Here are some photos of the same sink. One has a drain rack, the other has a cutting board. You are on the right track thinking of a single bowl sink. Consider one with a right rear drain and you will find the sink is much more useful.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I don't know if you are going for a modern look or a traditional one... we just had the Kohler Stages sink installed, which comes with an integral ledge, a walnut cutting board, and two white heavy plastic trays/cutting boards. One is narrow, to hold knives while you are prepping, and the other is wider, and can hold six prep bowls (also included).

There are good pictures of it in the thread below, or you can google "Kohler stages sink video" to find Kohler's marketing video.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler Stages sink thread on Garden Web Kitchen Forum

I love this sink! I will have my architect look at it - but the only place for my dw is immediately to the right of the sink and if I have to move the sink 45" to the left of the DW (it doesn't look like I can get the dw under that shallow part because of the accessory hook?) then I will be severely limiting what actual counter is left - as well as storage below. Still I'm going to investigate it -

I looked at the 33" one and with that the basin would definitely be too small.

thanks!

Yeah I looked at that like crazy trying to figure out how to get that drainboard over the dishwasher.. it would be tough without making all of your cabinets 2-3 inches higher, or if you had a thick countertop with a shallower part cut out in the bottom to house the sink - so the sink mounted up inside the countertop instead of underneath the whole thing.. does that make sense? but then your cutting board and whatnot would sit higher than the countertop anyway...

If you have a floorplan or cabinet layout that you can post, I can help you figure out if there's a way to make it work.

I was not at all certain that we were going to be able to make it fit, because we did not find it till after our cabinets were already ordered. We put the deep part into a 33" wide sink base, and the drainboard goes over an 18" wide trash pullout. It would be very difficult to put a dishwasher under the drainboard with the Stages sink.

There is someone here who posted pictures a while back of her 33" stages sink. I don't have her post bookmarked any more, but if you search for Kohler Stages in the searchbox at the bottom of the main forum page, you might be able to find it.

There are also other sinks out there that have the cutting board features, but not the drainboard. Perhaps someone else will post links, or you can google around. I remember looking at another one, I think on the Oliveri website Take a look at their model 885U in the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Oliveri 800 Series sinks

actually - it looks from the pictures on the kohler website that the sink can be installed with the ledge on the leftside. In which case it wouldn't interfere with my dw!

The Stages is a very cool sink, but you don't need its design to have the same function. For the reef area, you can do it the old fashioned way, with a upturned stainless pan inside your sink, as a platform for cleaning meats. Easy to work on, easy to sanitize. You can make cuttingboards that will fit into any sink area, though if there's no ledge they won't be flush. You can get the ledge by having a positive reveal on any standard sink (that is, there's a bit of the top edge of the sink which is not covered by the countertop). It doesn't have to be built into the sink. Some of the sink companies make cuttingboards, baskets, trays, etc., that fit other sinks, but you can also find things that are already out there at the dollar store that will work. You can also find prep bowls that will fit your trays.

I've always put my regular, old cutting board across my sink for many prep tasks. I never knew it was "special", and I can't see how the integrated one on the Stages would be more special. What is special is how they've designed it to have a gigantic sink in a smaller kitchen by having the rack underneath to hold your boards, prep bowls, etc., and making them so that the sink opening will function as counter. Again, something I've always done. Small kitchens aren't a new invention!

Figure out how important the look is to you. Perhaps the smaller Stages sink is a good choice because it still looks cool. Perhaps a similarly made single bowl stainless sink with the upended steel pan will do the job better for your usual tasks (i.e., don't need the reef often). Perhaps you'd rather have a smaller farmhouse sink, anyway, and armed with some dollar store finds and a drawer under the sink for them, it'll give you all the function you need.

Do you really need a 45" sink? Will you also have a prep sink? Or will a 30" sink do you, and give you plenty more actual counterspace, rather than cover-the-sink, ersatz counterspace?

OH! Maybe by "integral ledge" you meant the reef, not the edge around the sink. I'm not going to rewrite my post, since it doesn't really change the answer above. I'll add that I've used reef sinks, and my prep sink is a shallow trough that empties into a bowl. I do love working on the reef for a lot of prep tasks, but really and truly the upturned pan works fine. It's just not "cool".

Here are some sinks I have bookmarked from when I was trying to make a decision.. these all have a drainboard and all the fun accessories. some may be drop in, but I think a couple of them offer the same sink in an undermount option.

http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=440842

http://www.faucetdirect.com/blanco-440408-double-basin-granite-kitchen-sink-from-the-blancoprecis-series/p1077752

http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=511-782

http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=440842

http://www.efaucets.com/detail.asp?Product_Id=511-738