to soak a jelly roll pan (which I can't do now) or some non-dw safe cookware. I'm beginning to think we should at least go with a 33".

The counter to the right will have runnels for drainage, and then it heads into a corner anyway. Counter to left is used for some prep, but I can safely lose a few inches without a lot of impact.

I didn't know Shaw's made a 39" wow! I have a 36" and I absolutely love it. Nary a dirty dish in sight, even with the biggest party.

Unlike everyone else, my sink is 21" x 17" x 8" and find it completely adequate for my needs!
I have a small kitchen and, like you, wanted all the counter space I could muster. We made a cardboard template of the sink size and laid it out and found it was fine for everything we need to do. We cook a lot, but don't stack stuff in the sink - we load it directly into the dishwasher (modern dishwashers don't need you to rinse).

The only time I vaguely wished for a larger sink was when scrubbing the grates from the cooktop - until I remembered that the basement sink was big enough, so I scrubbed them down there :)

(Just thought you might like an opposing view!)

I think it's totally up to you. I have a 33x22 single that juuusssstttt fits everything big I have - and I have a lot of large cookware! It fits a half-size cookie sheet flat, which is important because I use the two I have at least half a dozen times a week, if not more often.

If you don't have big cookware - my wok is 18" across the top for example - then there's no point in going any larger than you need to, especially if you need the counterspace.

My Blanco sink is close to the size of sara the brit. The top is 22 15/32' wide and 20 5/32" front to back, but the bottom is 21 1/4" wide and 19" front to back so the sides are EXTREMELY steep. The size of the BOTTOM is what really matters, since that is where your pan will sit. This fits all of our needs since our oven is not large enough for a full sheet pan. We use our Instant Hot and our pull-out faucet to soak pans on our counter.

The biggest problem with such a small sink is that there is not really room for two people to stand in front of it simultaneously, tho' of course we try & try night after night as I scrape the dishes and fill the DW from one side as DH tries to wash the pots and pans on the other. We both want to get out of the kitchen ASAP, and have not mastered the preschool art of taking turns, so it's more like sharing and doing the Bump.

We went with a 33" SS apron sink, but only because we could fit it in. Originally we planned on getting a 30", but when we noticed the cabinet base was a 36" cabinet we decided to just pay the few $$ more to get the larger sink. Coming from a double sink the 30" single would have been more than enough, but we felt like the unused space in the cabinet would be wasted if we didn't go for the largest one possible. Loving it so far.

I have the stages 45. The sink part is 33". I love all the room. It just feels good to use it. Also, I can have dirty dishes in there and still have room to drain pasta. This situation occurs virtually every morning before school for me. So, it works great to have a big sink in our house.
Lisa

I have a slightly different opinion than most. I have a 36" Shaw's and I personally think it is just a little too big for those rare times when I want to fill it up and soak those few dishes that I don't want to put in the dishwasher.

I use my dishwasher 98% of the time and I love being able to soak those big pans in my big sink that would not fit in a single bowl sink, but it takes a lot of water to fill that giant sink to just wash a few dishes.

I think a 33" inch sink would have suited me better--and I will not use a dishpan.

With that being said, I still love my sink.

I'm so glad I found this post. You all helped me answer my most asked question to myself. I'm definitely going to go with the larger sink. We have a 33" sink base and will be going with a 31" undermount sink. I don't use the counter space to the right or left of the sink for prepping so I don't think a 31" will take up that much space. For those that have a 30" or larger sink, how deep is your sink? And is it too deep if you have undermount. I understand it will be undermounted about 1 1/4" under the granite making it over 11 1/4" deep. Has this caused anyone a problem leaning over the sink?

My Blanco sink is the same size of the one described by sara the brit, and smaller than kitchenobsessed's.

We don't wash up together at the same sink at the same time. One person does one thing and the other does something else. We can be together in the same room without tag-teaming.

We are undermounting it under 3/4" (2cm) quartz. The overhang will make the opening a bit smaller. It's certainly larger than what we had before.

Our idea is to maximize the counter.

I really think that having two water sources is more important than having a large sink. I've been wondering why no-one ever mentions this.