It depends, is it a single sink or double? Do you hand wash dishes? Do you need the 15" cabinet or would the 12" do?
Donna

It will be a single bowl sink, and I do intend to do lots of hand washing. I know the 19 x 17 sink will accommodate my largest pots, and I'll get a spray faucet, which should be helpful. I've looked at the 12" cab, and it's sort of useless (the three extra inches from the 15" wide make a difference). So, I think I'll stick with the 24" wide sink cab. Or, maybe I'll flip a coin ; )

Intend to order this weekend!

Big factor: Are you going frameless? If you have framed cabinets, the loss of access on that skinny cabinet (and on the sink cabinet) may be very frustrating.

I have a 27" skin cabinet, and I'm very happy w/ it.

My sink itself is 23" wide, and I will say that if it were a teeny bit narrower, I wouldn't really mind (though probably the elbow room is nice). Maybe that extra space is nice for when I want to have a dishpan in there. Maybe try out a 19" sink w/ a dishpan? (use a cardboard box or something to mock it up?)

Where I wish I had more sink space is front-to-back--mine is 15", and I wish it were a teeny bit more.

As for the faucet: get one shaped like a upside-down L, NOT like an upside-down U. That will give you more clearance, and make up for any loss of maneuverability side-to-side.

I have a 9" cabinet (frameless) that I love, bcs it gives me a place to store the cast-iron griddle, the grill pan, the broiler pan, and the huge cookie sheet for heating Tater Tots. Even the drawer is one of my favorite things, but that's bcs this is right by the stove, and I keep all the cooking spatulas & tongs in there instead of in a crock.

I think under-sink storage is not always useful. That said, I can get a two-can trash pullout and one of these under there--w/ a 24" cabinet, you might not be able to. You can get someone to make you something custom, of course.

I guess it comes down to "what matters to you?" or "what will solve the bigger problem--more sink storage, or more side-cabinet storage?"

My sink is 21" wide X 18.5" deep X 10" deep.
It does not seem small, no one has commented that it seems small.
The only time it's an issue is when washing a frying pan, the long handle will not allow it to sit flat on the bottom of the sink, but I can still wash it fine.
Personally I like single bowl sinks, not double bowl.
If this sink was wider it would be good, but the kitchen is small and the counter space is more important.
No regrets.

If you can go larger, do it, but I'm not sure 2" larger woudl make that much of a difference. I have one and had no choice. The cabinets were here and I couldn't afford to replace them. That was the biggest headache - trying to find a sink that would fit. In the end, it all worked out. As I've posted here, elsewhere, my sink is suffient to do the dishes - it hides a lot of them too (when I'm being just plain lazy!)

I have frameless cabinets and my sink cabinet is 24"wide and 22" deep. The single bowl sink interior is 21"x17". I'm sure they had to notch the cabinet for installation but you can't see it so I didn't care. The sink only feels too small at times because I keep a stainless steel washing up bowl in it (old habit I picked up as a child from my mother). Without that bowl, it's fine. I have my trashcan under the sink and still have room for dish detergent, dishwasher detergent, cleanser, dust pan and brush and the garbage disposal. I guess it depends on what you need to fit in the cabinet, but for me, a 15" side cabinet would be much more useful than a larger sink cab with a 12" side cab.

I have a 12" cabinet (partial overlay; base has 1 drawer on top and regular shelves underneath, upper just regular shelves) and it is VERY small. However, I plan to do exactly what talley_sue_nyc is doing, store my spatulas etc. in the narrow drawer and have cookie sheets underneath. I use the upper to store cooking oil, vinegar, etc. since it's right next to the stove, and have some pantry items above it.

cheri127 is right, unless you have some specific items to store in the narrow cabinet, 15" is much more useful.

Well the 15" would be more useful, but I can definitely find uses for the 12" width cabs. Today, at least, I'm inclined to go for the 27" sink cab and get a bigger sink. Always tradeoffs in a small kitchen. Thanks for your responses.

I have a small kitchen, and my sink cabinet is only 21" wide. It could have been 24", but I preferred to steal the extra 3" for the bank of drawers next to the sink, as they're the only drawers in the room. I have an 18" x 17" x 10" (interior dimensions) sink, and the sink and cabinet are both working out fine. The sink is big enough to handle even my largest pots and pans. I used an InSinkErator Evolution Compact disposal, and still have room in the under-sink cabinet for all of my cleaning supplies (although they are pretty packed in).

Your decision really comes down to where those inches will be of the most use to you. I knew I'd rather have more drawer space (my old kitchen only had one drawer! never again!) than a wider sink/sink cabinet, so it was an easy choice for me. If I hadn't thought that an 18" x 17" sink would be sufficient for my needs, though, I would have gone with the larger sink cabinet. Have you been able to see the sink you're planning to use, and get a feel for whether it will suffice for you? Do you know what you'll be storing in the end cabinet, and whether 12" would be enough space for that?

I also have a small kitchen (10x9). I agonized over the sink cab size as well and ended up going with a 24" with very large commercial style single undermount sink. I LOVE it!

There's plenty of room. I can have a large pot soaking on one side and still lots of room to use the sink. I love that I can soak my huge broiling pan flat in the bottom.

I find the storage space more useful and am so glad I decided on this option.

quantumkitten and kailleanm, do you know what make and model your large sink is, that still fits in a 24" wide cab? So far, the largest sink I can find that will fit (without cutting notches in the cabinet sides) is by Kindred and it's interior dimensions are 19 3/8" x 17 3/8" x 8 deep, which is good, but I'd like some alternatives.

Hi,

I bought this sink (see link) off Ebay. Great deal! There's both an auction and buy it now price. I'm in Canada, so I'm not sure if they ship to the US. Probably.

I'm very pleased with this sink. It's good quality 16 guage stainless. 10" deep. I still have room underneath it for my garbage can and cleaning supplies.

No fancy accessories, though, if that matters to you.

Here is a link that might be useful: My sink

I also got my 16 gauge zero radius sink off of eBay. Here is a current listing for the one I purchased. Another sink with the exact same dimensions is the BlancoPrecision Element I.

thanks so much for your responses!

Reviving this post rather than starting a new one, as I found it v. interesting and I'm sure others, like me, are struggling with the Q of a trade-off b/t sink space and counter/cabinet space. In my case, I can probably go as high as a 30", but that does mean it would steal much needed cab/counter space.

Would really like to see pics of those with sink cabinets at 27" and under, and what the cabinet next to it looks like (be it 12" or 15" or something else entirely).