Hi Melissa: I just went through the same problem!

For years I had a single ss sink - loved it when my kids were small as I could give them a bath right in the sink (wish those days were back!). I never thought about or noticed a double sink in homes until one day I noticed a friend of mine had a 1 3/4 size sink in porcelain. She was peeling potatoes and had the peeled potatoes in one sink and the rinds and unpeeled ones in another... I loved that!

My next house I put one in (and still have it). I love the double bowl (one large and one smaller) for stuff like when you need to drain pasta or potatoes and there is dishes or vegetables in the sink - no need to move them, just use the second sink. Also washing floors with a mop - sink full of soapy cleanser in one side and rinse the mop in the other. Washing dishes, especially during the holidays when you re-use them again that day - nice for soaking on the larger side and rinsing them on the smaller one. I have a small kitchen and a limited budget so a prep sink is out of the question for me.

I wanted to get a single sink with this kitchen remodel, thought long and hard about it as so many here have single sinks that I love - like the Franke Orca or Oceana (I think those are the names) they have the 'shelf' so you can put a colander or a grid and separate the sides - but it still has that one drain...

I do think it's definitely whatever your used to and whatever you find works for you. That said, I just ordered a Ticor SS undermount double bowl sink yesterday. Porcelain chips and cracks and these days, the SS sinks have noise reduction and are very pretty. The Ticor sinks come with the bottom grids and thanks to the nice people on this forum, I saved a lot of $$.

PS. Isn't it amazing how much we agonize over relatively small things like kitchen sinks? Took me a couple of months before I dared to say 'that's it!! I'm just going to plow ahead with this decision and not look back!!' -- remodels are so expensive and it's all so scary because we don't want to end up regretting anything.

I've had both single and double sinks. When I had a single sink, I had a rubbermaid dishpan that lived under my sink. Soapy water went in that, rinsed to the side of it. Did all my little stuff first, then plugged the sink and washed the big turkey pan.

Double sink is obvious.

I prefer the single bowl. I find it easier to wash big roasters in a single bowl. Plus...it's great for bathing a baby in. Both of my guys were bathed in the kitchen sink until they got too big. MUCH easier on my back than the tub!

I have had double sinks my whole life. Now, I have two Ticor single sinks and LOVE them!! I have a stainless strainer that hangs over the food prep sink for rinsing veggies. When I clean up, I use a dish pan in the large Ticor sink to wash in, and I have a smallish sized dish drainer that hangs over one end of the sink where I put the dishes to dry. It works SO well! And if I have a cookie sheet, broiler pan or large roasting pan that needs to soak, the single sink is the greatest!

I have never had a single bowl sink but am planning one for my reno for all the reasons mentioned by others already - except for bathing the children ... they are 10yrs and 8yrs and I think they would object (LOL) I have had lots of double bowls and a 1 3/4 but couldn't get the cookie sheets or roasting pan in any of them.

Unless you do a lot of dish washing by hand I think the double bowl just gets in the way.

Happy hunting!

I've been wondering the same thing myself! I've always had the double bowls, so I'm not sure I could live without the second bowl. I typically have red leaf organic lettuce on one side soaking and leave the other side free for filling pots with water or placing dishes as a staging area before putting them into the dishwasher.

Since I only have room for one sink in my small 10 x 10 kitchen, I think I might miss the second bowl.

karena, I hear you on the veggies. We eat mainly out of the garden in summer and there are a lot of vegs to wash! I have always had double bowl sinks (50/50 split) and was considering a single bowl based on all the comments I have read on this forum on the subject. But now I am leaning towards a 3/4 type... something big enough to wash *most* of the roasting pans in the big side, but still have a second sink for veggie prep or draining dishes.

I've had all three, hated the double, it was never big enough. I liked my big single, but I didn't like having to keep a dishpan handy.
I now have a sink & 1/2, so the big sink is bigger than the double but I still have a second sink for dishes or whatever.

As one who always had a double sink, I too debated and agonized over the sink in my reno. Because my kitchen is small and counterspace is at a premium, I went with the single bowl. The link below is to the sink on the site where I ordered it. Scroll down the page (on the link) and you'll see a sink grid and cutting board. I wasn't sure about whether I would like the grid and cutting board, but they're wonderful. The single bowl makes it so nice to wash large items like cookie sheets and roasting pans - No more tilting and angling to get them in one side of a double sink. The only drawback is making sure to rinse the dishes before filling the sink with dishwater. I don't use a dishpan (nor do I want to), so if someone comes along with a glass of milk that needs poured out, I wash it last. Otherwise, I really am happy I went with the single bowl.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kindred sink, sink grid and cutting board

MFrog, what sink do you have? Do you have a link or a picture?

I have always had double....Right now we have 1 3/4 (I think) but we wash in the small side and drain in the big side. We just drain things a lot. Every night my DH comes home with his little coffee thermos and rinses it out and puts it in the strainer.

I would love a farm house sink (is that what they're called?) but I have no clue beyond that.

In our old kitchen, we had an equal-sized, double bowl sink. We never particularly liked it since the bowls were too big for soaking the small stuff like flatware and too small for washing the 9x13 pans or roaster pans.

However, washing the babies was a snap since we had a Fisher Price baby tub designed for that type of sink... Just put the tub in the sink (it fit over the bowl divider), fill it, wash the baby, and when done open the tub drain right there.

When they got old enough to sit up on their own they were really too big for a sink so we used the garden tub in our MBA. [Keep in mind that both my children were almost 23" long at birth and grew rapidly (and still growing at 12 & 14)...] So, no need to use the sink itself as a tub.

When we planned the new kitchen, we knew we still wanted two bowls since (1) we like to soak utensils & flatware while scraping & loading dishes into the DW in the other bowl (w/GD) and (2) like to have a bowl to fill with soapy water for washing dishes or wiping down counters & table yet have the other bowl free for rinsing or other tasks. For us, the 1-3/4 sink worked.

The big bowl (21-3/8" x 18-3/4" x 9") is big enough to fit our longest cookie sheet and all our pot & pans, and roasting pan.

The small bowl (10-1/2" x 15-7/8" x 7") is big enough to use for washing dishes if need be but small enough to just use it to soak utensils & flatware or fill with soapy water. It saves on water as well as we do not have to fill a big bowl.

We don't have to have a dishpan floating around for providing double-bowl functionality.

We also have a Ticor sink (S405D). It was inexpensive compared to most other sinks I've seen ($239.99), excellent quality, and included the sink grids for each bowl. The grids keep things off the floor of the sink and keep the drain from being blocked by dishes in the sink.

Our Garbage Disposal/Disposer (GD) is in the big bowl.

You will find, though, that many GWers prefer single bowls...probably more than double...or at least the single-bowl proponents are more vocal!

Here is a link that might be useful: Buehl's Sinks and Faucets

Hi staceyneil! Nice to meet you here :-).

We have a garden as well and usually a bumper crop of basil among other things, which we pick, clean, and then soak in one side of the sink. I don't know what I'll pick just yet, but, I know it's got to be a great sink because it gets used every day. The one I have now is dented, no insulation, but I very much like being able to use Bon Ami to scrub it down and keep it clean and it is stainless steel.

So far, the Franke double bowl undermount sink looks good to me and the price is very reasonable on overstock.com. Decisions, decisions...I'm still pricing out cabinets...

buehl - I really like your sink - you may have made a beleiver out of me! I had my eye on a large single bowl Silgranit but I really like how useful yours is and the points everyone made about rinsing veg etc.

Oh well - I haven't bought anything yet but I clipped your pic and checked out their website. I'll have to let you know what I actually end up doing. I'll probably change my mind 10 more times before then!

HA! After seeing the pictures of Buehl's beautiful kitchen, the sink decision was easy :-) That's the Ticor I ordered too.

I agree that Buehl's sink looks like it might be the best of both worlds. Thanks for sharing Buehl :-).

I've lived with my double sink for about twelve years and I cannot wait to get a single sink. The main reason is to wash larger pots, pans, cookie sheets, etc. I *never* seem to have enough room in the double one I have now and am always having to balance large pots on the divider and hope they don't slip off. I also use a plastic dishpan, stored under the sink, for washing regular dishes so I'm already used to that for when I get the single sink.

I have the Franke Orca and so far love it. The Oceania would be great also, although its a little smaller. I always had double bowls and went through way too much angst about the entire decision. Now that it is all over, my take is this: The sinks with shelves are a great compromise. If those are ruled out, I would go with a large sink base and the largest double equal bowls I could. Remember, most of those old double bowls were in a small standard sized 30" sink base and were significantly smaller than whats available now. I measured my old sink at one point and I don't remember the exact dimensions any more, but I don't think it was any bigger than 13 or 14" inches square in each bowl and I think it was actually even smaller. Double equal sinks are now available that are 15-16" x 18" and would be much more functional. They require 33-36" sink bases. If that was also a no go, I would go back to the largest single I could fit and a removable basin. I have no fondness for the unequal sizes. My mother likes hers fine, but I find the small bowl a nuisance. If you hand wash a lot of dishes I don't think you will be as satisfied with anything other than some type of double. If you don't, minor adjustments will probably mean you miss the double hardly at all, like prepping veggies first, putting scraps into compost or garbage occasionally, etc.

My advise is to compare the current large singles to other styles in the sizes that are currently available, not to the size your old sink was.

Sue

We went with a double, even though I wanted a single. Everyone kept saying that I'd hate a single.
We ended up doing a 60/40. It's ok, but after living here almost 2 years, I regret not doing a single. There hasn't been one time that I've needed the sing to be double.

I've also had doubles all my life and went single with the remodel. Love it and would never go back, it's so much more efficient for the way I work. There's a pic of it in action on the "black faucet" thread, holding a giant 14" skillet. It's so nice to not have to wrestle with that kind of stuff, totally worth any trade-offs (of which I've discovered none so far!). I think my dream sink is one of those enormous cast iron farmhouse sinks, the ones wide enough for two faucets. Now that's a sink I could get into...literally :-)

I think it's a steel queen, just a cheapy from Home Despot.
I didn't want to spend a lot of $ on this house.

I have always had a double sink but was thinking about switching to a single to gain a little counter space. Then remembered that I always put the not-quite-thawed turkey in a sink full of cold water on Thanksgiving morning so that it will thaw out. Two sinks allows me to clean veggies etc in the other sink. And we set our tea or water glasses that we are going to use again that day in a dish strainer on one side of the sink - keeping them off the counter.

You're welcome karena_2009!

frankoma: My larger bowl is over 21" wide & 23-1/2" on the diagonal...big enough, I think, to fit a 14" skillet + handle. My 12" skillet (my largest) has an 8" handle & fits in my sink with about 3" to spare... All of my pots, pans, cookie sheets, roasting pans, and casserole dishes fit in my larger bowl...usually w/room to spare.

However, to each his own!

Buehl, I think we're comparing apples and oranges...

I was comparing my large single sink to my old (well, all of my old) equally sized double sinks. When I was planning my kitchen I gave a lot of thought to squeezing in another smaller sink somewhere, but it just wasn't going to happen in my small kitchen, functional counter space took precedence. My sink is 27" across the top, about as big as I could go. Dividing that space up with an extra smaller sink would have removed all the functionality that I've come to love. Your Ticor is really a big single plus another small sink, the best of both worlds!

SWMBO wanted a big deep double sink with equal sized bowls. After much searching, we finally found the Elkay ELUH361710. I guess not many folks put this sink in their homes, because we didn't see it on display at any of the stores we visited. On Elkays web site it is only found on the 'commercial' side of the site.

We previously had a double sink that was equal in size before the remodel. We liked the versatility of having two sinks but wanted one side larger to accomodate bigger pans.

We went with an Elkay sink with the smaller side on the left. It is available with the smaller side on the right as well. We put our disposal on the left side as that is the side where our dishwasher is located.

The small sink is 11 1/2"x16". The large side is 18"x20".

Here is a picture:

Does anyone have a picture of one, large, single sink installation and the dimensions of the sink base cabinet to accommodate it? I'm trying to figure out what size base cabinet and sink I might like for my small kitchen.

Thanks!

This is the sink in our last kitchen, it is a Kohler cast iron, 36" sink set into a 42" base cabinet. HTH

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I had a similiar one to buel's and loved it. This kit was smaller so I went with a single and I miss the always clean sink. We use a lot of fresh veggies and I liked to swish around greens in a sink, not just rinse off.

I hate double sinks. We will only use a single now. What I really want is two sinks that are completely separate. One for cleaning and one for prep. I have used kitchens with this set up and it is great. Our current kitchen has a little 24" sink that I'll take any day over a double. It came with the house and will be replaced by a 30" single bowl.

We went back and forth between single and double. We previously had a double sink, but we decided to go with a large single bowl with the kitchen re-do. We have the Franke Oceania--it is very versatile with a ledge for an optional shelf grid. The advantage of a single versus a double sink is the ability to immerse long cooking items--large roasting pans, cookie sheets, bbq grills now fit flat in the sink which makes washing them so much easier! Not only is it functional, it is nice to look at as well.

The sinks dimensions are 28 by 17 and easily fits in a 36" or 32" sink base.

Hope this helps.

Three years ago we moved into this house and inherited its double bowl sink. I hate it, and will be replacing it with a single bowl. The main reason the double bowl drives me crazy is that we only have a disposal hooked up to only one side of the sink -- so which side do you suppose DH throws his kitchen scraps in? Any side that's handy, of course! I dislike cleaning sinks anyway (and DH never sees the need to wipe them at all), so two bowls just seem to make twice the work. Unless you wash dishes by hand (which we don't), I don't see the point.

Thanks mfrog and gwnovice for sharing your pictures and sink base dimensions! I love this forum, it is great to share all of the experiences.

Cheers,

Karen

I have the Orca by franke - a single sink. I agonized over this as well and at the final moment switched to a single. I love it; no regrets. You can always make a single perform like a double (with a dish basin), but you can't recapture the space of a single out of a double. I love the orca because it has a lip that allows a half grid to be placed to the side so you can drain or place clean items on it. I can remove the half grid and place large pans directly in the bottom without a problem. Definitely love the single!!

Hi Melissa,
I'm planning to get the Kohler SmartDivide with a 60/40 because to me it is the best of both worlds. The divider in the center of it is much lower than standard. So if you put a large skillet in it, the handle can easily lay over the divider. Typically as I prepare dinner, I'm throwing salad fixings in the small, disposal side, and stacking and/or rinsing dishes etc. in the large side. During cleanup, we repeat the process, so I just don't know how we'd do this with a single bowl. If you do a search on here, you'll see a few people have this sink.

The link I've attached shows a somewhat odd-shaped sink, but it comes in the standard 33" rectangular 60/40 as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler Smart Divide Sink

I don't love two sinks. I prefer a large, deep sink and a drain board for oversize pots, tall glasses etc. next to the sink. Everything else goes into the dishwasher.