Please help - suffering about my sink choice - white? ss? black?

16 years ago

Hi - everything else is so easily decided except this silly sink.

Long story short - ivory cabinets, black "granite look" laminate, medium oak floors (very cozy, a little bit contemporary, but cozy), and a HUGE bay window behind my sink.

I want the feeling of a farmhouse garden sink - something pretty, seamless (I wish for undermount - not an option), so I'm flip-flopping back and forth since I'm stuck doing a drop-in sink.

I'm not a huge fan of how drop-in stainless sinks look but maybe there is a huge difference in quality? Would love a white porcelain sink. But it's an investment and there are risks with cast iron.

Then I thought, what about black silgranite. Completely opposite to what I have been thinking, but now I'm wondering.

Can you help? PLEASE post pics of your sinks. Any thoughts would be more than appreciated.

Or, if you can suggest a simply awesome stainless steel drop in sink that would change my mind about hating stainless, that would be wonderful.

Keeping an open mind here...

Thank you!

Cheryl

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Comments (8)

try_hard
16 years ago
My last house had a kitchen with stained wood floors, painted white cabs, and black granite-looking formica. I had a black cast iron sink in there and hated it because it was impossible to keep clean - much like a black car. Then we remodeled that kitchen and I got a black (Anthracite) silgranit sink and loved it!

I would not use a white sink with your black countertops. I think it would break up the countertop space, visually. The SS would be fine, but my thought is, if you have an opportunity to get silgranit, you should take it.

Good luck,

Try_Hard
pbrisjar
16 years ago
I've got a gray/silver silgranit sink. Currently a drop-in but we'll probably be changing to undermount (the one we bought does both). Blends in nicely with our purple / blue / white / gray granite. No pics yet but I need to get some soon.

FYI - you can find great deals online once you know which sink you want. We got ours for about half-price with no shipping charges.
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With a "D" sink, you often get more depth (front-to-back) than with a traditional rectangular sink. Yes, if you have standard depth counters you probably will have to mount the faucet off to the side (on the curve, probably). However, this has two advantages (speaking of "D" shapes in general): (1) Gives you a larger volume sink compared to a traditional rectangular sink of the same width (2) Brings the faucet closer to you so you don't have to reach as far to get to it...especially helpful if you are short or have short arms. I would keep looking until you find a sink you like in your preferred composition and color. BTW...the exterior dimensions are useful for determining whether the sink will fit in your sink base (recommended 1" or more less than the width of your sink base). The internal dimensions tell you how much sink workspace/volume it has. As Sandn mentioned, keep in mind that the final working depth (top-to-bottom) of an undermount sink is equal to the depth of the sink + the thickness of your countertop.
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kulagal, I wanted to open your eyes to a few things you maybe haven't considered. I have had a white cast iron sink (Kohler) and now have a fireclay sink (Franke). I LOVE the fireclay. It is SO MUCH easier to keep clean. Basically, you just rinse it. Metal rarely makes marks, and if it does, a wipe with the soft side of the sponge cleans off the mark. The cast iron will require MUCH more scrubbing. Also, people seem to be very happy with their silgranit sinks, although I like the shiny look for a sink. The silgranit is matte. I would never again consider a cast iron sink. I was also warned repeated by people working in design stores that the new cast iron sinks are lead-free now and don't hold up nearly as well as the old ones. I especially wouldn't get an undermount cast iron sink. People love that orca. Many other companies make fireclay: Rohl, Shaw, KWC, Kohler, Franke, Whitehaus, etc. You may have already looked into this. Also, I just saw some very cool new colors in Caesarstone in a design magazine. As of a couple of days ago, they weren't even on on Caesarstone's website. There were three new blacks/dark greys. So if you are after that look, you should at least check them out. The Kohler Simplice faucet comes in two different sizes. With a small sink, the smaller one would probably look better. Can you check out the dimensions online and do a mock-up? Good luck!
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caligirl_cottage
16 years ago
I'd go with ss or silgranit. But can I ask (dumbly perhaps), what are the "risks with cast iron"? Just curious since it's still on our options for a sink.
gracie-2006
16 years ago
I have the black silgranite sink and I love it! It is an undermount. We have black granite also- I love the way it flows. SS Sinks I think are still a pain to keep water stains off. LOL!
Fori
16 years ago
I'm not familiar with any risks to cast iron sinks except that I tend to break things in them. It's my favorite material for a tub or lavatory sink, but I'm too clumsy to have it in the kitchen. :)

I like SS because of my breakage issues, but have been stuck with a plastic sink this last year (Corian) and actually kind of like it. Silgranit would look great.

The water spot issue may or may not occur, depending on what type of water you have.
abbycat9990
16 years ago
I just posted these on the undermount/overmount thread, but here we go again. Black "granite" sink from Pegasus:

Because the range top is black and I originally wanted granite-look Formica, we were thrilled to find these black sinks at HD. Once we settled on the Basalt Slate laminate, the sink became an absolute no-brainer. I really love it. We replaced an old 3-basin SS Elkay in our last house with a white acrylic sink. Both were great in their own way, but the staining! With this black sink, we still get staining around the drain (his tea, my coffee), but it's much less noticeable.
sarschlos_remodeler
16 years ago
I have had ss and cast iron, and I much prefer the cast iron. Kohler cast iron sinks also come in colors, including black if you want. They have several that I really like, and some of theirs are designed to be either drop-in or undermount. These seem to have pretty low profiles since you can't do an undermount.

Kohler Cast Iron Kitchen Sink Colors

My favorite is the iron tones smart divide:
Iron Tones Self-Rimming or Undermount Don't be scared by the price on the Kohler website. That's suggested retail. You can find it much lower on the Internet.
lascatx
16 years ago
I know I have seen limited stainless sink option that can be undermounted with laminate. Don't have one, so I can't help you with specifics -- but it is an option. Search here or google.

Are you sure a farmhouse style is not an option? It seems like it would require more care and finishing effort, but be a possibility, especially if you set the sink up over the edge of the counter just a tad. And edge seam would then be below the edge of the sink.

For a drop-in, I would not put a white sink on top of a black counter withthe possibly exception of a highly stylized blak and white kitchen - in which case I probably wouldn't want a drop-in sink.

If you do a drop-in, go with black.

Please help - suffering about my sink choice - white? ss? black?

Comments (8)

try_hard

pbrisjar

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