I toyed around the same issue on a small run where sink rests-ended up with 24 in dishwasher-happy becausse everything goes in-the area is cleaner-and smaller sink is sufficient. Mi9ele was my choice-it is flexible and holds pans and dishes..I can't blieve the drop in clutter in the area-18 in dishwasher will work-but fill quickly and there will be stuff around sink....

The 18" Miele is well designed and reviewed and should be fine for two people. Even if it is run more often, they say nowadays that dishwashers use a lot less water than hand washing, so that wouldn't be so bad.

Thinking toward the future, however, one of the few appliances that really comes in a pretty standard size is the dishwasher. There are variations of less than an inch, but they're all pretty much 24". If you get the 18" unit, you're betting that in the future, because even Mieles wear out, there will be a nice replacement. Also, that if you should ever want to sell your home, the buyers won't be put off by it.

Happy medium: Before you get too far along, why not talk to a carpenter or cabinet installer and see if the cabinetry can be customized so that the sink can be supported properly in a smaller cabinet, with the drainboard extending over the DW, and that the DW can be installed under it. There are many dishwashers that anchor at the sides rather than the top, so if the drainboard is pretty flat, and won't be affected by the heat of the machine, it might be possible.

I know what it's like to be in love with a sink, but between one and the other, I'd chose a standard sized sink and dishwasher, rather than an oversized sink and undersized dishwasher.

We had the same dilemma. While a crumby picture, our solution is below. We planned for a 24" sink cabinet and a 24" dishwasher. When we got down to installing everything, it wouldn't all fit on the wall (84" long, I now know). We needed about one more inch.

We downsized the sink cabinet to 21" and just took whatever sink the granite company said would fit. It's not big, but it's more than adequate for 2 people and all the dirty dishes go in the dishwasher anyway. Besides, I find that I like having more of the counter to use. We felt an 18" dishwasher would be more of a negative than a small sink when it comes time to sell.

Email or call Blanco. With 54" to start with, and with only 22.5" needed for a DW or for any of the guts in a 24" cabinet, you have 31.5" available. I'm sure Blanco will tell you that the actual sink portion underneath does not need that much space. Perhaps you will see that in a PDF on their site.

Quote: " ....you do still need at least 32" of cabinet..." I haven't llooked to see if this is a stated requirement published in general as 32", or if you have determined all by yourself that this is the space truly occupied by the sink. If the former, then know this: it's merely a guideline. Anyone can squeeze more space out of it. It's probably easy to notch or groove a little bit out of a 1.5" thick (double cabinet sides together) material. I did this.

On the other end of your 54" wet area you can groove out a bit too. I'm certain this is worth looking into.

Hth

A 30" farmhouse sink would seem HUGE with 24" left for a DW. That would be about the size of mine and it is pretty huge. If you have wished for a larger sink, I would suggest one larger bowl rather than a double bowl. You can also have runnels put into a counter over the DW and not impact the amount of space needed for your sink.

As pointed out above, here and I'm sure in future posts -- you probably have more options than you may have considered. Check out as many as you can, because nothing feels worse than realizing you had the chance to make a better choice but went for exactly what you thought you wanted without considering other options. I had a near miss myself. ;-)

Thanks everybody. I appreciate all the feedback. I really don't care about resale value, at all, but I do hear that everyone thinks a 24" dishwasher is the better option. Logically, I know that's true as well...but I still keep fighting it, for some reason.

In the end, logic will probably triumph.

It's just me and my husband. We only have room for a 21" single bowl sink in order to fit the 24" DW. This is a perfect set up for us. So if you can go even bigger than a 21" single bowl and get the 24" DW, you'll be fine!!

btw, we did not have a DW in the old kitchen and all we had was a 21" sink and we survived. So now we have the same sink size with the DW and we're in paradise. Would I like a bigger sink? Of course! But would I shrink down the size of the DW to get the bigger sink? NO.

Smaller sink larger DW. We had an 18" in our condo while on vacation it filled up quickly. Your husband will appreciate not having to wash dishes by hand as much and so will you.

I think it is ideal to have a sink large enough for the largest thing you might dirty while cooking. For me, that is a half sheet tray, so I'd want a sink with interior dimensions comfortably greater than 18'' x 14''. Something like the Blanco Single Large Bowl. Your minimum dimensions might be different.

The long dimension of the sink need not be the width, it can be the depth. If you use wall-mount faucets, you can have a large sink without taking up a lot of counter width.

After you get one bowl with the desired dimensions, you can allocate the remaining space to (1) larger single bowl or (2) second bowl and (3) dishwasher.

In most case, the above reasoning will eliminate double sinks, as the bowls are too small. Which would then eliminate the need to consider 18'' dishwashers. There is less choice and flexibility in the 18'' size. No dishdrawers, for example. (Although there is now a 35'' single dishdrawer.)